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Raptors’ Ross ready to defend slam-dunk title
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Winning the dunk contest was one thing. Defending it is another.
Terrence Ross is leaving nothing to chance.
The sophomore swing man began working up some dunk options a couple of days ago.
That’s well in advance of his preparation a year ago when he won it, but Ross says it’s all going to come down to the field when it comes to his chances of repeating.
“It really just depends on whoever is there,” Ross said of the field for the dunk off. “Then you get a feel for what people can do or what sneaky things they can do and try and get away with.”
The field has yet to be announced, but Ross, who has known since he won a year ago that he would be back to defend, has some general and very definite ideas of who he would like to see in the competition.
First the general — “I don’t know, somebody I could beat,” he said laughing at his own little joke.
Specifically though, the first name that Ross came up with in terms of guys he would like to see challenge him was Detroit’s Tony Mitchell.
Now Mitchell isn’t exactly a household name in the NBA yet, but then again neither was Ross a year ago when he won.
