Forde Ranks the Tournament's Greatest Shots

[juise]

Guess who's got the top spot.

[Uncle Drew]

"The choice for No. 1 hasn't changed in the last 16 years. When Christian Laettner ended the Greatest Game Ever by beating Kentucky 104-103 with a turnaround 17-footer at the overtime buzzer in 1992, NCAA tournament drama reached a new high. Despite all the thrills since then, no single play has risen to that ethereal level. Which is why we still see it a dozen times each March. After that it becomes debatable."


I realize we're Duke fans and supposably naturally biased. But given the over time, the shot made to put UK ahead, the difficulty of the inbound pass, the difficulty of just catching the ball and then having the pressence not to just jack it up but dribble turn and shoot. HOW COULD THERE BE ANOTHER CHOICE??!! They guy didn't miss a shot all day which adds to the mystique. There are so many story lines about that game and "the shot" I dare say we won't see anything to compare in our lifetimes.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Hard to beat a shot actually known as "The Shot".

[Classof06]

What puts it over the top for me is still the fact that Laettner was perfect from the field and the free throw line that game. Ridiculous.

[Tchoupitoulas]

One could argue that Laetner's shot in 1990 at the buzzer -- after he inbounded the ball, received the pass on the move, then double clutched before hitting the shot at the buzzer -- deserves to be on that list. Since we didn't win it all I guess makes it less relevant. But, as far as shots and drama go, it was pretty darn close to the 1992 shot.

Tchoup

[Edouble]

But given the over time, the shot made to put UK ahead...

Yeah, to have the composure to pull it all together in OT after that ridiculous shot that put Kentucky up is almost unearthly. After missing that block on the other end and to have the Cats go one point up on a really lucky, terrible shot, I'd be thinking "Wow, they were meant to win this game".

Of course, Coach K gets a little credit too for orchestrating the whole thing.

[hc5duke]

Hard to beat a shot actually known as "The Shot".

Speaking of which, this is a travesty...

[Edouble]

Speaking of which, this is a travesty...

That's hilarious, because I just checked to see what Wikipedia had to say on the matter too. Can someone take a day and edit that whole thing out to put Laettner in there?