WRAL Sports Fan

Duke

Laettner recalls his moment, has Pitt in Final Four

By Tim Hall

Mar 18, 2009

Great moments are what define the NCAA Tournament.  Tyus Edney's full court drive to beat Missouri, Bryce Drew's 3-pointer at the buzzer to take down Ole Miss, and of course Christian Laettner's turn-around jumper at the free throw line to beat Kentucky.

That perfect shot landed with no time left in the East regional final in 1992.  Laettner not only hit the game winning shot in that game to send his team to the final four, but he was 10-10 from the field and 10-10 from the free throw line, a perfect game.  Laettner recently reminisced with losing coach Rick Pitino about the play while shooting a recent commercial and asked him if he thought about putting a defender on the baseline. 

"I think he said 'before he would do that he would just have the two defenders that were on me play a little bit better defense'," Laettner said Tuesday on 99.9 The Fan.  "He said 'yeah he could have put someone on the ball but he really wishes Pelphrey and Feldhaus would have done a little bit more trying to defend me."

Maybe the Blue Devils can thank a failed attempt on that play as they tried it earlier in the season against Wake Forest, but came away with a loss.

"I remember that we went home to practice and we worked on that play a few days in practice," Laettner said.  "Grant worked on his pass and I worked on my shot, and low and behold we needed it a few weeks later."

Matching the moment of that 1992 game would take alot, but the former Duke star believes that with a player as good as Gerald Henderson this team can make a run in the tournament.

"They have a chance to win because they're so well coached, the play great defense, and if they are making their shots like they did in the championship game the other day they can beat anybody."

But when asked for his final four picks, he selected Pittsburgh (in Duke's region), Louisville, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.

After he was told North Carolina and Oklahoma can't both go to Detroit he joked, "Okay then I do not have an answer for you guys yet!"

As long as Laettner fills out his final bracket by noon tomorrow he will be all right.