30 for 30 NC State

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GophersInIowa

GophersInIowa

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Anyone see the 30 for 30 about NC State last night? I recorded it and watched it earlier tonight. A must see for any college basketball fan.

They essentially won nine straight "do or die" games. If they hadn't won the ACC tourney, they had no shot at making the NCAA tourney. They almost lost the first ACC tourney game to Wake Forest, then had to go on to beat UNC with Jordan and Perkins, then Virginia with one of the best college players ever in Sampson. Fast forward to the NCAA tourney and they almost lose to Pepperdine in the first game (I think they were down 6 with under a minute to go), eventually beat Virginia again and then of course beat Phi Slama Jama in the championship. So many close games and they just kept on finding a way.

I don't remember which game it was but Valvano had his team foul their opponent late in the game while the game was tied (there was no shot clock at the time so could have held for the last shot). They made one of two but NC State came back down and scored to win it. Unconventional but it worked.
 

In the conversation among the players, they said the strategy was to foul the freshman as soon as he touched the ball. A little liek finding Evans from Wisconsin and fouling him no matter what. Unconventional, perhaps, but it was good strategy.

Tangential, but I have seen a number of games lately in which coaches are not fouling with pretty limited time differences between the shot and game clock. They have to be super confident in their players to think they can get a stop and then go the length of the floor in five to seven seconds and then get a good shot, rather than foul and extend the game.
 

I saw it last night - it was fantastic. I was going to mention that Pepperdine game if you hadn't. They were down 6 with a minute to go and somehow came back and won. Pepperdine had an 80+% free throw shooter miss the front end of a 1 and 1 TWICE. Just image if he makes a couple free throws and NC state gets knocked out in the first round. One of the signature moments in college basketball history (the Houston buzzer beater in the championship game with Jimmy V subsequently running all over the floor looking for someone to hug) never would have happened. Just unreal to think about...
 

Amazing documentary! I love when they capture the old footage, using the actual broadcast announcers.

Jimmy V made some huge decisions to foul in a tie game when he felt the opposing player would miss and it paid off just about every time. It seemed like NC State's opponents missed a ton of 1 and 1's during that tun to the Championship, including Houston in the final.

One of the biggest rule changes that changed the game was when the NCAA got rid of the double bonus around 1988 or so. The 1 and 1 FT shooting made up for the lack of the 3 point shot as a way that teams could come back. I wouldn't mind seeing the NCAA get rid of the double bonus.
 

I also recorded it and watched it today, it was great. It is crazy to think how close they were to being knocked out, and that whole story would have never existed. I love the fact that they don't have a regular commentator voice, they just use the players and actual game announcers to tell the whole story. Really powerful documentary. 30 for 30 always does a great job.

Now hopefully the Gophers can pull their own Cinderella story!
 


I saw it. Just an incredible story. I was not aware of how many miracle finishes there were. The players sitting around talking to each other was fantastic.
 

Reflections:

1) Great documentary. Jimmy V's outlook and the championship run were truly inspiring.

2) The shot clock was the single greatest invention in the sport of basketball.
 

I couldn't catch it. Will it be rebroadcast?

Yeah, I think we could do without the double bonus, too.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Anyone see the 30 for 30 about NC State last night? I recorded it and watched it earlier tonight. A must see for any college basketball fan.

They essentially won nine straight "do or die" games. If they hadn't won the ACC tourney, they had no shot at making the NCAA tourney. They almost lost the first ACC tourney game to Wake Forest, then had to go on to beat UNC with Jordan and Perkins, then Virginia with one of the best college players ever in Sampson. Fast forward to the NCAA tourney and they almost lose to Pepperdine in the first game (I think they were down 6 with under a minute to go), eventually beat Virginia again and then of course beat Phi Slama Jama in the championship. So many close games and they just kept on finding a way.

I don't remember which game it was but Valvano had his team foul their opponent late in the game while the game was tied (there was no shot clock at the time so could have held for the last shot). They made one of two but NC State came back down and scored to win it. Unconventional but it worked.
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I saw it last night, and it is a must for any college bb fan.
 



1. the 17 foot provisional three point line in the ACC was hilarious.
2. If the Gophers went on a run like that I'd probably be dead by the elite eight.
 


