RutgersGuy
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
(05-09-2018 10:20 AM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote: (05-08-2018 11:01 AM)RutgersGuy Wrote: Valvano (greatest run), Ewing (3 final game appearances in 4 years), Wooden (Most titles), Bill Raftery (best announcer).
(05-08-2018 02:54 PM)stever20 Wrote: Gordon Hayward would have been a lock if that shot from half court had gone in. It would have been the iconic shot of the NCAA tournament.....
Agree with both of these points. Each selection is representative of why March is so special (and, quite frankly, why there is no sporting event that comes close to matching it).
Mine would be:
Coaches: John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith and Bobby Knight.
Players: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Christian Laettner, Bill Walton and Oscar Roberston.
Bobby Knight can go to hell. If people thought Mike Rice was bad Knight made him look like Ned Flanders.
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05-09-2018 11:50 AM |
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RutgersGuy
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
(05-09-2018 10:53 AM)quo vadis Wrote: Players only:
Alcindor, Walton, Laettner ... you fill in the blank with a fourth guy, probably Russell.
And yes, I hate Laettner as much as the next guy, but he made the Final 4 all four of his years, and won two titles, and was indeed involved in many classic tournament games. To deny his place would just be ... hating.
Ewing was better than Laettner. Way more dominate.
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05-09-2018 11:52 AM |
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stever20
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
NCAA tourney though Laettner probably better than Ewing. Laettner had 4 final 4's, 3 title games, and 2 titles. played 23 NCAA tourney games. 17.7 PPG/7.4 RPG in NCAA tourney
Ewing had 3 final 4's, 2 title games, and 1 title. 18 tourney games. 14.4 PPG/8.5 RPG in NCAA tourney
I think being realistic- Laettner was close enough statistically that the 1 title difference plus the iconic shot in the NCAA tourney makes the difference.
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05-09-2018 12:03 PM |
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RutgersGuy
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
(05-09-2018 12:03 PM)stever20 Wrote: NCAA tourney though Laettner probably better than Ewing. Laettner had 4 final 4's, 3 title games, and 2 titles. played 23 NCAA tourney games. 17.7 PPG/7.4 RPG in NCAA tourney
Ewing had 3 final 4's, 2 title games, and 1 title. 18 tourney games. 14.4 PPG/8.5 RPG in NCAA tourney
I think being realistic- Laettner was close enough statistically that the 1 title difference plus the iconic shot in the NCAA tourney makes the difference.
Yeah but Ewing put an entire conference on the map
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05-09-2018 12:12 PM |
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stever20
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
(05-09-2018 12:12 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote: (05-09-2018 12:03 PM)stever20 Wrote: NCAA tourney though Laettner probably better than Ewing. Laettner had 4 final 4's, 3 title games, and 2 titles. played 23 NCAA tourney games. 17.7 PPG/7.4 RPG in NCAA tourney
Ewing had 3 final 4's, 2 title games, and 1 title. 18 tourney games. 14.4 PPG/8.5 RPG in NCAA tourney
I think being realistic- Laettner was close enough statistically that the 1 title difference plus the iconic shot in the NCAA tourney makes the difference.
Yeah but Ewing put an entire conference on the map
No denying that. But in terms of March Madness, Laettner is without a doubt on Mount Rushmore over Ewing.
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05-09-2018 12:48 PM |
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Cyniclone
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
(05-09-2018 12:12 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote: (05-09-2018 12:03 PM)stever20 Wrote: NCAA tourney though Laettner probably better than Ewing. Laettner had 4 final 4's, 3 title games, and 2 titles. played 23 NCAA tourney games. 17.7 PPG/7.4 RPG in NCAA tourney
Ewing had 3 final 4's, 2 title games, and 1 title. 18 tourney games. 14.4 PPG/8.5 RPG in NCAA tourney
I think being realistic- Laettner was close enough statistically that the 1 title difference plus the iconic shot in the NCAA tourney makes the difference.
Yeah but Ewing put an entire conference on the map
But their most iconic moment was losing to Villanova.
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05-09-2018 01:20 PM |
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RutgersGuy
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
(05-09-2018 12:48 PM)stever20 Wrote: (05-09-2018 12:12 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote: (05-09-2018 12:03 PM)stever20 Wrote: NCAA tourney though Laettner probably better than Ewing. Laettner had 4 final 4's, 3 title games, and 2 titles. played 23 NCAA tourney games. 17.7 PPG/7.4 RPG in NCAA tourney
Ewing had 3 final 4's, 2 title games, and 1 title. 18 tourney games. 14.4 PPG/8.5 RPG in NCAA tourney
I think being realistic- Laettner was close enough statistically that the 1 title difference plus the iconic shot in the NCAA tourney makes the difference.
