Washington Times article on 1991 championship

[Tom B.]

The Washington Times article about Duke's 1991 championship that is linked on the DBR main page contains a couple of notable factual errors.



Krzyzewski's fifth trip to the Final Four ended disastrously with a 103-73 thumping by UNLV in the 1990 title game.


The 1990 NCAA Tournament was actually Coach K's fourth trip to the Final Four, not his fifth. He previously had taken Duke to the Final Four in 1986, 1988 and 1989.



UNLV led 76-71 with time running out, but a 3-point basket by Bobby Hurley and a three-point play by Thomas Hill pulled the Blue Devils even at 77-77.


The author gets the sequence of events wrong here. UNLV went ahead by five, 76-71 -- then a three-pointer by Hurley made the score 76-74. What happened next was something that had not happened to UNLV all season -- they turned the ball over on a shot clock violation. Duke actually held UNLV without a shot for 47 seconds of game time. Remember, back then the shot clock was 45 seconds, and UNLV got an extra two seconds when Duke knocked the ball out of bounds with three seconds left on the shot clock. (At the time, the rule was that the shot clock would reset to five seconds if the defense knocked the ball out of bounds with less than five seconds remaining.)

On the next play, it was Brian Davis -- not Thomas Hill -- who converted a three-point play. The play didn't "pull the Blue Devils even at 77-77" -- it actually put Duke ahead, 77-76. UNLV tied the game on its next possession on a free throw by Larry Johnson. He actually missed both of his attempts from the line, but Duke committed a lane violation on the second shot (Johnson had an unusual hitch in his free throw motion that sometimes caused rebounders to jump into the lane early), so he got another chance and hit it.

On Duke's next possession, Thomas Hill missed a pull-up jumper, but Laettner was fouled while going for the rebound with 12.7 seconds left. His two free throws put Duke up for good, 79-77.

Despite the factual errors, it's nice to see someone writing about the 1991 championship, because I feel that it often gets overlooked. I guess that's part of the price that Duke pays for becoming, in essence, the Coca-Cola of college basketball. For casual fans, especially younger fans, it seems inconceivable that there actually was a time (and not all that long ago) that Duke was perceived as a program that always came up short and could never win "the big one."

The 1991 Tournament -- and in particular, the national semifinal against UNLV -- changed all of that. It was a watershed moment in Duke basketball history, and heralded a paradigm shift in the college game. As hard as it is for casual fans to imagine a time when Duke wasn't the most visible and recognizable program in college basketball, it seems equally difficult for them to imagine a time when UNLV -- which has been little more than an afterthought since the early 1990s -- was the singular dominant force in the game.

It's hard to put into words just how imposing and overpowering UNLV's 1990-91 team was. They didn't just win games, they didn't just go undefeated -- they absolutely laid waste to the regular season. Scores over 100 and winning margins of 20, 30 and 40 points were common. They returned all the principal players from a team that had won the previous year's national title by 30. Their average scoring margin over the entire season was almost +27. Publications ran columns suggesting, with straight faces, that they could make the playoffs in the NBA. No team since then -- not even Duke in 1992 or 1999 -- has been surrounded by as much hype, and as great an aura of invincibility.

Duke, by contrast, was seen as a good (but not great) team that was going through something of a rebuilding process. It had lost three starters from the previous year's team, which had made it to the national championship game before running into the UNLV buzzsaw. It had won the ACC regular season, but lost seven games overall -- three regular season conference games to Virginia, N.C. State and Wake Forest, three non-conference games against Arkansas, Georgetown and Arizona, and an embarrassing 22-point loss to UNC in the ACC Tournament final, just a week before the NCAA Tournament began. Plus, they entered the NCAA Tournament with the baggage of four empty trips to the Final Four in the previous five years.

It's for all of these reasons that I maintain that the biggest single shot in Duke's history wasn't Laettner's buzzer-beater against Kentucky in the 1992 East Regional Final. It was Hurley's three-pointer with two minutes and change left against UNLV in the 1991 national semifinal. Duke had thrown everything it had at UNLV and the game had been a seesaw battle, with the teams trading leads of three, four or five points back and forth. But when UNLV went up by five with under three minutes left, it felt like the same script for Duke. Close -- agonizingly close -- but not quite.

