This was my teenage years. Pope was one of my all time favorites. Hopefully the younger generation will come around to him because he loves this program maybe more than any coach in Kentuckys history.
Could've been four titles in the 90s had it not been for two fellas named Latiener (1992) (I think that's how you say his last name) and Simon (1997). This would've given Kentucky 11 titles all time, tying UCLA. Plus, Kentucky (had they not choked against against UConn and Wisconsin) would've been immortal in 2014 and 2015. Title #13
NO THE T5AR HEEL WITH JORDAN WORTH DAUGHTER AND PERKINS AND KEVIN SMITH AT THE POITH GUARD TWO HALL FAMERDS PLUS GUYS WHO HAD VERYDEOUBLE DIGIT YEARS LONG CAREERS AND CHAMPIONS SHIP THIER OWN PERKINS WOINS CHAMPION SHIP EVERY WHERE HE WENT LIKE THREE PLACE3S
Not even arguably. Without question better than any unc team (including Jordan-Worthy-Perkins). #1 team in the country on the floor. #2 team in the country on the bench. Deeper than any team in history and most talent. I challenge anyone to name another team with this much talent and as deep with, at the time, one of the best college basketball coaches ever.
@@Maxbps88 This is semantics.....All of these teams are great. Jordan-Worhy-Perkins 1982 UNC is great, this Kentucky team is also great (though this kentucky team didn't have NBA star power. Walker was an all-star, but Delk, Anderson, Mercer, McCarty were all decent to good NBA role players)...2012, also really only has AD in terms of NBA stars (though that team was also terrific)....I also like 1991 Duke, and 1990 UNLV....Also, sometimes the teams with the most talent don't win....A la Kentucky in 2015, UNC in 1995, 1997, and 1998, Duke in 2002, UNC in 1984, and Houston in 1983. All of those teams were loaded with talent, but got knocked off.
for kentucky it was all business. that mentality was building in the program since the haunting losses of ‘92 and ‘93. they weren’t going to be denied. they actually didn’t play a great final four. they missed free throws, easy shots, and the games were called closely. uk got more than their fair share of calls, it just wasn’t conducive to their style. but they couldn’t get tired, couldn’t get into foul trouble, and were too athletic. they were a bunch of tweeners. at 34-2, having beat everyone on their schedule, with both losses to eventual final four teams, and being deeper than maybe any team ever, they were one of the most superior teams to ever do it. unselfish and relentless. kentucky’s greatest team.
I’ll always appreciate and care for Coach Pitino. He did so much for UK. Everyone is human, so I don’t care about the small stuff. We all have done things we’re not proud of. I was in my early 20’s at the time of this chip, and I was always so proud Pitino was our coach.
This was a good Syracuse team, but they had the misfortune of running into a great, loaded Kentucky team. Delk had a huge shooting night for Kentucky with those seven 3-pointers, but least we forget, freshman Ron Mercer scored 20 points for Kentucky in this game coming off the bench.
john wallace's senior year at syracuse, capped off by leading his team to this championship game, turned out to be the highlight of his basketball career. sometimes it's better to stay in school!
I called him John William Wallace - it was close to around the time Braveheart came out. And he played like he was larger than life. Just came up a bit short.
He was a Senior, how could he "stay in school"? He was done as a player. And he damn near had a 10 year NBA career. I'd say that's pretty successful and lucrative career. He may have not been a superstar, but that's still pretty good.
Best team in the History of ncaa basketball. Uk went on one of the most dominant 8 year runs in history with multiple final four appearances, eltie 8 appearances and 3 championship games. With an injured derek Anderson they lost to Arizona in OT in 97, which was basically the bench from this 96 squad that went on to win another championship in 98. And what Truly make this impressive is this entire era was probably the strongest era in college basketball history, putting out what was some of the best nba drafts of all time. And 96 UK rolled through that tournament that year with the highest point differential margin in history. And still to this day they still hold that record. This past years uconn team came close to it with their dominant tournament run, but they would have had to beat San Diego state by 30 to break the record. 1996 UK definitely the best college team of all time. Without a shadow of a doubt.
A lot of times, title game matchups have a backstory to them. In this case, Rick Pitino’s first Final Four (1987 - Providence) came to an end against Syracuse.
I want to huge the SU players crying. I'm so sorry for them, but they ran into a better team, and they pushed them to the limit for 90% of the game. Be proud of that.
Wish we got a Georgetown vs Kentucky National title game that year. Watching Iverson going up against Pitino’s full court press would have been something to behold. 🍿😳
I said something similar about Mercer once, although I didn't know he had a poor work ethic. My comment was if he'd stayed at UK one more season and played with that 98' title team for Tubby that he would be remembered as one of the best wing forwards to ever play at UK.
A good friend of mine played against Mercer in high school. He said Mercer was smoking them all night long and wasn't even sweating. He felt like Mercer was loafing. He could tell later on when Mercer was at UK that Mercer was lazy.
I remember watching that game and the fact that it was *not* a double-digit says more about Syracuse than it does about Kentucky - in a good way. The Orange were a good team that came to play and did all they could do, but sometimes - you just pick a bad year to have a great season.
That opening was such a scam and a huge slap in the face to the citizens of the State of New Jersey, by CBS and the NCAA. They put a short Broadway interlude and show mid court the Statue of Liberty. The former Continental Airlines, Inc. Arena was PHYSICALLY LOCATED in the Borough of East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey - NOT NEW YORK CITY. Still to this day, New Jersey still has a image problem. The New York Jets and the New York Giants play at MetLife, Inc. Stadium, which is PHYSICALLY LOCATED in the Borough of East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. The MSL New York Red Bulls play at Red Bull Arena, which is PHYSICALLY LOCATED in the Town of Harrison, Hudson County, New Jersey - NOT NEW YORK. 😡 FACTS: There is only ONE NFL football team that plays in New York. The Buffalo Bills. There is only one MSL soccer team that plays in New York. The New York City Football Club.
"The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky it will probably slap another two years probation on Cleveland State."--Jerry Tarkanian. No way this Kentucky team was put together on the level...
This team was chock full of upperclassmen. Mercer and turner were the only stand out freshmen and d.a. was an upper classman transfer. Its not like they were all bought frosh like say..the fab five. So..to you i say..sour grapes.
stfu. . . Your comment makes no sense at all. . . . . . Use proper grammar. "UConn will always be my favorite team" is the proper way to say it. . . You are only here because you hate UK. . .. idiot
This was my soph more in college. I was a HUGE Syracuse fan. I was cheating on my main girl with a girl from Texas.I ended up cheating on my side girl too. THEN I cheated on the OTHER woman with another girl. I'm happily married now.
As a hugh Wildcat fan I almost forgot how absolutely useless Mark Pope was. Sometimes you will hear it said of a bench player that at least he won't hurt you as a team. Pope was not that guy. He was a walking Phuck Up.
kentucky shot under 70% from the line at the final four and missed 6 front ends. pope was 8-8, and 6-6 against umass. if you watch that game and all the free throws uk missed you may notice they possibly lose if he didn’t make all of his. also his two against syracuse were the biggest of the game.
@SimonCrowne ~ As I recall Coach Pitino would use Pope in the game for about ~30 mins. Pope was a tall player and could make buckets well in the front court was good at getting rebounds too! Also, he was a great free throw shooter which proved essential with this game! Pope was a key player who contributed a lot to this team! He was a transfer from the Washington Huskies where he was Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors in '92. Your comment saying he was useless shows your ignorance!
