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- The Upset That
Wasn’t
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The Upset That Wasn't
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I’d like to mention the semifinal games, but the fact of the matter is
that they meant nothing compared to the magnitude of the National
Championship Game. They were a mismatched pair, Duke and Butler. Duke
already has 3 National Championship and 15 Final Fours, and for Butler
this was their 1st Final Four appearance.
 Coming
into the game, everyone considered Duke to be a huge favorite. One
thing I’ve learned over the years is that when everyone is thinking
mismatch, it tends to be a closer game than people think. So it was no
surprise to me that this game was close. Butler led by one at halftime
and the game continued to stay close in the 2nd half with the lead
changing hands. With about 3 minutes left in the game Duke had finally
stretched a lead to 5 and the cable went out at my friend’s place where
I had been watching the game. I just assumed that Duke was going to
continue to pull away. When the cable came back there was 13.7 seconds
remaining with Duke only up 60-59 and Butler had the ball with a chance
to take the lead. They really had a chance to win this. They inbounded
and Gordon Hayward took a shot from the baseline with about 6 seconds
remaining. As it left his hands you knew that it was a really tough
shot to make with a defender in his face and it didn’t have much of a
chance. It clanked off the rim and Duke’s Brian Zoubek got the rebound
and was immediately fouled with 3.7 seconds remaining. Zoubek made the
1st free throw, stretching the lead to 61-59. He missed the 2nd, and
the way he missed it I wasn’t sure if it was an intentional miss so
that Butler couldn’t set up an inbound play. Gordon Hayward got the
rebound for Butler and began zooming up the court. He let go a heave
from midcourt that could win Butler the game. It hit the backboard,
then the rim, and fell to the ground.
 Duke
players immediately started swarming the court, and it was almost an
awkward feeling. Except for Duke alumni, I think everyone was rooting
for Butler. With championship game crowds, you get a lot of tickets
going to sponsors of the event and upper middle class yuppies who don’t
cheer passionately. However for this game the arena was rocking. The
arena being only 6 miles from Butler campus may have helped to improve
the atmosphere. CBS announcer Jim Nance called the environment
“electric” and I would have to agree. The crowd was going crazy at
points in the game you wouldn’t expect. It was a great game, and that
is what’s most important. It’s just not the outcome that most of us
wanted.
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