Boy, ESPN has been replaying our 30 for 30 a lot this week.
I have seen so many times and have it on DVD as well, but actually watched it again the other night in its entirety for fun.
Every time I watch it, if you watch the game action away from the ball you can see some very interesting things that just played into our favor.
First off, just major kudos to George McClain for coming off the bench in OT in the Pepperdine game after Sidney fouls out and playing as good as he did. A killer pass to Thurl on a fast break dunk, a steal, and he had fouls to give and did a great job fouling and stopping the clock to put Pepperdine on the line.
What an underappreciated performance on his part, but we don't advance without him coming off the bench and playing as well as he did. He really came in and played aggressively, which would be a hard thing to do in that situation, but was really needed to get us back in that game.
Secondly, I always knew Olajuwan had gotten tired with about ten minutes to go and had to put the oxygen mask on because of the altitude. But if you go back and watch him specifically over the last 5 minutes away from the ball you will notice he is barely making it up and down the court. And he's flat footed on about every play.
He is really gassed, not just physically but looks to be even mentally gassed, and I had never really put two and two together, but that had to be a big reason why he doesn't go up for the ball when Whitt takes the last shot. He just doesn't have anything left in him when that ball goes up, and even though he says in the 30 for 30 he was worried about goal tending, I think there was a lot more to it than that.
Which brings me to my last point. The game was tied, so even if Lo does not make the dunk, we go to OT.
I think with Drexler out and Olajuwan gassed, I think we would have taken them in OT.
We had all of the momentum, and might have even blown them out in OT. I think they were shell shocked with the comeback we had just made.
Another fun fact, Max Perry actually came in with the same class with Lowe, Bailey and Whitt as a Sophomore transfer from Oklahoma. So he was 1 year removed as a player as a grad assistant in 83', but came in with that Senior class. I think he is fantastic in the 30 for 30.
Anyway, just a thought on this first day of the NCAA tournament....and God bless George McClain!
I have seen so many times and have it on DVD as well, but actually watched it again the other night in its entirety for fun.
Every time I watch it, if you watch the game action away from the ball you can see some very interesting things that just played into our favor.
First off, just major kudos to George McClain for coming off the bench in OT in the Pepperdine game after Sidney fouls out and playing as good as he did. A killer pass to Thurl on a fast break dunk, a steal, and he had fouls to give and did a great job fouling and stopping the clock to put Pepperdine on the line.
What an underappreciated performance on his part, but we don't advance without him coming off the bench and playing as well as he did. He really came in and played aggressively, which would be a hard thing to do in that situation, but was really needed to get us back in that game.
Secondly, I always knew Olajuwan had gotten tired with about ten minutes to go and had to put the oxygen mask on because of the altitude. But if you go back and watch him specifically over the last 5 minutes away from the ball you will notice he is barely making it up and down the court. And he's flat footed on about every play.
He is really gassed, not just physically but looks to be even mentally gassed, and I had never really put two and two together, but that had to be a big reason why he doesn't go up for the ball when Whitt takes the last shot. He just doesn't have anything left in him when that ball goes up, and even though he says in the 30 for 30 he was worried about goal tending, I think there was a lot more to it than that.
Which brings me to my last point. The game was tied, so even if Lo does not make the dunk, we go to OT.
I think with Drexler out and Olajuwan gassed, I think we would have taken them in OT.
We had all of the momentum, and might have even blown them out in OT. I think they were shell shocked with the comeback we had just made.
Another fun fact, Max Perry actually came in with the same class with Lowe, Bailey and Whitt as a Sophomore transfer from Oklahoma. So he was 1 year removed as a player as a grad assistant in 83', but came in with that Senior class. I think he is fantastic in the 30 for 30.
Anyway, just a thought on this first day of the NCAA tournament....and God bless George McClain!
