And the other year in that stretch they lost in the tourney to a buzzer beater back court shot. Most brutal loss in the history of the NCAA tournament. Could have been 4 straight Final Fours.
They had the 3 final fours but I really think they were going to win it all in 81, when they lost on that crazy buzzer beater. They had the potential to make it to possibly 3 or 4 straight championship games if the ball bounced there way a few more times. They were really beat up for this game, Derick Smith, Eaves and Milt Wagner were all playing hurt.
Damn. This game was a war. Louisville is one of the underrated teams of that time. They had one Achilles heel, size. Ewing was the difference in this one. Kept them from driving to the hoop.
Yeah unfortunately it was the Cardinal fans who felt the pain 😢 but now a whole new era is about to start. I really like this new coach and the recruits he has brought in. I think they can make some noise this coming year. At the very least they will be much much better than they were the past 2 years.
Charles Jones was 6'7 and Rodney Mcray was 6'6 maybe but they played some great defense against Ewing, at the midway point in the 2nd half he only had 4 points.
1979 was the most popular final four but 1982 was better you had four teams with at least two legitimate future NBA Starting prospects GEORGETOWN had Patrick Ewing & Eric (Sleepy) Floyd LOUISVILLE had Rodney McCray & Gordon Lancaster HOUSTON had Akeem aka Hakeem Olajuwon & Clyde Drexler and NORTH CAROLINA had 3 Michael Jordan, James Worthy & Sam Perkins
1982 is the greatest final four ever. Four College HOF coaches in JT, Crum, Lewis and Smith. Four NBA hall of Fame players in Ewing, Drexler, Jordan and Olajuwon. Derek Smith, Milt Wagner , Lancaster Gordon and Rodney McCray from Louisville, Rob Williams, Michael Young and Larry Micheaux for Houston, sleepy Floyd, Billy Martin from Georgetown And Worthy, Perkins from UNC all played in the NBA.
