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

[Husky25]

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.

I understand your point but it only holds true if (and only if) for made three point attempts. UK was 5 for 16 from behind the arc. Calipari was hoping he could steal the ball.

Incidentally, Iowa State never got closer than 4 in the second half (2:24) and UConn never lead by 1 at any point in the game, according to the play by play. I remember this as well. I remember standing in section 218 and thinking as long as UConn kept it a 2 possession game, I wouldn't worry as much that Hogue initiated the lay-up line down the stretch. That kid gave me agita, which was only made worse by the lack of provisions to maintain my pre-game buzz.

 

[Rico444]

Kentucky was playing very good defense in the 2nd half. I didn't know for sure until Kromah hit his first free throw. He's had his struggles from the line this year, but once he hit the first I knew the 2nd was going in. Then I knew Kentucky would have to take a 3, and that our guards wouldn't let them get a clean look.

 

[Onions]

I understand your point but it only holds true if (and only if) for made three point attempts. UK was 5 for 16 from behind the arc. Calipari was hoping he could steal the ball.

Incidentally, Iowa State never got closer than 4 in the second half (2:24) and UConn never lead by 1 at any point in the game, according to the play by play. I remember this as well. I remember standing in section 218 and thinking as long as UConn kept it a 2 possession game, I wouldn't worry as much that Hogue initiated the lay-up line down the stretch. That kid gave me agita, which was only made worse by the lack of provisions to maintain my pre-game buzz.

I'll take your word for it on the IS game, I know it felt closer than 4 from my seat. I still don't get the UK decision - down 4 and if you don't foul you get 1 possession in the last minute, which is the way it turned out. Every possession is an opportunity to turn us over, limit the possessions and you limit your opportunity's. Uconn's ability to hit FTs made us tough to catch from behind but letting that fear cause you to basically throw in the towel is crazy.

 

[Inyatkin]

What was worse, Kentucky not fouling down by four with under a minute left, or James Young deciding to leave Lasan Kromah all alone under the basket down by four with under a minute left. Neither one worked out too well.

 

[Husky25]

I'll take your word for it on the IS game, I know it felt closer than 4 from my seat. I still don't get the UK decision - down 4 and if you don't foul you get 1 possession in the last minute, which is the way it turned out. Every possession is an opportunity to turn us over, limit the possessions and you limit your opportunity's. Uconn's ability to hit FTs made us tough to catch from behind but letting that fear cause you to basically throw in the towel is crazy.

I don't disagree. Can't even make the case that Calipari pulled a Tihonov (Didn't pull his goalie in the Miracle on Ice game). Kentucky's freshmen weren't 39-0 entering the game and Calipari has lost 286 games over the course of his career. He knows how to play the last few minutes of games when down a couple hoops.

 

[August_West]

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.

 

[HooHusky]

With under 2 minutes to go, when I realized uk would not foul.

This. Until then, no way I could relax.

 

[RichZ]

Tip-off. By that game, I was in full on believe mode.

 

[arnie3]

It may sound crazy, but I felt the same way that I felt when we played GT- we were going to win. I didn't know or care by how many. I just knew that they were going to take care of business. Usually I dread watching because I'm so nervous. This time I couldn't wait until tip-off. And when tip-off came, I knew that the freshmen wanted to play anyone but UConn. It showed. As Calipari said-"They were scared to death"

 

[dandar]

5 minutes to go UConn with the lead and Kentucky players looking at the clock. I knew we wouldn't let the lead get away.

 

[Huskies320]

Lasan's 2 FT's. No way we would've missed free throws even if they had made that first 3 pointer with like 15 seconds left

 

[Edward Sargent]

There are some games where you just never know, with confidence, which way it will go until the final buzzer sounds. There are others where you might get a strong sense of confidence at a certain point in the game. For me, that feeling occurred within the first couple of minutes, when it became obvious that Kentucky's size was not going to intimidate us, and that our quickness and experience were the trump cards. The other thing that made me feel good was how quickly everyone got involved.

