For decades, one of the most iconic moments in college basketball history has seemingly been in the head of Rick Pitino. Now, with an opportunity to forget that, the Hall of Fame coach still talks about it.
The reference, of course, is to the 1992 game between Duke and Kentucky, a game remembered by Christian Laettner’s buzzer-beater to beat Kentucky and remain one of the greatest shots in NCAA Tournament history.
“I’ve been on winning at the buzzer and losing at the buzzer,” Pitino said. “... You win some, you lose some. But, I’m hoping we can get Duke at the buzzer next to make up for that Christian Laettner shot.”
Pitino has been on both sides of great finishes, including Sunday night against Kansas, but the Laettner shot is perhaps the biggest one in NCAA history.
Coach K. responded to his comment on Monday, and it was pretty funny that he brought up that none of these kids probably know about it.
“It happened 34 years ago. None of these kids, including the international players, were born yet,” Krzyzewski said on the Pat McAfee Show. “Rick is really smart, he’s one of the best ever. I’m sure he brought that up just to get it out of the way. I will tell you this—one of the most impressive things he ever did was the way he handled that game, not just coaching the game, but what he did afterwards. He celebrated what was a devastating defeat. I’ve always admired what he did with that game.”
Facing Duke again will be a lot of fun for Pitino, but this is more about what Duke needs to do to win the game. St. John’s is very talented and has a chance to win it all, but Duke is the better team on paper.
As college basketball fans have found out for a very long time now, Pitino knows how to win. Even if his team isn’t as good as the one on the other sideline, his boys won’t go down without a fight. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Duke lose this game considering what we’ve seen from St. John’s under Pitino.