A reader sent in this addendum to the previously
posted e-mail
On DBR, you wrote:
In 1981, Gene's senior year, in an overtime thriller and Coach K's first
year, K drew up an out of bounds play which got Banks the ball at the top of
the key, where he just barely got a shot off over Sam Perkins to put the
game in overtime.
An alert reader pointed out that Banks' shot was not a set play, according
to Gene himself. The play I remember, which was certainly a set play called
by K, was the inbounds pass just prior to Banks' shot. Duke had the ball
under the UNC basket with 2 seconds or so left. Rather than throw a
three-quarters court pass (a la Grant Hill to Laettner vs. Kentucky in
1992), K had the man with the ball (Dennard? I don't remember) throw a
half-court pass to Chip Engelland, who immediately called timeout. This
gave Duke the ball at half-court, with still 2 seconds left in the game
(BTW, the timekeeper back then must have had better reflexes than the one at
this year's State game). The crowd understood the value of that play, and
applauded K loudly for it during the TO. That play gave Duke the
opportunity to run a set play from the midcourt line, or improvise a play to
Banks, for the tie and eventual OT win.
K was a genius then as now, always thinking one step ahead.
Forrest