Laettner: One of the best

February 26, 2010
college basketball, duke basketball
 

I haven’t written about basketball this season, though I hope to post my yearly Duke-Carolina post next week prior to the season finale next weekend and the obligatory March Madness post(s). However, there was one thing this week that I was compelled to mention, and to no one’s surprise, it does involve Duke basketball.

The word came this week that former Duke player Christian Laettner will be enshrined in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame this year.

While the haters probably will try to explain this away with some irrational conspiracy theory about Duke favoritism (since that’s the way they explain all Duke basketball success), there is simply no arguing that this guy is one of the best and most accomplished college basketball players in history.

And this honor is well-deserved.

Laettner had an outstanding career at Duke, which included ACC and national championships as well as multiple individual awards. He even got the better of Shaquille O’Neal in two regular season meetings with LSU. But it was easy to see that he seemed most at home on the stage that is March Madness. His freshman year, Duke faced Georgetown in the elite eight with a Final Four trip on the line. Laettner thoroughly outplayed the Hoyas’ super-freshman Alonzo Mourning as Duke eliminated top-seed Georgetown and earned a trip to the Final Four, something Laettner would do in all four of his seasons at Duke.

Laettner has played in more NCAA tournament games than any player in history (23 of a possible 24), and managed to lead the Blue Devils to back to back national championships in 1991 and 1992. He was particularly remarkable in regional final games. When a trip to the Final Four was on the line, Laettner came up big. No, not big. HUGE. Check out the stat lines for Laettner’s four regional finals:
 

Georgetown 1989

  • 9-10 FG
  • 6-7 FT
  • 9 RB
  • 24 pts
 Connecticut 1990

  • 7-8 FG
  • 9-11 FT
  • 5 RB
  • 23 pts
 St. Johns 1991

  • 5-6 FG (0-1 3FG)
  • 9-9 FT
  • 5 RB
  • 19 pts
 Kentucky 1992

  • 10-10 FG (1-1 3FG)
  • 10-10 FT
  • 7 RB
  • 31 pts
source: Duke Basketball Database
 

I should also mention at this point that in two of those games – Connecticut in 1990 and Kentucky in 1992 – with Duke down by one in overtime, Laettner hit a buzzer-beater to keep the season alive and send the Devils to the Final Four.

The totals from those four games:

  • Wins 4, Losses 0
  • Field goals 31-34 (91%)!!!
  • Free throws 34-37 (92%)!
  • Rebounds 26
  • Points 97

That, my friends, is domination. Those are the stats of a winner. And despite Laettner’s difficult personality (even some of his teammates weren’t crazy about him), he got things done on the court. He was one of the best.

Congratulations, Christian. You earned a place among the best, and now it will be officially recognized.

And so I take this opportunity to watch for what seems like the millionth time what I still believe to be the greatest play in college basketball history to end the greatest game in college basketball history.

 

 
Go Duke!

-gf
 

Tags: ,

 

Leave a Reply