At what point in the championship game did you know we would win?

[Waquoit]

When Boatright came racing out of the pack with that last rebound.

That was when it kicked in for me as well.

When I knew for sure we were going to be all right was that early dunk by DD.

 

[dogpause]

OP, before I answer, please explain this: http://the-boneyard.com/threads/daniels-boatright-decision.59385/page-4#post-947878

I read through just a part of the discussion and got the idea it was a prediction thread. I always take a positive approach to those, thus my prediction. I still think they're both staying and will announce today.

 

[Inyatkin]

Five seconds left when our players started jumping around.
Teams of destiny lose all the time. Butler 2011? Come on.

 

[OkaForPrez]

I read through just a part of the discussion and got the idea it was a prediction thread. I always take a positive approach to those, thus my prediction. I still think they're both staying and will announce today.

BOOOOOOOOO!

 

[uconNYC]

Honestly - from the start. After how we dismantled Florida did not feel Kentucky could beat us. Was not a moment in the Championship game where I was really worried, mostly because our FT shooting is so good.

 

[tcf15]

I read through just a part of the discussion and got the idea it was a prediction thread. I always take a positive approach to those, thus my prediction. I still think they're both staying and will announce today.

This guy...

 

[Dooley]

As soon as my friend texted me that he rode the elevator with Calhoun on game day morning and heard him say that he didn't see how Kentucky could play with us. I put all of my confidence eggs in this basket and it paid off!

 

[4UConn]

I started feeling more comfortable when Giffey made the 3 with six minutes left. I believe the score was 48-47, then the Shabazz 3 followed by the Giffey 3. Nantz was great at the end of the game..."tapped into the hands of Boatright...". Of the four championship games, this was a close second to 1999!

 

[J-dog]

I read through just a part of the discussion and got the idea it was a prediction thread. I always take a positive approach to those, thus my prediction. I still think they're both staying and will announce today.

Damn… I thought you were privy to something the way you boldly stated they were both coming back… Hope you're right...

 

[TheRogers]

Last rebound got tapped to Boat.

TheRogers almost spiked his 2 year old daughter on the bed since I was in the process of keeping her and her brother from fighting. Kids did not know why daddy was dancing for joy shortly after since he was in bed the whole day with the flu.

 

[intlzncster]

After beating Flordia and the business like manner of the team…….there is a difference between "knowing" and being sure, but I had a great feeling, I'd say the best of all the NC's honestly!

In 2004, I thought we'd win by 20. Duke was the Final.

 

[amory]

I knew we'd be champions once the Florida game was over. Embraced the underdog role and didn't want to be too confident and ruin the mojo, but come on.

We don't lose in NCAA championship games. It literally has never happened.

 

[OkaForPrez]

As soon as my friend texted me that he rode the elevator with Calhoun on game day morning and heard him say that he didn't see how Kentucky could play with us. I put all of my confidence eggs in this basket and it paid off!

Calhoun was seriously saying that to everyone at the Hyatt, I was hearing it everywhere. We befriended a father and son, Mike & Mike, who knew Blaney. Blaney said we were lucky it was UK because there were "far less problems to deal with"

 

[UConNation]

As soon as my friend texted me that he rode the elevator with Calhoun on game day morning and heard him say that he didn't see how Kentucky could play with us. I put all of my confidence eggs in this basket and it paid off!

That was a Doppleganger... Calhoun takes the stairs.

 

[WlfdHusky]

At the beginning of the Michigan St game when they collapsed on Payne and Mich St looked lost and KO looked like he had EVERYTHING covered.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I felt we had a chance in the first few minutes as we jumped out to an early lead, they weren't killing us with physicality, and it wasn't 5 on 8.

I thought it was likely we'd win when we got up 10+ in the first half.

I felt confident we'd hang on after Giff hit a couple of 3's to push the lead to 5, giving us a bit of a cushion that we didn't really have in the second half.

I knew we would win coming out of the timeout at 0:55, up 4, and Squid's guys weren't going to foul us. That meant they would have about 20 seconds to erase a 4-point deficit, which would require them making 3's on back-to-back possessions, and would have been nearly impossible.

I really knew we would win on the ensuing possession when it took them 10 seconds of fumbling the ball around the perimeter to get it into Harrison's hands. At that point I said "they're taking way too much time", and I knew the best they could get is a broken possession.

I was certain the game was over when the other Harrison's jumper from the corner bounced high up off the rim, there was mathematically not enough time to erase a 6-point deficit.