When Hurley pulled up for that three-pointer, Billy Packer was actually in mid-sentence, telling the viewing audience that Duke didn't "need a three" just yet. I was in the Hoosier Dome, and I swear 47,000 people went stone quiet while that ball was in the air, which seemed like forever. I distinctly recall having enough time to think consciously to myself, while the ball was in transit: This is it. This is the ball game right here.

The thing about that shot is that even though it didn't put Duke ahead -- even though it didn't even tie the game -- when it went in, it felt like Duke had won. It was the craziest thing.... here we were, still down by two with only two minutes left against a freight train that had nuked every opponent it faced over the last year and a half, and I just knew Duke was going to win.

By the same token, if he'd missed, I have no doubt that Duke would've lost. To all the observers and writers, it would've been just another near miss in an increasingly longer string of near misses for Duke and Coach K. Maybe the next year's team would've managed to win that elusive national title, maybe not -- who knows.

What I do know is that the win over UNLV set the stage for everything that Duke basketball has become since then -- and without Hurley's all-or-nothing shot, that win doesn't happen. Duke may not have won the actual title until two nights later, but that moment marked the evolutionary leap in which Duke became a champion. That was the moment that people stopped wondering whether Duke could win the big one, and started wondering..... how high can they go?

[feldspar]

For casual fans, especially younger fans, it seems inconceivable that there actually was a time (and not all that long ago) that Duke was perceived as a program that always came up short and could never win "the big one."

Actually, I imagine younger fans are quite cognizant of this perception.

[_Gary]

Actually, I imagine younger fans are quite cognizant of this perception.

And frankly, while you can't use the word "never" (because we did win the big one in 2001), the perception of Duke coming close but not getting over the top wouldn't be that far out if you had only followed the team for the last 10 years or so. After all, other than 2001, we've had what many feel were championship caliber teams in '98, '99, 2002, 2004 and 2006 - and yet we didn't win in any of those years. And if you add the ladies team into that equation, it gets even worse. So I couldn't and wouldn't blame younger fans for feeling that way. Considering the talent both teams have had over the last decade, to only win one national championship feels like major, major underachieving to many.

[throatybeard]

Considering the talent both teams have had over the last decade, to only win one national championship feels like major, major underachieving to many.

Seems to me the key word here is "feels."

Anything can feel like anything to anybody. Experience is subjective, so if your experience of Duke basketball is that we're underachieving, then your experience is real to you and you experience an underachieving basketball program.

Whether it's a reasonable expectation for us to have done better than we have is another matter.

[_Gary]

Whether it's a reasonable expectation for us to have done better than we have is another matter.

I agree with the "feelings" thing throaty. But based on your last sentence, here's my next question: Was/Has it been "reasonable" for Duke fans to have expected the teams (Men's and Women's basketball) to win more than one national title in the last 10 years?

I'd say the answer is categorically YES. It was reasonable to expect more than one championship over that time period, given the quality of players we've had and the way these Duke teams performed in both the regular seasons and ACC tournaments.

[Wander]

Actually, I imagine younger fans are quite cognizant of this perception.

I'm kind of new here. You seem to be one of the few posters here who can regularly talk intelligently about Duke without acting like a 12 year old girl who wants to marry JJ Redick. Are there many others that I am missing?

Sorry to others for posting an off-topic post - feel free to ignore it.

[hurleyfor3]

On the next play, it was Brian Davis -- not Thomas Hill -- who converted a three-point play. The play didn't "pull the Blue Devils even at 77-77" -- it actually put Duke ahead, 77-76. UNLV tied the game on its next possession on a free throw by Larry Johnson. He actually missed both of his attempts from the line, but Duke committed a lane violation on the second shot (Johnson had an unusual hitch in his free throw motion that sometimes caused rebounders to jump into the lane early), so he got another chance and hit it.

It was T. Hill who stepped into the lane. I remember thinking how ominous that felt... what if we had lost by one? Wht if unlv only needed a two to win on its last shot?

Considering you remembered stuff like the 47-second shot clock, I'm guessing you just forgot who it was who stepped into the lane. ;)

Also, remember when unlv went up 5, those security guards ran across to the unlv bench? We found out later it was to to protect Tark in some fashion. Like his bodyguards or handlers or somesuch.


When Hurley pulled up for that three-pointer, Billy Packer was actually in mid-sentence, telling the viewing audience that Duke didn't "need a three" just yet. I was in the Hoosier Dome, and I swear 47,000 people went stone quiet while that ball was in the air, which seemed like forever. I distinctly recall having enough time to think consciously to myself, while the ball was in transit: This is it. This is the ball game right here.

