I thought he was just solid in college but a great team player...I know he was 100% dominant in college but there was 'something' about his college game that was missing... I just wish his back didn't get hurt in Charlotte because mid-post, creating space like Mark Aguirre, Chris Webber, Terry Cummings, Bonzi Wells, and Adrian Dantley mid-post, that's what Larry Johnson did but with a power forward size with center strength -- he was a combination of Shaq and Charles Oakley in a frame of a power forward prior to his back issues -- probably lifting way too many weights?
as a youth the MJ Bulls and the LJ UNLV squad got me into basketball, i wouldn't have it any other way... in '93 Johnson led league in Minutes played AND started East All-Star game AND shot 56% in playoffs with his good back... fax!!!
I don’t think LJ was trying to disrespect him. When he said Detroit I think he meant that because that’s where Grant Hill started his pro career. He probably doesn’t know where Grant was from as far as hometown
My classmate played center at the time. After the loss in 1991, I said "Eric, what went wrong ?". He thought David Butler was better than Ackles & Spencer and that's what they were lacking. (& that yell when he rebounded😊). People forget, Butler was junior college player of the year
Lots of maturity to admit that you just wasn’t into a game,but it also shows the reality of superstar players.this guy has the fact that his dream is going to be a reality and he’s about to become an instant millionaire. This tourney at that time was minor compared to that. Plus I would have on my mind, what if I get hurt…etc.etc. I wouldn’t be able to focus either especially at 22 years old.
LJ knows better than me. Spencer and Ackles compared to Scurry and David Butler. Scurry may not have been a great scorer or polished as a basketball player compared to Ackles and Spencer, he was a a good rebounder and physical as LJ said. But I went to school with a pretty good basketball player at the time, we talked after the loss in 1991, he observed, he thought David Butler was what they were lacking in '91, he thought David Butler was better than Spencer and Ackles. His scoring, rebounding, blocked shot stats being whatever they were, in retrospect, yeah he was a damn good player. People forget, LJ got a lot of press for Tark luckily landing him at UNLV after he was Junior College player of the year. We didn't have cable tv at the time, but from newspapers, Sports Illustrated, the tv broadcasts even I remember it being brought up, I think SI did an article in the fall of 1989 predicting UNLV would win it all. But do you know who was also Junior College player of the year before LJ and ended up at UNLV ? David Butler. I can still remember my classmate Eric, being a pivotman and breaking it down for me, saying that even with everyone at Duke improving plus they added Grant Hill, he thought if Butler had had another year of eligibility, UNLV would have gone back to back.
Tark also r/s Dedan Thomas that year. If he had been available Greg probably wouldn't have fouled out. But yeah, Ackles played hard and was a great shotblocker but Butler was a far better defender, scorer, and had a much higher basketball IQ.
The man said he was not that serious until the last 5 minutes of the game...think about that?...Now looking back at that game, you can see it.... Watching that game I was like, 'What the hell is this?...' UNLV in 1990-91 would destroy teams with their will and there would be a point in a game where the opposition would break because, remember, even then Isiah Thomas said UNLV was like a pro team, this came from the back-to-back champion captain, Isiah Thomas who was on top of the league then...so I just cannot understand during the Final 4 when you say you were not serious -- that speaks a lot to why they didn't even need to win that game...that's terrible.
@@Sheisthedevilyouknowwho-ft9we Yeah, but see UNLV had something better to do than play basketball to win a title, they had more pressing things to get into aside from actual basketball that day.... It's the same with the Bulls/Pistons in '91, Detroit gave that series to Chicago just like UNLV gave that to Duke -- for the future...it's like those teams that win had something better to do like laundry, fixing dinner, checking on your girl, or my favorite: they had to do their nails...anything but play basketball. HAHAHA!... So if a person cannot see that UNLV gave Duke that game then I don't know what to say? I wanted them to win but they didn't want to win because they had better things to do that day.
Grant hill or no grant hill. I still say that game was a pay-off. Duke lost by 30 the year before they actually had the same exact team dispite Hill. Then down the closing minutes they call a charge on Greg Anthony. Come on bru. Then last seconds of the game LJ has a wide open look at the basket and he pulls back and passes the ball to the top of the key to Hunt who was coverd to try a difficult shot. That game was paid off because Duke Hadn't won a championship. And they also didn't want Duke to look stupid again against unlv. That game shouldn't have ever been close at all
The Greg Anthony charge / block call was the dagger. I thought it was a block, and Anthony scored. It would have been an and 1. Instead, it was called a charge. If UNLV scored there it was game over. .
