Out of Bounds
Duke
The annual activities following
the NCAA Tournament are in full
swing now, as fans complete filling
out their official NCAA brackets,
prizes get handed to the fans with
the most accurate bracket
predictions and the winners and
losers of the tournament head
home to their fans with differing
attitudes. There is even talk of who
will be cutting down the nets next
year. But above all these March
Madness rituals, there stands one;
reminiscing of a tournament of
surprises, upsets, big-time players,
and collegiate athletes that leave
their hearts and souls on the
basketball court for one thing, the
glory of a national championship.
Because of all this, March
Madness continues to be one of the
greatest spectacles in all of sports.
1999, for sure, couldn’t have fallen
short of anyone’s expectations for
the drama and excitement that the
tournament provides.
The NCAA Championship game
between Duke and Connecticut
proved to be the highlight of this
year’s tournament. The
questioning entering the game was,
Down to the Wire...
UConn Defeats Duke To Win
By John Akers
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - As
a nation might have noticed
Monday, Connecticut had quite
a game plan for top-ranked and
seemingly invincible Duke.
It should have. The plan that
led to UConn’s 77-74 victory
and a national title that
"shocked the world," as CBS
announcers put it, was five
months in the making.
The effective double-teams
on national player of the year
Elton Brand, the pressure on
Trajan Langdon and the
continuous drives by the
Huskies' Richard Hamilton and
others were all notes scribbled
on small blue cards by Coach
Jim Calhoun.
"Starting in November, I
started watching games and
taking notes," Calhoun said. "I
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vs. UConn: One for the
“what does UConn have to do to have
a chance at beating Duke?” The
answer for the Huskies was to play
perfect basketball. And that they did.
UConn shocked the nation by
beating the unbeatable, 77-74. A 32-
game winning streak snapped. An
unlikely champion crowned.
Any fan that “honestly saw it
coming,” is lying. What do they have
to lose? If Duke wins, it was expected
by everyone. If UConn wins, they are
the smartest basketball fans on earth.
The only Americans that “honesdy saw
it coming” were UConn coach Jim
Calhoun and his Huskies.
For Duke, it happened at the worst
possible time. The Blue Devils had no
let downs for 32 straight games.
Looking somewhat vulnerable the
game before against Michigan State,
Duke was still able to prove they were
clutch. Anytime the Spartans slowly
closed the gap, Duke quickly opened
it back up.
Because of this ability to dominate
at will, the Blue Devils were halfway
in the historical spotlight. But with
UConn’s cutting down of the nets, they
also cut down Duke’s hopes of a solid
place in history.
took notes on Cincinnati when I
thought they were the best team, and
then on Duke."
Calhoun gave his Huskies - ranked
No. 1 for more weeks than the Blue
Devils - more of a chance than most
of the country had given them. A
blowout seemed more in order to
many observers, though this was the
first pairing of two
of the nation's top three teams in a
championship game since the
Michigan State-Indiana State final in
1979. Duke and UConn were tied 14
times and never separated by more
than seven points.
Connecticut's game plan primarily
called for three things:
-Make Langdon bring the ball up
court rather than allow point guard
William Avery to do so.
-Double-team Brand with another
big man and always rotate with the
same players, to avoid confusion.
-Try to lure Duke's big defenders
away from the basket and then drive
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UConn’s Richard Hamilton secured
himself a promising basketball future
with an incredible performance in both
Final Four games. His 27 points in the
championship played huge in the
Huskies win. In the eyes of all point
them to the basket.
Calhoun, who said he thought his
players were faster and that they had
a greater depth of good defenders than
did Duke, also pulled off a surprise
by relaying the information Sunday
in a shoot-around rather than a tough
practice.
"The only thing we needed was to
tell them what to do," Calhoun said.
"We wanted to give them a couple of
things to hold onto."
The Huskies retained the
information well. Nearly every
UConn basket came off drives.
Richard Hamilton, the All-AmericaN
forward, earned most of his 27 points
that way. Langdon, hounded by
defensive specialist Ricky Moore, had
to work extremely hard for his 25
points, and Brand, always surrounded
by Jake Voskuhl and a UConn
forward, had to work harder for his
15 points and 13 rebounds. The Blue
Devils rarely found the three-point
shooter who was open on the
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guards, “with every great player,
comes a great point guard.” Khalid
El-Amin proved that tall, physically
strong and defined athletes aren’t the
only ones that can play basketball.