The thing about that shot is that even though it didn't put Duke ahead -- even though it didn't even tie the game -- when it went in, it felt like Duke had won. It was the craziest thing.... here we were, still down by two with only two minutes left against a freight train that had nuked every opponent it faced over the last year and a half, and I just knew Duke was going to win.

By the same token, if he'd missed, I have no doubt that Duke would've lost. To all the observers and writers, it would've been just another near miss in an increasingly longer string of near misses for Duke and Coach K. Maybe the next year's team would've managed to win that elusive national title, maybe not -- who knows.

K called that the most important shot any of his players had taken in his coaching career, and he said that after the 1992 season. By extension, he was saying (but too humble to admit) it was the most important shot in Duke basketball history. It also gave rise to one DBR poster's username. :)

[hurleyfor3]

Seems to me the key word here is "feels."

Anything can feel like anything to anybody. Experience is subjective, so if your experience of Duke basketball is that we're underachieving, then your experience is real to you and you experience an underachieving basketball program.

Whether it's a reasonable expectation for us to have done better than we have is another matter.

I frame it this way: Is "better than everyone else" the same as "as good as we could be"?

Was Duke better than everyone else between 1986 and 2006? By any quantitative measure, and especially by a pastiche of them, incontrovertibly so. It is also easy to answer "probably", if not unequivocally yes, with most arbitrarily-selected shorter periods.

Was Duke as good as it could have been between, say, 1998 and 2006? I say no. And as Jimmy Carter said on the night of the 1980 election, I can't stand here and say it doesn't hurt.

This is pretty much what Gary said above. But bifurcating the issue helps me resolve it internally while still allowing me to whine about stuff.

[Troublemaker]

Oh it hurts, alright. 04 damn near killed me. That game was going to be our revenge for 99, and we somehow let it slip away. That loss hurt way more than 99 and was one of those games where you put the tape in the trash even before the final buzzer sounds. I am never going to watch that game again. Ever.

Besides 04 and 99, though, I'm fine with the results of the last 10 years (at least the end results, and not the way we lost the contests [98,02]). I would say every other year, we were fatally flawed and couldn't expect a championship.

97 -- too small, not enough talent
98 -- too young, and UNC was our daddy. (I'll always believe that had we made the FF, UNC would've played better knowing we were in the same arena as them, and the Heels would've gone on to win a championship, likely trouncing us for a third time in the NC game after we beat Stanford. No, thanks. I'll take the Elite 8 loss instead.)
00 -- too young, not enough depth
02 -- not tough enough inside, Battier was missed
03 -- too young
05 -- no point guard, not enough depth
06 -- too unathletic
07 -- too young

To me, from a championship-winning perspective, the last 10 years came down to 99, 01, and 04. The fact that we only won 1 of 3 instead of 2 of 3 or 3 of 3 does suck. I can't say that it doesn't hurt, but as throaty says, it's up to me to control how I experience it.

I think the key is just to be grateful that we won 1 of 3 instead of 0 of 3. Pop in the tape of the NC game against Arizona when you're feeling down about the past 10 years.

[Rich]

First, I want to applaud Tom for an excellent post that took me down memory lane. What a great feeling it was to be a complete and total underdog where the question wasn't whether we would lose, but by how much. In those days Duke was applauded for being a top rate program that did things the right way so our success was appreciated by the college basketball masses. Our program was a total contrast to UNLV's, which was shady and clouded in scandal. Ironically, our program has not changed one iota, and now we are vilified for those exact same characteristics.

On to my second point...Gary, I've read time and time again from your posts about how you're disappointed that Duke hasn't won enough championships to appease you. While I can tell from your other posts that you're clearly a huge fan, that you're knowledgable, and that you care about the program, your negativity on this point is such a downer.

Some day most of us (and most historians) will look back at the Coach K era in Duke basketball as an unprecedented time when one team could be so dominant for so long. Unlike professional sports, when you can buy talented players and not lose them after 1-4 years, the nature of college athletics necesitates re-building every year...integrating freshman into a mix of others of mixed tenure. To have the sustained excellence we've had over the last 20 years is unbelievable when you consider the ACC regular season records, the ACC titles, the NCAA Sweet 16s, the Final Fours, and yes, "only" 3 championships (so far). Gary, look at the entire body of work, dude. Look at everything this program has done. Look at how we still do things the right way. Look at the players who have gone on after they graduated. How many times have you heard others say, "Duke is Duke." We are the gold standard. And you seem to be missing a big part of it because you're so d*mn focused on losing some of those championships.