Yeah but Ewing put an entire conference on the map
No denying that. But in terms of March Madness, Laettner is without a doubt on Mount Rushmore over Ewing.
No, there is a doubt. Here I am casting doubt.
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05-09-2018 02:37 PM |
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RutgersGuy
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
(05-09-2018 01:20 PM)Cyniclone Wrote: (05-09-2018 12:12 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote: (05-09-2018 12:03 PM)stever20 Wrote: NCAA tourney though Laettner probably better than Ewing. Laettner had 4 final 4's, 3 title games, and 2 titles. played 23 NCAA tourney games. 17.7 PPG/7.4 RPG in NCAA tourney
Ewing had 3 final 4's, 2 title games, and 1 title. 18 tourney games. 14.4 PPG/8.5 RPG in NCAA tourney
I think being realistic- Laettner was close enough statistically that the 1 title difference plus the iconic shot in the NCAA tourney makes the difference.
Yeah but Ewing put an entire conference on the map
But their most iconic moment was losing to Villanova.
Thats only because they were sooooo dominate. Also they were one dumb pass away from winning two titles.
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05-09-2018 02:38 PM |
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quo vadis
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
(05-09-2018 11:52 AM)RutgersGuy Wrote: (05-09-2018 10:53 AM)quo vadis Wrote: Players only:
Alcindor, Walton, Laettner ... you fill in the blank with a fourth guy, probably Russell.
And yes, I hate Laettner as much as the next guy, but he made the Final 4 all four of his years, and won two titles, and was indeed involved in many classic tournament games. To deny his place would just be ... hating.
Ewing was better than Laettner. Way more dominate.
Sure he was. But Laettner undeniably had more success in the tournament.
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05-09-2018 02:58 PM |
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stever20
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
as far as overall college basketball player- I'd agree that Ewing would be over Laettner. But for just March Madness, it's Laettner over Ewing. The extra title, title game appearance, and final 4 make a huge difference.
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05-09-2018 03:02 PM |
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SoCalBobcat78
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
(05-09-2018 12:12 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote: (05-09-2018 12:03 PM)stever20 Wrote: NCAA tourney though Laettner probably better than Ewing. Laettner had 4 final 4's, 3 title games, and 2 titles. played 23 NCAA tourney games. 17.7 PPG/7.4 RPG in NCAA tourney
Ewing had 3 final 4's, 2 title games, and 1 title. 18 tourney games. 14.4 PPG/8.5 RPG in NCAA tourney
I think being realistic- Laettner was close enough statistically that the 1 title difference plus the iconic shot in the NCAA tourney makes the difference.
Yeah but Ewing put an entire conference on the map
Duke had never won a national championship in basketball before Laettner got to Duke. He won two at Duke. He had a buzzer beating shot to win the regional finals over UConn in 1990 and UK in 1992. It is rare to do it once, he did it twice.
Ewing got it started in the Big East with his terrific college career at Georgetown, but it can also be said that Laettner got it started at Duke.
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05-09-2018 05:27 PM |
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TexanMark
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
Freshman Carmelo Anthony literally put Cuse on his injured back and willed them to the championship. I was at the Semi-Final vs Texas and in unison the Cuse fans started chanting, "You can't stop him". They couldn't...
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05-09-2018 05:35 PM |
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RutgersGuy
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
(05-09-2018 05:35 PM)TexanMark Wrote: Freshman Carmelo Anthony literally put Cuse on his injured back and willed them to the championship. I was at the Semi-Final vs Texas and in unison the Cuse fans started chanting, "You can't stop him". They couldn't...
One tournament. Not even the best performance a player had in a single tounry. Kemba was better.
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05-09-2018 06:01 PM |
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quo vadis
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RE: Who’s the Mount Rushmore of March Madness?
(05-09-2018 05:35 PM)TexanMark Wrote: Freshman Carmelo Anthony literally put Cuse on his injured back and willed them to the championship. I was at the Semi-Final vs Texas and in unison the Cuse fans started chanting, "You can't stop him". They couldn't...
CA played great team basketball in that tournament, even though he was the Man as well. No player can literally win by himself, and Melo was excellent at creating opportunities for his lesser-talented Syracuse teammates.
But despite his prolific production as a pro, he's never been able to do that in the NBA. He's spent his NBA career as the consummate one-on-one showman. Something was lost in translation.
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05-09-2018 07:09 PM |
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