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Who said white man cant jump?


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Idk if youve seen this cat, but his names Jacob Tucker from a tiny D-III college, hes 5'10 with a 50 inch vertical, he has maddd hops, he WON the college slam dunk competition and is currently talking to a few D-I schools, check em out on youtube.
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I havent seen the kid play, I saw him dunk the ball, I have also seen alot of people at the park dunk.  Can he shoot, can he handle the ball, can he play defense, and can he do this against the best college competiton in the country?

White men can’t jump?  Article by Brian McCormick
This week, the impossible happened: Jacob Tucker won the NCAA Dunk Contest. Why is this impossible? Because white men can’t jump.


Since childhood, I have been told that whites are unathletic. In Sian Beilock’s Choke, she writes about the effects of similar stereotypes on the academic performance of females and African-Americans. She writes that the stereotype threat leads students to choke on tests.

Dr. Beliock defines choking as “poor performance that occurs in response to the perceived stress of the situation…Choking is sub-optimal performance. It’s when you…perform worse than expected given what you are capable of doing, and worse than what you have done in the past. This less-than-optimal performance doesn’t merely reflect a random fluctuation in skill level…This choke occurs in response to a highly stressful situation,” (Beilock, 2010, p. 5-6).

The stereotype threat is a subconscious self-doubt that arises because the person is made aware of a negative stereotype about his or her race or gender prior to a task. For instance, something as subtle as filling in one’s race and gender on a standardized test can impact one’s performance if there is a pervasive stereotype such as the perception that females are not as good as males at math or that African-Americans do not score as high on SATs.

If the stereotype threat affects female and African-American students, is it reasonable to suggest that the same stereotype threat affects white basketball players in an environment where society strongly believes the genetic advantages of African-American players? Is the lack of great, white dunkers due to genetics or the pervasive stereotype that white men can’t jump?

When I was young, I did not do plyometrics; I did not play on a lowered hoop; I did not lift weights. Was my lack of explosiveness or jumping ability because of genetics or because I did not do anything that would develop my jumping ability? However, since everyone told me that jumping ability was an innate talent, and I lacked those genes, why would I invest the effort in activities designed to improve my explosiveness? When I played, and I was at the point where I could almost dunk, did I choke because I lacked the ability or because of a subconscious self-doubt when playing against a court full of African-Americans?

I went to dinner with a young strength & conditioning coach and a former player/client. As we discussed the NBA, and specifically the athleticism and size of LeBron James, the former player said that there was no way that his son would have a chance to play in the NBA. I disagree. If we want players to believe in their potential, we need to eliminate excuses for falling short and the subconscious self-doubt. Last year, I wrote that I was rooting for Jeremy Lin because of this subconscious self-doubt in Asian players who had never seen an Asian-American excel in the NBA.

The former player was the hardest and most diligent worker that I have trained. Many concepts from my book 180 Shooter and my 180 Shooter Practice Tracker program were developed while working with him. He went from un-recruited to D3 All-American. However, if the hardest worker that I have trained who demonstrated a high skill level and possessed adequate size for his position did not make the NBA, how can a teenager in a similar position believe in his professional prospects?

How did Tucker become an NCAA dunk champion? Part of it was self-promotion, as he had to get himself invited to the competition. However, he developed his jumping ability through hard work. He managed to ignore the stereotype threat – for some people, this type of discouragement motivates them to prove the stereotype wrong.

If we strive to find ways to reduce the stereotype threat for women and African-American students, the same threat pervades the minds of many whites who believe they lack the genetics to excel in basketball and other power-related activities. As more players like Steve Nash excel in the NBA, their success will help to dispel the stereotype  in the minds of many. Blaming genetics gives people an out, an excuse – ultimately, while everyone has a different genetic ceiling, effort and environment have more to do with one’s ultimate success, as Tucker demonstrated last week.

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[quote name="Scooter!" post="995374" timestamp="1302460736"]
all i needed was to watch 1 minute of footage. This kid is SICK!!!     Coach Barnes get your butt to Illinois College
[/quote]I'm disappointed in you >:( How dare you look at ONE MINUTE of clip and decide this kid is a baller.  This is whats wrong with our kids and obviously *some* grownups too, they think dunking makes a person have game. Ask LeBryan Nash in Dallas. Our only High School McDonald All-American from Texas. The kid can dunk-oh well! And I thought you were an expert :D
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i agree BlueDove, idt hes really a good basketball player but i will admit hes exciting, a star bball player IMO is one who plays his heart out the entire game, can shoot, can play Defense, and isnt selfish but knows WHEN to carry the team. Jacob Tucker is just a dunker and thats prolly all he'll ever be but i just thought it was cool to see a 5'10 kid jumping like MJ lol  8)
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[quote name="The Spy" post="996097" timestamp="1302577509"]
i agree BlueDove, idt hes really a good basketball player but i will admit hes exciting, a star bball player IMO is one who plays his heart out the entire game, can shoot, can play Defense, and isnt selfish but knows WHEN to carry the team. Jacob Tucker is just a dunker and thats prolly all he'll ever be but i just thought it was cool to see a 5'10 kid jumping like MJ lol  8)
[/quote]Yo bro! I was just messing with you ;)
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