Don't get me wrong, when we lose, I'm bummed and angry...for a few days, or a week. But if you let it persist, and you're only going to measure success by championships, then you're missing out on so much more. And when it's all gone you'll still be disappointed and stewing that we didn't win it in 1986, 1988, 1990, 1999, 2004, etc. rather than recognizing that you were a part of an unprecedented time in Duke basketball history. And that's sad, man, really sad.

[Tom B.]

It was T. Hill who stepped into the lane. I remember thinking how ominous that felt... what if we had lost by one? Wht if unlv only needed a two to win on its last shot?

Considering you remembered stuff like the 47-second shot clock, I'm guessing you just forgot who it was who stepped into the lane. ;)


Oh, I remembered who it was. I think there actually might have been one or two other guys who stepped in early (stupid Larry Johnson spastic free throw motion) -- but Thomas was the first and the most obvious. In fact, I think at least one player stepped in early (or came very close to doing so) on the next free throw as well. But Johnson hit that one, so it didn't matter.



Also, remember when unlv went up 5, those security guards ran across to the unlv bench? We found out later it was to to protect Tark in some fashion. Like his bodyguards or handlers or somesuch.


Yeah, I remember that. Another little moment that I always liked, which I didn't see until I watched a tape of the game after the fact, occurred while Laettner was shooting the free throws with 12.7 seconds left. After he hit the first free throw, CBS cut to a quick shot of Coach K standing in front of the bench, shouting out directions of some kind. Behind Coach K is a police officer, in uniform, watching the game and applauding. I swear, if Saddam Freakin' Hussein had climbed out of the stands and walked by at that moment, the cop wouldn't have noticed because he -- like everyone else in the building -- was so caught up in the game.

More than any other Duke game I've ever seen, I remember that game in terms of the feelings and sensations I had during the game, as much (if not more) than any specific plays or things that happened on the court.

I remember the feeling I had before the game even started. There was a tension and a kind of electricity in the arena that's hard to describe, like everyone was thinking, You know, Duke might.... just might.... have a chance here, but no one was willing to say it out loud. I remember sensing that tension and thinking, just before tipoff, OK.... what are we gonna see now?

I remember how slowly the clock seemed to move. Maybe it's because I was so focused on each play, but I remember several occasions when I thought I'd been watching for a long time, then I'd look up at the clock and realize that only a minute (or even less) had elapsed.

I remember Duke coming out of halftime and running a pick-and-roll from Hurley to Laettner for an easy basket on the very first play. A couple of UNLV's opponents in earlier rounds had managed to hang around for a half, only to have the Rebels come out and drop a quick 10 or 12 on them early in the second half and basically end the game. When Duke came out of the half and tied the score like that on the first play, though.... that's when I knew it was on.

As I described before, I remember how I felt when THE three-point shot left Hurley's hand. I remember sensing -- I remember knowing -- that the outcome of the game rode on that shot. Hit it, we win. Miss it, we lose. No in between.

I don't think I've ever been into every single play of a Duke game -- not even the Kentucky game in 1992 or the championship game in 2001 -- like I was into the 1991 national semifinal against UNLV.

[hurleyfor3]

I like collecting Final Fours, not just national championships. Once you get to the Final Four, everything before -- beating unc, winning the acc regular season and/or tournament, getting a #1 seed -- fades in importance. And everything after the Final Four is usually just gravy.

So the question becomes: When did we honk very good chances to get to the Final Four? My answer is, four times recently: 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2006. These are debatable, but I don't really feel like arguing this here.

The 1999 and 04 uconn games feel like they're in a different category. I still think 1998 was the most frustrating. The 2006 result changed my outlook on Duke basketball; from now on I'll be surprised if we DON'T faceplant in the Sweet 16.

[hurleyfor3]

I remember how slowly the clock seemed to move.

Oh, yeah, did it ever. The whole second half.

[Troublemaker]

I like collecting Final Fours, not just national championships. Once you get to the Final Four, everything before -- beating unc, winning the acc regular season and/or tournament, getting a #1 seed -- fades in importance. And everything after the Final Four is usually just gravy.

