:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67706124/640808712.0.jpg)
This video is notable on several levels. First just the number of monster games and wins. Consider that the 1992 win over Kentucky is just #2 on this list - and deservedly so.
Then there’s the first Coach K win over UNC in his debut season, the Miracle Minute, the Final Four comeback against Maryland and the win over Xavier to get to the Final Four.
What might be the most impressive thing in some ways though is the clip of the 2010 win over Butler for the national championship.
We’ve talked before about how brilliant Brian Zoubek was down the stretch and how he played at the highest possible level when beating Butler seemed almost impossible. We missed one thing though in those closing seconds though and it was really key: after Zoobs missed his second free throw on purpose, he was a big obstacle for Gordon Hayward to get around.
It was a very brief thing, but it cost Hayward a step. He got the rebound with 3.6 left but he had to get around Zoubek and by the time he was away from him there was just 1.5 left on the clock. His foot crossed half court as he prepared to shoot with just 0.4 left. ESPN later estimated that the shot missed by the width of a shoelace.
Zoubek’s slowing him down significantly was responsible for that miss, and therefore Duke’s championship. It would be hard to find anyone who played better for the tail end of a game than Zoubek did against Butler. Virtually everything he did was brilliant.
Bonus: the video is narrated by Rasheed Sulaimon, the only Duke player Coach K ever kicked off of his team.