YouTube Gold: Nothing But Great Buzzer Beaters
And something you may never have noticed in the Laettner Game
Okay, get your popcorn or, if it’s late enough, maybe pop one open and sit back for a few because this one is going to be fun: a collection of the greatest buzzer beaters in college basketball history.
Kemba Walker makes an appearance, knocking off Pitt with a long shot, then there’s Mario Chalmers, hitting his dagger against Memphis.
Of course, you can’t have this video without Christian Laettner’s epic shot to knock off Kentucky in the 1992 East Regional finals. The funny thing is we’ve watched this video countless times. It’s something all Duke fans know inside out, like the Zapruder film for conspiracy buffs. And we saw something we can’t believe we’ve never noticed before. More on that in a bit.
NC State gets knocked off, Michigan and Kansas go at it, RJ Hunter takes out Baylor, Bryce Drew eliminates Mississippi on a beautifully executed last-second play that Cincinnati later used to upset Duke in 1998, Rivers, Whittenburg and Jenkins, oh my!
Any sport can have a late score to win, but basketball strikes so quickly, and sometimes, as we saw in the Villanova-UNC classic, Marcus Paige hit an incredible shot that should not be a footnote. But it is, because Kris Jenkins came right back and nailed an even more epic shot.
Okay, back to the Laettner game: after he hits the shot, Antonio Lang pumps his fist and slips, falling to the ground. Thomas Hill had a famous reaction, somewhere between agony and ecstasy, both written across his face at the same time. Mike Krzyzewski exults, then spikes his towel. Tommy Amaker puts his fists up in the air.
But what about Pete Gaudet?
He’s on the bench like he’s on a park bench. His arms are stretched out, his hands relaxed. He doesn’t really move, doesn't react to perhaps the greatest ending in college basketball history?
When you see it, it’s just amazing. Either he’s on some really strong meds or he’s the coolest cucumber you’ve ever seen.