So the question becomes: When did we honk very good chances to get to the Final Four? My answer is, four times recently: 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2006. These are debatable, but I don't really feel like arguing this here.

The 1999 and 04 uconn games feel like they're in a different category. I still think 1998 was the most frustrating. The 2006 result changed my outlook on Duke basketball; from now on I'll be surprised if we DON'T faceplant in the Sweet 16.

Yeah, I'm disappointed that we didn't make the FF in 02 and 05. The path was relatively clear both years and in the case of 02, that was a very talented team (and the defending champs).

I've really enjoyed Tom B's recollections in this thread. Just wanted to note that. Thanks for sharing, Tom.

[feldspar]

The 2006 result changed my outlook on Duke basketball; from now on I'll be surprised if we DON'T faceplant in the Sweet 16.

That's so true that it hurts.

[_Gary]

On to my second point...Gary, I've read time and time again from your posts about how you're disappointed that Duke hasn't won enough championships to appease you. While I can tell from your other posts that you're clearly a huge fan, that you're knowledgable, and that you care about the program, your negativity on this point is such a downer.

Rich, I understand that you feel I'm being too negative or not looking at the glass as half full, but instead half empty. And I will not argue with you on those points. But I need to say this and try to be as clear as I can be. It's not that I'm disappointed in the lack of championships because I'm a whiny fan that can't be satisfied due to some misguided belief that it's Duke's birthright to win championships. For instance, the Final Four being renamed the Duke Invitational by some fans in the early to mid-90's. While I thought it was cute and fun to throw that up in Tar Heel faces as often as I could, I never actually believed it was the case.

The very opposite of the attitude expressed above is true for me. I sincerely believe the opportunity to win championships is such a rare thing that I want to see Duke take advantage and, as the old saying goes, make hay while it's daylight. Does that make any sense? I just hate to see the really great opportunities, when we really can say Duke has a championship caliber team, be missed. I don't like to see us go the Final Four 10 out of the last 21 years, or the final game 7 times, and only come away with three titles. That's not even 50% once you get to that game. And that's not even counting the Women's team.

Again, don't get me wrong. I'm very grateful for the 3, but once you get there you want to win as often as possible because there's no guarantee we are going to have final four, or championship caliber, teams as often as we have over the last 2 decades. Hope that explains where I'm coming from a little better.

Gary

[mapei]

Great thread. I actually did NOT think we were the better team against the Okafor-led Huskies in 04, but I do wish JJ & Shel could have gotten a championship to validate their otherwise splendid careers in 05 or 06. It's been a bummer to finish the regular season ranked #1 repeatedly and yet underperform so badly in the tournament.

[devildownunder]

Oh it hurts, alright. 04 damn near killed me. That game was going to be our revenge for 99, and we somehow let it slip away. That loss hurt way more than 99 and was one of those games where you put the tape in the trash even before the final buzzer sounds. I am never going to watch that game again. Ever.

Besides 04 and 99, though, I'm fine with the results of the last 10 years (at least the end results, and not the way we lost the contests [98,02]). I would say every other year, we were fatally flawed and couldn't expect a championship.

97 -- too small, not enough talent
98 -- too young, and UNC was our daddy. (I'll always believe that had we made the FF, UNC would've played better knowing we were in the same arena as them, and the Heels would've gone on to win a championship, likely trouncing us for a third time in the NC game after we beat Stanford. No, thanks. I'll take the Elite 8 loss instead.)
00 -- too young, not enough depth
02 -- not tough enough inside, Battier was missed
03 -- too young
05 -- no point guard, not enough depth
06 -- too unathletic
07 -- too young

To me, from a championship-winning perspective, the last 10 years came down to 99, 01, and 04. The fact that we only won 1 of 3 instead of 2 of 3 or 3 of 3 does suck. I can't say that it doesn't hurt, but as throaty says, it's up to me to control how I experience it.

I think the key is just to be grateful that we won 1 of 3 instead of 0 of 3. Pop in the tape of the NC game against Arizona when you're feeling down about the past 10 years.



