Pitino says he regrets what he told the team right before the Laettener shot

[Caveman Catfan]

“I am thinking about becoming a vegetarian.”

 

[trueblujr2]

All he could have done better is put a man on Grant Hill, making it harder for him to throw that inbound pass.

This. His biggest regret should have been telling the team to not guard the inbounds pass. Laettener wasn't going to miss those free throws either.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

“Hey, guys, quiet up. Any of you guys ever had sex on the table of a restaurant after hours? Just a thought. Now, don’t foul Laettner.”

 

[rick64]

The story I remember hearing was that Pitino wanted to double team Laettner with Pelphrey and Feldhaus. One in front and one behind him. They were confused on who was supposed to be where, and both ended up behind Laettner so he had a free look at the pass from Hill. And CBS STILL has that clip as part of their CBB intro to this day. 🤮

 

[Eagles_Ball]

All he could have done better is put a man on Grant Hill, making it harder for him to throw that inbound pass.

This makes it almost impossible to have success on the play they setup. That's all that had to happen. Put a guy on the ball.

 

[HagginHall1999]

Just for fun:

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Tim Higgins, Charles Range, and Tom Clark were the refs. Range was the one who called Laettner for the tech but didn't toss him even though it was clearly an unsportsmanlike foul when the ball was dead, which warranted ejection. It was the last UK game Range ever officiated.

I was so stressed during that game that I kept dashing out to my back porch to try to calm down. I'll always feel bad for the UK players and coaches, especially Pitino.

Officiating was awful in that regional.

TBH we got a little help getting there too. That technical called on Cal was one of the worst I've ever seen. Out of the box in a 2 point game with 5 mins left...lol.

I mean I was thrilled at the time but if we are being honest it was a terrible call. Iirc correctly UMass had cut down a 20+ point lead and we were reeling. That call was a lifesaver.