Shakeel Simmons vs. Donte Howell: Who hit the greatest shot in UH New York history?
Howell (3) after winning the Fall 2019 Garden City championship
There have been numerous memorable game-winning shots and plays over the years in Ultimate Hoops. Deciding on one for all of UH seems impossible, especially since I’m sure there are dozens that I’m not even aware of.
So let’s make it easier and cut the argument down to one region. New York is on my mind since Anthony Leo sent me a video of Shakeel Simmons hitting an almost full-court, game-winning shot last week. It’s an absurd shot that happened in a massive moment and it deserves recognition.
Instead of writing about just Simmons’ shot though, I wanted to put it up against a similarly significant shot in UH New York history to decide which one is the greatest the region has ever seen.
Before I get into the debate, I have to give recognition to two other shots so people can’t tell me I’m arguing about the wrong shots.
First is Chris Frey’s game-winning floater in the Garden City championship game in the Fall of 2018. Frey gets around his defender, onto his favored left side, and nails a floater to beat the buzzer and give Shore Shack a 63-61 win and the first of their three straight Garden City titles. While this is an incredible shot with a high degree of difficulty (similar to LeBron’s game-winner vs. the Raptors in the 2018 playoffs), it doesn’t match the difficulty of Simmons’ or Howell’s shots, so it’s out of consideration.
The other shot I need to mention is Richie Byrd’s game-winner for RTG in the 2019 New York National Tournament.
Again, an incredible shot in a big moment, considering this was a knockout game on the national stage. But this shot isn’t nearly as impressive as Simmons’ or Howell’s, and since it took place in a national tournament, I would consider it more of a national shot than a UH New York shot.
So how are we going to decide which shot was the best UH New York has seen? We’ll compare the shots in three different categories: degree of difficulty, significance in the moment and lasting legacy of the shot. Whichever shot wins two out of the three categories wins the title of Greatest Shot in UH New York History.
Here’s Simmons’ shot, which gave Any ? a 64-62 win and a trip to the Syosset Open championship game in the Spring of 2016.
Here’s Donte Howell’s shot, which gave Scott’s Tots a 71-69 win and the Fall 2019 Garden City Draft championship.
Let’s get into the categories.
Degree of difficulty
It goes without saying that both of these shots are ludicrous and ridiculously hard to make.
After the first viewing of both, my reaction was Simmons’ shot was the more difficult to make simply because it’s a much farther shot than Howell’s. Howell hits his game-winner from around 35 feet, while Simmons hits his from around the free-throw line on the opposite side of the court, so roughly a 79-footer.
The reason why this is debatable is because of the defense played on both shots. Considering the circumstances of the Any ?-Monstars game, it’s understandable why Simmons was able to get an uncontested shot up. The Monstars are up by one with just over one second left on the clock, and Any ? have to inbound from their own baseline. As long as the Monstars don’t foul, they should be good. Simmons only has to dribble around one defender (who lets him get by no problem), and then he’s able to get the shot off with no one in his face. This uncontested shot is coming almost 80 feet away from the basket, so the chances are still against him, but the defense lets him shoot and he buries the almost full-court shot.
Howell has to do a little more. Down 69-68 with 3.1 seconds on the clock, Howell receives the ball from his own baseline and gets up the floor quickly. He’s being slightly bothered by one defender his entire time dribbling up the floor. Once he’s about to shoot, that same defender contests the shot from behind, while another defender stands in front of Howell to try to get a hand in his face. Again, since this is a one-point game in favor of Blue Storm, their one objective is not to foul, no neither defender is right in Howell’s face. They still apply pressure though, making this 35ish-footer an even more difficult shot than it already is.
With all of the factors added up, I think the harder shot to make is Simmons’. Maybe the best way to think about it is to imagine how long it would take to make either of these shots in an empty gym. Both are difficult shots even without defense, but the shooting percentage on Howell’s shot would undeniably be higher than Simmons’ if you were shooting with no defense. I’m not even sure how many attempts I would give myself to make Simmons’ shot, but I know it would take me quite a while before I could bury it.
Simmons leads Howell 1-0.
Significance of the shot
This is the most straightforward of the three categories. Simply put, what did the shot mean at the time? Both shots came in playoff games, and they both came when their respective team was down one, which is way more significant than if the game was tied (which is another reason why these two shots are superior to Frey’s).
Howell wins this category though because his shot won a championship while Simmons’ shot won a semifinal game. Not only did Simmons’ shot not come in a championship game, but Any ? also went on to lose the championship game 60-56 to A-List. Does that hurt the significance of the shot? No, because Any ? wouldn’t even be in the championship game without the shot, and you can’t take away the moment the shot was made; that’s untouchable. Would the shot be more significant if Any ? won the championship? Yes.