Duke played a great game that second year I’m not gonna take anything away from the effort they put into that game, but there is nothing that will convince me that UNLV didn’t throw that game.
A loss to a quality team would have been good for them. And a weak conference didn't help. That Arkansas game on the road (in January I think), the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half UNLV smoked 'em & pulled away. But a loss during the regular season may have helped. Tark pointed out how uninspired LJ, augmon, and ackles played
I don't see how Duke won that game. UNLV was one of the most dominant college basketball teams I've ever seen. Funny thing, the three most dominant teams I can remember from that era Houston 83, Georgetown 85, and UNLV 1991...and they all lost.
My father and I were huge DePaul fans back in the day because we enjoyed mid major teams that would run top tier basketball schools like UCLA at times off the floor during the regular season. And yet, it was often inexplicable how DePaul would often lose on the first game they would play at the start of the NCAA tournament. DePaul, best team in the nation to start the 1981tournament falls to St. Joseph's from a buzzer beater. DePaul returns to the tournament again in 1982 losing only once falls again in their first game to Boston College. March Madness before March Madness was officially born by the amazing 83 NC State Wolf Pack.
@@mitchtherevolution I'm not sure if you're talking about now or back then. I'll assume you're talking about back then. I would say for that season Duke had equal overall talent and because of the year prior, coach Tarkanian's Runnin' Rebels totally ran coach K's Duke Blue Devils completely off the floor during the 1990 National Championship game. Which still happens to be the most lopsided loss to this day for a national championship game. For that game, if you're a Blue Devil's fan and want to brag, I'll give you that since they won the game. But many sports experts considered that game an upset which translated to UNLV being huge favorites for that game. If anything, UNLV helped Duke finally reach the pinnacle considering how many times Duke advanced to the Final Four without winning the championship game. Overall, that Final Four game was a great game and good for college basketball.
@@toddsands6000 Talent wise, they both had 5 future NBA players. Grant Hill was by far the most talented player on either team, and he is alone is the primary reason Duke was the more talented team. Christian and Larry were pretty close, but I would give advantage to Christian. They were both ok in the NBA, Larry had better production early, but that was on an abysmally terrible Hornets teams. I would put Greg Anthony over Bobby Hurley, but that's just barely and with a huge asterisk. I think Hurley would have been a much better player if he wore a seatbelt. Those are the big talents, I can't really compare the other two NBA talents from each team. I would also note that Duke had 7 HS All American, to UNLV's 2. So depth advantage Duke. As for the undefeated season UNLV had before the game, they played in a noncompetitive conference, so that is less valuable.
@@mitchtherevolution LJ was a better overall talent than Christian Leattner going into the NBA. College career wise? Leattner can be considered a better college basketball player. Pro level? LJ was clearly a better basketball player. Leattner had his chance to shine, but proved to be a locker room cancer to a young Minnesota Timberwolves team that had a chance to succeed if he just bought in to the fact that Kevin Garnett was the real deal on that team. Leattner had some success with the Atlanta Hawks, but at best became a journeyman player throughout most of his career that was expected to be much more during his time in the NBA. As for strength of schedule between the two teams, that is the most overrated most over-hyped assessment anyone can measure. Time and again, people look at the strength of schedule as if it validates a college basketball program. If strength of schedule was such a factor, Duke would have beaten UNLV the year prior and convincingly - which did not happen. Despite UNLV's so called weak schedule as you stated, the game went down to the last seconds of the game. The difference between the Duke team the year before and the team that snapped UNLV's undefeated streak was Grant Hill. If you're assessing High School talent to college, yes Duke had perhaps better talent. Translate both players from both programs to the NBA? Grant Hill was the best player out of both teams, but UNLV had better players that translated to the NBA level. Overall, the Duke vs UNLV 1991 Final Four was a classic game and Duke prevailed.
@@kasheem1747 they should make a movie about that, you can't write a better scriptlosing to a team by 30 then beating them the next year in the final four and ending their undefeated season.and going on to win the ncaa championship.
I lived next to Anderson hunt in 2002 and I asked him why they lost and he said tark didn't put a curfew on the team and they where out partying till the early hours of the morning before the game not all the players where out but augmon hunt Larry and Ackles where
