05:42 AM
11/21/24
11/21/24
April 04, 2003
Ranking the Final Fours: Page 2's Eric Neel grades the Final 4s from 79-92. Definitely agree with his A+ of 89 as the best of the past 15 years and the F from last year with a very boring championship game and lack of memorable teams, games, and players.
posted by dales15 to basketball at 01:29 PM - 1 comment
Beautiful column. I am in total agreement with his A+ ranking of 1989: "Michigan, Seton Hall, Illinois and Duke FTs in OT = A. Add in bonus points for the "Michigan Man" Steve Fisher storyline, Glenn Rice's men-against-boys shooting, Seton Hall's pluck, Illinois' loaded lineup and Duke's pedigree, and you get ... Grade: A+" Michigan's semi-final against the Illini that year was classic. Illinois, who didn't have a starter over 6'7", had thrashed the Wolverines twice in the regular season. Their lineup, to a man, could jump out of the gym. Lowell Hamilton, Kenny Battle, Marcus Liberty, Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson and Steven Bardo. Michigan had several guys who went on to decent pro careers like Rumeal Robinson, Terry Mills, Loy Vaught, Glen Rice, and Sean Higgins. Higgins, who was the sixth man, made two spectacular plays in the game, one on a coast-to-coast drive where he did a spin move at mid court around Kenny Battle, and then just as Billy Packer was screaming, "He's doing too much showboating" he rose up over Marcus Liberty for the nastiest of nasty jams, count the bucket and one. I thought Michigan beating Seton Hall would be a foregone conclusion but Andrew Gaze and Ramon Ramos and their little guard who looked like he palmed the ball on every dribble were almost up to the task. Thanks for the memories dales15.