From: oday@lobster.gsfc.nasa.gov  (Orin Day)
Subject: Re: Necessity of a Big Man
Reply-To: oday@lobster.gsfc.nasa.gov  (Orin Day)
Organization: Goddard Space Flight Center
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 16:04:12 GMT

In article <1992Sep11.145759.18898@random.ccs.northeastern.edu>  
gary@ccs.northeastern.edu (Gary Duhaney) writes:
> Kentucky lost because of their own stupidity.  Did Pitino actually think
> that only Chrisy and Mr. Furley 'scuse me Laettner & Hurley could make
> that kind of pass.

I don't think that many people in the stadium thought he would make such
a perfect pass, myself included.  Nor did anybody think Laettner would
put it on the floor!

> Does anyone remember whether Hill could move along the baseline or did he
> have to pass from where the ref put him??

Duke called a time out after a made basket, so I think they kept the 
chance to move.  I don't remember if UK called a TO or not.  I was
still in shock from Kentucky's near game-winner.  At least the team
wasn't.

> There should have been someone on the baseline making it very hard for
> Grant Hill to deliver such a perfect pass.
>
> Since Grant was making the pass obviously the ball could go to only
> Laettner (Hurley's too short to make such a long pass to).  Which is
> why Pitino chose to have two guys on Laettner.

But there were only 5 players on Kentucky.  Are you suggesting that
you leave somebody else unguarded?  If you put a man on the baseline,
then you have somebody only in front of Laettner, or behind him.  
I don't think a zone would be appropriate given Duke's range.  But
in any case, you can't have it both ways.  I don't fault Pitino's
coaching for the loss, either.  Perfect execution will beat coaching
9 times out of 10, at least.  

BEGIN DIATRIBE...
Unless Lenny Wirtz is involved.  That damn zombie probably would have
called a walk, or a touch foul, or anything to get his ugly mug on TV.
I bet his munchkin wife has hair all over her face.
END DIATRIBE.      

> I believe both were shorter.  What were they both doing behind him?
> Did they actually expect to block his shot, or scare him into missing.
> At least one, whoever had the better vertical should have been in front,
> then maybe he could at best deflect the ball so that the clock would
> start, and Laettner wouldn't have had the chance to get off a shot like
> that.

Think Pitino thought about Laettner's percentage from the field vs. his
free throw shooting percentage, perhaps?  (Though both were 100% THAT day)
Would you want to be the player who sent him to the line down 1 with no
time left?  I don't think he'd pull another Arizona his senior year,
quite frankly, and neither did they.

> No I dont think you can blame Kentucky's lack of a "true college center" 
> for their 1 point loss to Duke in overtime.

Think Laettner would have been 10-10 from the field if they had
such a player?  Or sent to the line as often?  Or even still in the
game?  Duke scored over 100 points before Laettner's shot, you know...

Orin

--
************* "Four Words - Touch the Puppet Head" ***************
Orin Day, Code 664.1                    oday@lobster.gsfc.nasa.gov
Hughes STX/NASA       GSFC Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics
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