To give the devil his due, they very well may have.
Sunday’s NCAA tournament was, to use the technical term, bananas.
After Duke thoroughly abused Connecticut in the post for the better part of 30 minutes, the Huskies leaned into the group where they where far superior, at the guard spots. They eventually clawed their way back from 19 down, and were facing a two-point deficit with exactly 10 seconds remaining.
What happened next you simply could not script; a Hollywood producer would laugh you out of the office.
Many are considering it the greatest buzzer beater in NCAA tournament history. However, it is still lagging behind others that fans consider more iconic.
Laettner’s turn-and-shoot to upend Kentucky and earn their trip to the Final Four is getting far more love.
Of course, there is Tyus Edney’s iconic three-second, coast-to-coast layup, where he was hitting track speeds out there with a sweet behind the back dribble — and it was a layup that would preserve the season, as the Bruins went on to claim the national title later that year.
There was also the most fortuitous airball in history, that functioned as an unguarded alley-oop and made Jimmy V a legend.
In the “pure cinema” department, we had dueling buzzer beaters from UNC and Villanova in the 2016 national title game. The whole game was a treat, honestly.
It doesn’t get much more legendary than a title-winner against Georgetown, where Freshman Michael Jordan would help claim the ring for North Carolina and then launch the legacy of the greatest ever.
So many great options. Perhaps nostalgia is coloring perceptions. Because Braylon Mullin’s game winner over the No. 1 Devils is faring no better than third:
But I would argue that it is the greatest buzzer beater in history. There were high stakes, two of the most decorated programs in history, the No. 1 team in the country, and especially the execution.
Think about all that had to go right in ten seconds:
- UConn had to set up a perfect backcourt trap, beginning with the baseline inbound, and always rotating two men to pressure the ball.
- They were then able to get a fingernail on a clearance pass by the presumptive national player of the year.
- Mullins was then smart enough to not run to it, rather to let the tipped ball cross halfcourt to avoid the turnover.
- Mullins then got the pass up-court instantly to the most decorated point guard in the Huskies’ history to put the ball in play.
- What does Karaban do with the opportunity for a 26-foot game-winning attempt. Shoot it? Nope. Karaban still had to wherewithal to know there was a trailing open shooter behind him for a better look, albeit a deeper attempt.
- Then, of course, a true freshman who had gone 0-for-4 on the night had to bury the 38-footer. And it wasn’t even a question. It was a perfect shot.
This was not the product of one man, one superstar, changing the trajectory of a game. It was a team-wide, well-coached, superbly-executed, buzzer beater. And what made it so terrifying was how calmly the chaos was managed. We’ve seen this before: Nick Saban was notorious for being able to field teams who didn’t panic, who manufactured “luck,” who had prepared for practically every contingency under the sun…who made it look so easy.
Absolute magic.
I loathe Danny Hurley. But that was special, and it was the most well-coached and well-executed max-pressure play I’ve ever seen in a college basketball game. And, for my money, it is the greatest that we’ve seen.
What’s your vote?