I knew after we beat MSU and Florida back to back that we would beat Kentucky. It took a whole season but we finally realized how to turn OUR size and speed to our advantage. Now if that had been Lville we would be facing in the finals another story. Its all about match ups. Oh and I was never worried about "Coach" Cal making tweaks to his game plan to deal with us. Guy can't coach his way out of a corner. Izzo, Donovan or Pitino scared me and KO outcoached 2 of 3.

 

[PacificStorm]

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.

I agree with you. After the huge win against Florida, I watched a replay of the 5 Kentucky victories leading up to the title game. I was actually disappointed since they appeared slow, especially the PGs, and their defense was not stellar and that their wins were obtained by small margins. They barely scraped by whereas Uconn always won convincingly except for the St. Joe's win by way of a magical Houdini escape act courtesy of Amida. Bazz obviously felt the same as he revealed in an interview after the win. He said that on the eve of that game he stayed in his hotel for the most part and truly believed in his heart and mind that they would win and even PREPARED A SPEECH. What he said on live at the celebration that " this is what happens when you ban us" was not by any means an afterthought.

 

[Waquoit]

Ironically, Calipari did his homework. He said in the postgame he saw UConn's performance from the line.

That was baloney. Our FT shooting notwithstanding, tell me one UConn fan that wasn't thrilled when they realized UK wasn't fouling.

 

[UConn17]

We won the National Championship?

 

[EricLA]

Probably the last minute or so. Once Kentucky started fouling, I knew it was over. Our FT shooting was too good for them to make a come back. I had a few friends over watching it and when Daniels hit his shot with about 3 minutes left they were like "Booyeah - game over". I just about punched them in the face.

 

[Husky25]

That was baloney. Our FT shooting notwithstanding, tell me one UConn fan that wasn't thrilled when they realized UK wasn't fouling.

Can only tell you what the man said. Was he making excuses? Probably. But no one wants to be to blame for losing the National Championship. Least of all someone making $5.5 mill + bonuses.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Kromah's free throws.

Exactly. (I guess both of us remember DM)

 

[joober jones]

For me, this was one hell of a crazy championship game. I was on a business trip out in South Dakota and was supposed to be there through Tuesday. Things ended more quickly than expected and I was leaving for a connecting flight out of Detroit just as the game was beginning. I called my wife and had her set up the DVR that morning and during the flight, I kept having to cover my ears every time the flight crew would give us an update about the game. I had to keep up the same act at baggage claim and on the shuttle going to the parking lot.

I probably looked like a nutcase, but I managed to watch the game spoiler-free.

 

[huskyblooz]

When Squid gave up.

 

[huskiesnyc]

I felt confident about 3 days after the championship watching Shabazz say "you're looking at the Hungry Huskies!!!" for the thousandth time.

 

[gtcam]

Once UConn made the NC game I knew they would carry the hardware home
UConn just doesn't lose NC games
Never Have Never Will

 

[mjmoney23]

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

I darn near scared my coworkers to death at that point!...

This right here minus the coworker thing. Although I did think for a minute I broke the fan in my living room after carelessly jumping up and down and hitting it with my hand.

 

[Scoe]

Listening to coach KO going into halftime, when that reporter mentioned how UK is a 2nd half team then Ollie got mad and raised his voice "well were a 2nd half team too and whatever Kentucky is were gonna take it a step higher". Hearing KO going into the locker room made me confident every time, just imagine hearing what he said in the locker room at halftime. There were a couple telling moments, when Boatright stayed in with the sprained ankle, the jump ball from Kromah, the run in the 2nd half with Shabazz on the bench.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I knew we were going to win when Kromah got fouled. I knew uk was in trouble when the twins looked lost against our guards early on. Bazz n Boat looked so much faster than the twins and they simply couldn't adjust or keep up. If not for the zone uk probably gets humiliated on national television.