Rather, short, strong-willed people
perimeter because of the double
teams.
"It really should have opened up
more for us," Duke Coach Mike
Krzyzewski said. "I don't know if we
made enough good reads initially."
All that said, the Blue Devils still
had several chances to win their 33rd
game in a row and their third NCAA
title in the 19905.
The Blue Devils, trailing 75-74,
had about 25 seconds remaining
when they regained the ball after
Brand blocked Khalid El-Amin's
shot. In the first crucial decision,
Krzyzewski elected not to call a
timeout.
"We have the whole momentum
of the game," Krzyzewski said. "We
had just done a positive thing in
stopping them. To me, we have the
advantage now. If we call timeout,
we give them the advantage."
The ball never left the hands of
Langdon, though that meant it
would always be challenged by the
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Thursday, April 1,1999 - The Behrend College Beacon - page 11
IA SON SNYDER
can make the unlikeliest of
champions.
Short and chubby players aren’t
supposed to move like El-Amin has
throughout the tournament. But he
could be considered the poster boy
point guard. His ability to see the
court and find the open man is above
most others. Put him in a lineup and
have someone pick out the basketball
player, he might be chosen last. Put
him on the court and he will pick you
a national champion.
UConn, however, wasn’t the only
surprise this March. Cinderella’s
slipper seemed to fit for many teams
in the early rounds including
Gonzaga, Southwest Missouri State,
Oklahoma and Weber State. Weber
State bowed out in the second round,
but not before they eliminated
“recruiting powerhouse” North
Carolina. Southwest Missouri State
and Oklahoma also provided some
upsets as they both advanced to the
Sweet 16.
The biggest story of the Cinderella
teams was about Gonzaga. After
scandal hit the Minnesota basketball
program, Gonzaga had an easy ride
through the first round. They were
National Title
defensive skills of Moore. The Blue
Devils might have looked for
another avenue, perhaps Brand
against a double-team, but they
didn't.
"Absolutely, positively,
absolutely I want Trajan Langdon
to take that shot," Krzyzewski said.
"I'll win or lose with Trajan
Langdon.”
"I'll walk down any road with
Trajan Langdon. It's a set play we've
run many times. Most times it's
successful. Tonight, it wasn't. I'm
fine with that. It's the way it should
be."
Langdon tried to free himself
from Moore with the dribble but
couldn't. Finally, he dipped his left
shoulder to try to create some room.
Instead, he was called for
traveling.
"It was him against me," Moore
said. "I stayed solid and stayed
down. I didn't go for any spin moves
or head fakes. I got the travel, and
April 9
ages
then to face #2 Stanford, who was
expected to go far. The slipper fit
again, 82-74. They would then defeat
Florida to go to the Elite Eight and
fell five points short, to UConn, from
advancing to the Final Four.
The Final Four didn’t disappoint,
as Ohio State made an unexpected
appearance. The Buckeyes went from
the worst in the Big Ten only one year
ago, with a record of 8-22, to the best
team in the South Region. Finally
some good news for Buckeye coach
Jim O’Brien who has dealt with
tragedy and bad luck in recent years.
March Madness ’99 lived up to its
name. From nailbiters to scandal,
from upsets to unlikely champions,
these college athletes continue to
show up the overpaid professionals.
To watch the celebrations and the
importance of basketball to these
players is beyond words. Those pile
ons are for real. The emotions aren’t
empty. And you know these players
would give up anything to do it again.
Snyder is the sports editor for the
Beacon. Out of Bounds appears
weekly on this page.
we got the ball back."
Langdon: "I might have
traveled, I might not. That's not
the game. There's a million plays
that affected the outcome. I'm not
going to hang my head on that
play."
When Duke tied the score 66-
66 with 4:50 remaining, UConn's
Khalid El-Amin hit a runner to
regain the lead. After Langdon hit
a 23-footer to pull the Blue Devils
to within 73-72 with 1:42
remaining, El-Amin hit a floater
with three seconds left on the shot
clock and 1:03 on the game clock.
El-Amin also hit the Huskies’ final
free throws.
"You have to give them an
immense amount of credit for
making big plays, because we
made big plays," Krzyzewski said.
"It was a possession-for
possession game."
It was an absolutely, positively,
entertaining national title game.
SPRING 1999