 

[LRock34]

Before the tip. I never believed that 7 freshman could win a national title no matter how talented they were....and especially against a team with 2 starters that had already won a title.

I believed that but I voiced it to no one for fear of damaging the mojo. We were doooooomed!

 

[UconnU]

the day HCKO was hired.

 

[CTBasketball]

The minute Niels Giffey was birthed, I knew.

 

[Onions]

... I knew we would win coming out of the timeout at 0:55, up 4, and Squid's guys weren't going to foul us. That meant they would have about 20 seconds to erase a 4-point deficit, which would require them making 3's on back-to-back possessions, and would have been nearly impossible.

I really knew we would win on the ensuing possession when it took them 10 seconds of fumbling the ball around the perimeter to get it into Harrison's hands. At that point I said "they're taking way too much time", and I knew the best they could get is a broken possession.

I was shocked at UK's handling of the last minute or so. Compare that to the way Iowa State milked every possibility going down the stretch and you realize that Calipari should take an internship with Hoiberg to learn how to handle end game situations.

I was confident before the game started, I was over-confident just before UK went zone, but anyone who says they were confident for most of the second half either didn't see the game or is full of crap. But after Giffy's second 3 it started to feel pretty good, and then after Kromah hit his free throws I started to allow myself to believe, and by the time the Harrison's were throwing the ball up in a panic I was already dancing in the aisles.

 

[Gurleyman]

Boat dribbling away out of traffic with the ball. I never count my chickens. That second three was a clean look, and we were still in the one and one - that goes in, we get fouled and there's a lot of pressure to close it out. Yeah, we'd made all our FTs all tournament long, but a front end of a one and one to clinch a national championship with seven seconds left? That's a new situation - no guarantee anyone makes that.

In our 5-in-5 days run, Cuse got us to overtime by erasing a six point deficit in a blink: banking in a three, us missing the front end, and then hitting another three. We won in OT of course, but that was a stomach punch moment to have it slip away before we regrouped.

 

[Husky25]

I was shocked at UK's handling of the last minute or so. Compare that to the way Iowa State milked every possibility going down the stretch and you realize that Calipari should take an internship with Hoiberg to learn how to handle end game situations.

I was confident before the game started, I was over-confident just before UK went zone, but anyone who says they were confident for most of the second half either didn't see the game or is full of crap. But after Giffy's second 3 it started to feel pretty good, and then after Kromah hit his free throws I started to allow myself to believe, and by the time the Harrison's were throwing the ball up in a panic I was already dancing in the aisles.

Ironically, Calipari did his homework. He said in the postgame he saw UConn's performance from the line. He knew if he fouled UConn there was a better than average chance that He'd be giving up 2 free points. UConn only missed 6 of 67 free throws from the Sweet 16 on and had hit all 10 in the UK game. Fouling UConn was a guaranteed losing strategy.

 

[SubbaBub]

Almost immediately when it became clear they couldn't guard us, but was a bit nervous when they had those 3's to take the lead. After Bazz and Giffey hit back to back, it was over.

 

[Onions]

Ironically, Calipari did his homework. He said in the postgame he saw UConn's performance from the line. He knew if he fouled UConn there was a better than average chance that He'd be giving up 2 free points. UConn only missed 6 of 67 free throws from the Sweet 16 on and had hit all 10 in the UK game. Fouling UConn was a guaranteed losing strategy.

If you give up 2 free throws but then hit a 3 you gain a point. Iowa State was willing to trade foul attempts for 2 point shots and even though we kept making most of our FTs they got it down to 1. If you simply let the clock wind down you have no chance at all. Calipari was lost, it was one of the most surprising things I've ever seen in the tourney. Normally a 4 point lead with a minute to go is an eternity, this time it was just 60 seconds.

 

[Mots010]

If you give up 2 free throws but then hit a 3 you gain a point. Iowa State was willing to trade foul attempts for 2 point shots and even though we kept making most of our FTs they got it down to 1. If you simply let the clock wind down you have no chance at all. Calipari was lost, it was one of the most surprising things I've ever seen in the tourney. Normally a 4 point lead with a minute to go is an eternity, this time it was just 60 seconds.

Not to mention there's a chance we turn it over. We actually turned it over in the Mich St game I think, but then a Mich St player kicked it out of bounds. Throughout the season we did have trouble with the late game inbounds, but we seemed to have a better handle on it in the tourney.