Pretty much agree with this post, except that I don't think the 2002 team should get the pass the others did. We had the personnel to win it all that year but nobody was able to step up and fill the enormous leadership hole that battier left. My feeling is that there was enough talent and experience on that roster that somebody should have emerged, certainly to enough of an extent that a 17-pt lead LATE against an undermanned Indiana team should have been safe. If that team had lost a close game in the finals to Maryland, I would say differently. The nature of that loss, and others that season, were just inexcusable for that group.

Other than that, 2006 would have had a shot, but injuries to Nelson and McClure killed that.

[oso diablo]

When Hurley pulled up for that three-pointer, Billy Packer was actually in mid-sentence, telling the viewing audience that Duke didn't "need a three" just yet.
the ball actually swishes through the net precisely when Packer utters the word "three". it's beautiful.

[hq2]

In terms of importance, no doubt that Hurley's shot was it. It was really the dividing line in Duke basketball history; B.S. (before shot) and A.S.
(after shot). Before it went in, I was thinking, O.K. guys you put up the good fight, you didn't get blown out, win it next year. But when it went in...
I was struck by this incredible sense of disbelief;
Duke was really going to win this game! I was incredulous! You could look at the look of panic on the Vegas guys faces with Greg Anthony out, hadn't been in a close game all year, and they didn't know what to do! I knew Duke was going to win! To this day, having been a Duke fan for more than 40 years, I still rank it as the most incredible moment in Duke basketball history. My brother and I called each other up after the game and screamed on the phone. "Yyyyeeeeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!"
It was incredible!

[MChambers]

If Hurley's shot was the biggest in Duke basketball history (I agree that it was), Brian Davis drawing the charge on Greg Anthony shortly before that (I think) was the biggest defensive play.

[Bostondevil]

UNLV was the hated team, Duke the loveable underdogs. Most of America was rooting for us that night. Bobby Hurley yelling T. Hill after the game and jumping on his back. Great, great fun.

I was at a party and said to any and all who would listen when Johnson didn't take that last shot. He's never making the Hall of Fame. Win or lose, your 'go-to' guy has got to take that shot. When he passed it off, I knew he wasn't made of the same stuff as Larry Bird or Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan. He was a very good player that lacked the extra ingredient it takes to be great.

[Highlander]

I remember mowing grass that day, and somone asked me if I thought Duke had a shot against UNLV. I said "Nope," without a hint of uncertainty. We'd had a nice run, I fully expected us to lose, and I just didn't want us to get embarrased again. My grandfather forgot to take out his hearing aid at the end of the game, and I distinctly remember him with his hands pressed to his ears trying to mute out the screams of my entire family.

As we walked down the street to a restaurant to celebrate, a 10 year old Duke fan from down the street who had joined us said "I think we'll be favored to win against Kansas." I'd watched Duke make the Final Four and lose so many times before, I had expected the same this year, even after beating UNLV. It wasn't until that moment that I thought we might actually win on Monday.

I still believe that Duke/UNLV 1991 was and is the greatest Duke game I've ever seen. Gone in 54 seconds is a close second, with the KY game #3 (Only because I didn't see the KY game until the next day). Before the UNLV game, Duke was a preppy school and "preppies don't win National Championships" was the rule of thumb. After the UNLV game, Duke was king. So it really was a turning point game.

I still get chills thinking of Hurley launching a 3 without even running an offensive set with us down 5. Man, that guy had some serious cajones...

[hurleyfor3]

UNLV was the hated team, Duke the loveable underdogs. Most of America was rooting for us that night. Bobby Hurley yelling T. Hill after the game and jumping on his back. Great, great fun.


That was Clay Buckley's back, not T. Hill's. Followed by the camera shot of Hurley running through the bowels of the Hoosier Dome holding up one finger, not in the "We're #1" sense but in the "one more game to play" sense.

Clay didn't play against unlv but still provided one hell of an assist.

[Highlander]

This story was from one of K's books, but since we're talking about the UNLV game, I'll paraphrase....

After the '91 UNLV game, Coach K tore into the team before their next practice because they were joking and soaking up the afterglow of their win over UNLV. Bobby Hurley jokingly told the coach that he was "tired" and needed a piggy back ride to get to the locker room.

He said they were acting like they'd already won the championship, when in fact they hadn't won anything yet. He told the team that the would not beat an excellent team like Kansas with that kind of attitude, no matter what the newspapers said. Then he left the locker room to let his words sink in. When he went back in, it was empty. He walked out to the court, and the entire team was standing there, silently waiting. K said that it was at that moment that he knew they would win the National Championship.