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Duke-Arizona is on ESPN Classic right now. It's just reminding me how great a player Battier was. I'm also reminded now how similar Singler's game is to Batttier's. That was a very complete team. They really had a lot of size too- Boozer, Sanders, Battier, James. God I miss being in the Final Four.
glad you posted that it was on, just turned it on and watched battier's spectacular block which led to dunleavy's third three in a row... still get goosebumps...
Just saw Dunleavy's 9 point sequence and started yelling. God I miss the final four as well.
GO DUKE
I taped that game (like I do every game...yes I'm that fan. lol) however it never ceases to amaze me how well everyone played together. The leadership of Shane to Mike's shooting performance and Jason William's ball handeling. I also like to remember that Chris Duhon had quite the concussion the day before playing the Twerps of Maryland. As a freshman he really played well and gave great minutes!
Awww memories!
Watching and listening to the second half of the game again reminds just how bad Packer really was. Well, not bad. Just out and out biased. His comments about fouls on both ends of the floor almost always cast a bad light on Duke and a good light on Arizona. I personally lay a huge part of the Duke hatred blame on him and his call of this game in particular.
But in spite of Packer it's fun revisiting this team. Gosh they were great!
Gary
I watched my tape of the '01 title game and of THE GAME this past Saturday. I also forgot how great Battier was not just on the court but his leadership was awesome. Another thing I paid attention to was Packer's commentary since some people have mentioned this game as the beginning of the Duke gets all the calls garbage that has been going on. I know he commented on the officiating but from what I gathered he was saying that the crowd was turning on Duke because they thought they were getting all the calls. Something I am sure Gary mentioned 500 times in his post game press conference after the game on Saturday. I also watched Lute's post game comments and forgot he made a comment that he thought Williams should have fouled out on two occasions. I think Packer was just commenting on what the atmosphere of the arena was after a call and was not saying Duke was getting all the calls.
I think I may have blocked the memory of that game out because the court was the most hideous final four court ever conceived. Silly I know.
My fondest memory of that Final 4 was the semi-final game against Maryland.
I live in the midwest around KU. We were about 15 minutes into the first half and we were losing by a zillion . . . well, about 23 - 25 points . . . and suddenly I start getting calls from friends and acquaintances (all KU fans) just wanting to say hi. Bastards.
Of course we went on to win the game handily.
I made no calls. Didn't say a word to anyone the next day.
Just smiled a lot.
And when I read all the posts about how mean and nasty UNC fans are . . . hey, they got nothing on KU fans.
That was one impressive team. The game does point up how much easier things get when you have guards who can penetrate and dish.
Talk about running your mouth when you have no clue. Nantz declares Greg Koubek the winingest player in college basketball history because he played on four national champions. When Packer called him on it, they decide that Koubek played in four national championship games, and won two of them. Divide by two fellas, and you'll finally get it right -- he played twice for the nat'l championship, and won it once, in 1991.
It never ceases to amaze me how wrong the talking heads are about almost everything. Believe me, you don't want to pay a bit of attention to what they say if you're betting on sports.
I wish I was home to tape it. I'm sure it will be on again. I can see Shane's backhanded tip-in right now.:D
Is THE GAME the Maryland game?Quote:
Originally Posted by NashvilleDevil
The title game certainly was a great game. All 5 starters are/were NBA players: pretty impressive.
THE GAME to me is the '92 Regional Final against Kentucky
That whole season, as good as we were, all I could think of was how the '99 team would wipe the floor with '01. I'm not so sure that's true anymore as JWill was a more dominant player than Avery, and '01 certainly had more heart.Quote:
Originally Posted by dkbaseball
Cool! I saw myself under the 2nd half Duke basket again. I still look that good ;) !
did Duke STILL get all the calls?;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by dw0827
I was born and raised 20 minutes from Lawrence and I couldn't agree more. Many of the ku fans I know are simply delusional and very fair weather.
I need to put that game on dvd sometime soon and watch it again when time permits.
in addition to the elation i felt, i also remember how irritated i was during the week following the game. all the talk about how "duke gets the calls" was just plain making me mad...
I'm not sure if it was the 01 title game, or some OTHER game, but Coach K, when asked the question, "you know coach, a lot of people think the refs are on your side. What do you think about that?" he responded, "well, i sure hope so!"
classic...
Gawd, Dunleavy's three treys in a row. I remember that moment so clearly. It was the moment that I knew we were actually going to win the game. I was sitting downstairs watching it...alone, since my ex-wife (and DUKE ALUMNA) had gone to bed rather than stay up for it. That was a really awesome team.
BTW...word of advice. If your Duke-alum spouse turns in early rather than staying up with you to watch a championship game, just go ahead and file the divorce papers then...no point waiting another five years to get it done. 'Nuff said.
I remember Dunleavy's 3s and my reaction as well--I went bonkers. I do think that his 3 3-pointers in 45 seconds was amazing, but I feel that they are sort of remembered as more important than they were. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but I remember the Cats coming back after those 3s went down, so it was like Dunleavy went on a little 9 point run, then they came right back with a little (8 point?) run and brought the game to within one or two points. I think sometimes the 3s are sometimes spoken of as something that won us the game or put us up for good, which was not the case.Quote:
Originally Posted by davekay1971