Rewatching UK vs. Syracuse 1996 NCAA Championship

August 20, 2011

  • The opening tip ricochets off multiple people from both teams and rolls out of bounds. I think that was the first and last time that ever happened. Or maybe it was a 90s thing.
  • The 2-3 zone. I love how its identity is now intertwined with Syracuse, and vice versa. It’s always more fun when two things are linked so closely together they feel exclusive to each other, even as it’s actually being shared/used by everyone else. That sentence made it sound like I just finished watching a Bachelorette episode, which of course I must steadfastly deny.
  • Love watching UK break down the zone. Using many of the fundamental principles – posting a man on the free throw line, mainly Walker and Pope, and planting the other on the baseline. But what makes it so wonderful to watch is UK’s passing in the lanes. It’s all zipping chest passes or angled bounce passes, movement more reminiscent of a soccer team than a basketball unit.
  • For a long stretch in mid-first half, everything I said about UK’s ability to break down the zone is now untrue. Rushing, aimless drives, wild shots.
  • Meanwhile, UK has its own trademark defense, the fullcourt press. There’s so much gambling. Players in the backcourt are free to anticipate the pass and jump the route — UK’s cornerbacks were probably taking lessons at the time — and while it sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t, that aggressiveness is what made the defense work. And even when UK got burned, the other players made scrambling look orderly and choreographed. A beauty to watch.
  • Syracuse breaks the press twice in a row with two full-court bombs. If you can’t go through it, and can’t go around it, just go over it.
  • Officials make a continuation call that even LeBron James would question. Regardless, Syracuse gets the and-one. Jim Boeheim, looking like a tenured English professor, gets a nerdy fist pump and Rick Pitino, looking like a man whose first and only championship is mere hours in the future, gets to wave away his incredulity.
  • CBS gets to bring out this nugget: the two teams were 1-2 in the nation for average home attendance. UK averaged 23,895 fans. Syracuse averaged 22,728.
  • Billy Packer just called Syracuse senior center John Wallace the next version of Danny Manning, the star able to carry his team to a championship on his shoulders alone. He has 10 points and 4 rebounds in first 12 minutes. Regardless of how dominating Wallace is (UPDATE: he gets even more dominant as the game progresses), Syracuse is failing the name recognition test horribly. It’s two best players, Wallace and Lazarus Sims, don’t even begin to ring the faintest bell for me. Except for Sims, because, well, you know. The Bible.
  • Tony Delk, valiantly trying to guard the hoop, hacks Otis Hill, who promptly turns parallel to the court and smashes down. Minutes later, UK goes into halftime up 42-33 on a Syracuse team that didn’t start the year in the Top 25.
  • Coming back from a TV timeout in the second half, the camera pans to people on the scaffolding high above the floor. Sideline reporter notifies us that the roof is leaking due to the rain outside in three different spots, and that wet spots on the floor resulting from the leak will simply be mopped up during breaks in play. Because a championship game is not the one game to make sure nothing screws up the outcome.
  • Tony Delk, who is again carrying the team along with Ron Mercer, has hit six three-pointers, one shy of the championship record. However, Billy Packer gently reminds UK has forgotten about him, and could you correct your mistake, please. No less than 32 seconds later (but no more than 87 second later), Delk drills a three from the corner. And, it was an and-one. Bench mob goes wild! Billy Packer is a prophet!
  • UK has led virtually the entire game. Similar to the UMass game, Syracuse makes a couple runs, but never ties. The closest the Orangemen get is two points, but Lazarus goes down with an injury. There’s no savior around to immediately help, and with him out of the game, UK extends the lead back to six points. Later in the game, Anthony Epps — who Pitino made the starting point guard earlier in the year — draws a charge with 2:30 to go and UK up seven points, bringing the Cats closer to the title.
  • But not before CBS does the obligatory flashback, procuring highlights from the 1978 title team, led by Jack Givens. I feel like I’m in an MC Esher painting. Or a picture-in-picture, except in the fourth dimension of time. It’s me looking at a recent UK championship, which while live looked at a recent UK championship of its own.
  • UK does not back down on defense as the game winds down. Up five with 1:19 to go, Delk goes for a steal at half court, guarding his man by himself. The missed gamble gives Syracuse a 4-on-3 advantage, but Mark Pope reaches into a passing lane and gets a tip steal.
  • To ice the game, Delk decides to abandon all pretense of good sportsmanship and goes for a wide-open layup with 2.1 seconds on the clock. And I love it. It’s the final game of the season. Why just stand there with a ball in your hands as the clock melts down when you can a) pad your stats, which is important given that your stat line will be the most widely seen because you’re the MVP, and b) celebrate as its meant to be done, by continuing to play the game instead of acting like you’re too moralistic for the moment? Delk will

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