To use a professional sporting event as an example, I’ll go to the Minneapolis Miracle, the greatest moment in my life as a sports fan. As a die-hard Vikings fan, I was more than ready for that Divisional game against the Saints to end like all of the other ones had. The Blair Walsh miss in 2016, the Brett Favre pick in 2010, the Gary Anderson miss in 1999…it’s just what they do. But it didn’t. Keenum made the throw, Diggs made the catch and Williams missed the tackle; the rest is history.
Unfortunately, the Vikings lost in the NFC championship game 38-7, which also meant they weren’t going to play in a Super Bowl in their home city. It sucked. I was pissed. Watching the Super Bowl and being in Minneapolis was a week-long nightmare. Did it ruin the Minneapolis Miracle? Absolutely not. Moments like that happen maybe once in a lifetime, and what comes after can’t spoil how you felt in that specific moment. Would it be better if they beat the Eagles and won the Super Bowl? Of course, but it doesn’t get ruined because of something that happened a week later.
Anyway, that was a long way to explain that Howell’s shot was more significant, so he wins this category. We’re tied at 1-1, leaving this argument down to the final category.
Legacy of the shot
This is like the cousin of the former category, only we’re not focusing on the moment of the shot itself, but rather what led to the shot, what happened after the shot and how all of it has aged over time.
We’ve already been over the results of each shot. Howell’s won a championship, while Simmons’ got his team to the championship game, but they came up short. Let’s look at what led to each shot and how that impacted the legacy of each.
Simmons’ shot came in his debut season in UH, so the only thing to look at is what happened that season to lead to the shot. Simmons did not have a good start to his UH career, as Any ? started the season 0-5. They had the worst record in the league and I’m sure they were not considered title contenders. Simmons’ game-winning shot in the semifinals capped off a five-game win streak that somehow got them ti the title game. The fact that they advanced to the championship game due to a game-winner from over 70 feet gives them a real team of destiny feel, despite not winning the title. That’s a strong case for the shot’s legacy, as it continued a Cinderella-story type run.
The lead up to Howell’s shot was significantly different than Simmons’. Scott’s Tots were not underdogs like Any ?. They were the team to beat in Garden City last season, as they were coming into the championship game with an undefeated 10-0 record, defeating teams by an average of 9.2 points per game. I would say that’s equal to the buildup of Simmons’ shot. It’s hard to separate a complete turnaround run to the title game and a dominant run where the best team proves they’re the best.
What adds to the significance of Howell’s shot is his personal history in Garden City. Remember that Frey game-winner from the beginning of the article? That came in overtime against Howell’s Threat Level Midnight. Howell had another chance to end Shore Shack’s run of dominance in the Spring of 2019, when he made it to the championship game with Long Pipe. What happened in that championship game? Kerin Soltren hit a 3 for Shore Shack to give them a 51-50 lead with a few seconds left, setting up Howell to be the hero. He dribbled up the floor and got a 3 off in almost the exact spot as his game-winner against Blue Storm, although this one didn’t fall and Howell missed another chance at his first Garden City title.
Those heart-breaking losses add a lot to the legacy of Howell’s shot, as he was finally able to win a Garden City title, and it fittingly came on a buzzer-beater he hit after having to watch teams celebrate championship-winning shots against him multiple times.
Another thing that elevates Howell’s shot is what has happened since he made it. He won his second straight MVP trophy in Garden City a couple weeks ago, and he helped lead Dinkin Flicka to the title game this season after once again going undefeated. We’ll see if that game is ever able to happen, but Howell hasn’t lost since September, and he’s continued to dominate Garden City after hitting that championship-winning shot.
Simmons would go on to play in four more seasons in the Syosset Open League, but he would never win a title or even make it back to another championship game. Howell’s shot gets elevated because it signified the start of his ascendance in Garden City. He’s always been a great player in UH New York, but now Garden City runs through him (and whatever Office reference he comes up with to call his team) instead of Frey and Shore Shack or Byrd and Gale Force.
Simmons’ shot came early in his career, and we now know it was the peak of his UH career as well. That shot is timeless, but it lacks the buildup of heartbreak that added to Howell’s shot, it didn’t win a title and Simmons’ career did not age nearly as well as Howell’s. For all of those reasons, Howell’s shot has the better legacy, giving him the 2-1 series win and crowning his shot as the greatest in the history of UH New York.