The Boom Squad versus Dunk City

It’s the battle of nicknames. Florida Gulf Coast University has been known as Dunk City since head coach Andy Enfield took them on an improbable trip to the Sweet 16 in 2013. Their high-flying, up and down offense produced so many memorable dunks in their opening round upset of Georgetown alone that they just had to have a nickname.

Florida State, meanwhile, has a bench known as the Boom Squad. They pride themselves on being able to replace the starters without any bit of a letdown.

The important question here isn’t which team has the better nickname (The Boom Squad, duh), but which team deserves the moniker Dunk City.

To the numbers!

This year’s Florida Gulf Coast team has actually out dunk-citied the original Dunk City. In 33 games they’ve dunked the ball a remarkable 162 times.

But there are a couple of caveats.

First, it’s primarily one player. Their 6-9 beanpole Demetris Morant will remind many FSU fans of the build and athleticism of Okaro White. Morant essentially roams the baseline and looks for nothing but alley-oops. Of his made baskets, 71% have been dunks. He has more dunks than all but four ACC teams.

Second, they loaded up on those dunks versus weak competition. Against Division II opponents they averaged 9.3 dunks in three games. Against Division I teams they average 4.5. Against the three high major teams they played (Florida, Baylor, Michigan State), they averaged 0.7 dunks per game.

Florida State, meanwhile, led the ACC by a mile. Miami was No. 2 in the ACC with 115 dunks. FSU? The ‘Noles are at 171 and counting.

So FSU - against competition primarily the level of teams against which FGCU averaged 0.7 dunks - averaged 5.2 dunks per game.

So tune in on Thursday to see Dunk City in action. They’ll be taking on Florida Gulf Coast.