If I recall, the distance of the three-point line was left up to individual conferences (it was just an experiment then) and, because it was not uniform, there were no three-pointers allowed in the tourney that year. During the show, note that the three point line was inside the top of key in ACC, longer in other venues. And the double-bonus came in after Jimmy V tactically used fouling to his advantage. At least with two shots, the defense was penalized and the offensive team had a chance to make one of two.
 

big10guy said:
If I recall, the distance of the three-point line was left up to individual conferences (it was just an experiment then) and, because it was not uniform, there were no three-pointers allowed in the tourney that year. During the show, note that the three point line was inside the top of key in ACC, longer in other venues. And the double-bonus came in after Jimmy V tactically used fouling to his advantage. At least with two shots, the defense was penalized and the offensive team had a chance to make one of two.
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I was just going to comment on the 3-point line as well. It just looked funny and bizarre. Does anyone know how many years they let the conferences choose?

And yes, so glad we've got a shot clock. Holding for one shot with 2:30 left in the game is ridiculous.
 



GophersInIowa said:
I was just going to comment on the 3-point line as well. It just looked funny and bizarre. Does anyone know how many years they let the conferences choose?

And yes, so glad we've got a shot clock. Holding for one shot with 2:30 left in the game is ridiculous.
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Not sure, but I do remember the Big Ten with that close-in 3-point line around the mid-80's. Someone can tell me if my memory is good: it tells me that we had a 3-point line at the top of the key for a year or two in the early to mid 80's, then it went away for a year or two, then the closer-in one for a year or two, then finally standardization at the top of the key for those many years until it was lengthened recently.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I couldn't catch it. Will it be rebroadcast?

Yeah, I think we could do without the double bonus, too.
Click to expand...

I'm on the opposite side. I'd like to see a triple bonus when the clock is under a minute.
The 10 intentional, non-intentional fouls to watch a team try and close a 9 point gap in score is hard to watch.
 

I remember watching that championship game live and was in total shock that NC State beat Houston.

Here is a nightmare for you: could you imagine anyone having to watch a cheesehead game without the shot clock!!!!!!! They would be holding the ball to close out the game with a 12 to 8 victory.... Arrrrggggghhhhh....
 


The documentary was absolutely awesome. During Jimmy V's speech he stated that if you do three things in one day you have had a full day. They are: 1. Laugh, 2. Think, 3. Cry. If you don't laugh, think and cry during that show there is something wrong with you. The '83 players were really funny. Jimmy V was hilarious. His comment about the 30 second time limit at the award ceremony being up was priceless. I laughed out loud with his comments about the final four pep rally and after beating UVA his comments about his players getting his suit all sweaty. I can't even remember how many times I cried throughout the show. I also have new found respect for Coach K and Dick Vitale. Classy stuff. I'll watch that show many times. That show will win awards!
 

Gopher73 said:
The documentary was absolutely awesome. During Jimmy V's speech he stated that if you do three things in one day you have had a full day. They are: 1. Laugh, 2. Think, 3. Cry. If you don't laugh, think and cry during that show there is something wrong with you. The '83 players were really funny. Jimmy V was hilarious. His comment about the 30 second time limit at the award ceremony being up was priceless. I laughed out loud with his comments about the final four pep rally and after beating UVA his comments about his players getting his suit all sweaty. I can't even remember how many times I cried throughout the show. I also have new found respect for Coach K and Dick Vitale. Classy stuff. I'll watch that show many times. That show will win awards!
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It wasn't in this show but my favorite Jimmy V story is the one he told during the espy's about his first coaching job at Rutgers as a freshman coach (back when freshman couldn't play varsity). He read a book about Vince Lombardi and Lombardi told his team his first year as a coach that "they would be successful if they concentrate on three things and three things only: your family, your religion, and the Green Bay Packers".

So he wanted to do the same thing before his first game as Rutgers freshman coach: your family, your religion, and Rutgers basketball. Except he said the Green Bay Packers instead. It's just hilarious listening to him tell that story.
 

alchemy2u said:
I remember watching that championship game live and was in total shock that NC State beat Houston.

Here is a nightmare for you: could you imagine anyone having to watch a cheesehead game without the shot clock!!!!!!! They would be holding the ball to close out the game with a 12 to 8 victory.... Arrrrggggghhhhh....
Click to expand...

A nightmare inducing thought.
 

It's on again on Thursday morning from 6 - 8 a.m. on ESPNU. Set your DVRs!
 


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