Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Bobby Hurley Says Kentucky is Deeper Than his Early ’90s Duke Teams, But Cats Have No One ‘Close’ to Laettner, Hill
NEW YORK — Bobby Hurley says the 2014-15 incarnation of Kentucky is deeper than his early 1990s Duke teams, but that the Wildcats don’t have anyone “close” to Christian Laettner and Grant Hill.
How would the 1991 or ’92 NCAA champion Duke teams do against this 34-0 Kentucky team?
“It’s really hard to project with a different era and a different time, guys stayed a lot longer,” Hurley told me yesterday on “The 4 Quarters Podcast” on SNY.tv. “My team was an older team, a veteran team. Laettner was one of the most clutch and versatile players ever to play at the college level and Grant Hill was a one-of-a-kind player. I don’t think Kentucky has anyone close to those two guys but collectively they are definitely a deeper team and I know that it would be hard for us to generate the offense against this team.”
In just his second year as a head coach, Hurley has guided No. 12-seeded Buffalo into the NCAA Tournament where it will play No. 5 West Virginia in a Midwest Region matchup on Friday in Columbus, Ohio. The 12 seed has beaten the 5 in 6-of-8 meetings since 2013.
Back in November, Hurley’s Bulls held a 38-33 lead at the half against No. 1 Kentucky before the Wildcats moved ahead in the second half for a 71-52 win at Rupp Arena in front of a nearly sold out crowd of 22,175.
So what will it take for anyone in this NCAA Tournament to even have a chance against the Wildcats?
“They are so impressive and really before they even got to where they are now, I thought that it was possible for them to run the table based on their talent, their size and their athleticism, their commitment to play defense and their versatility on defense,” said Hurley, the former Duke and St. Anthony High School star.
“They are one of the best defensive teams that I’ve ever seen both as a player and as a coach at the college level. They absolutely smother you and they are so explosive. You need good guard play that can tempo the game, take advantage of chances on offense to score before they set their defense but at the same time, not getting into too fast of a pace that would favor Kentucky, and then you have to hope you are fortunate that they would miss some perimeter jump shots and that you can rebound the ball and at the very end you hope that you can put some game pressure on with their undefeated season on the line and hope it works in your favor.
As for Laettner, a Buffalo native and the subject of Sunday’s ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, “I Hate Christian Laettner,” Hurley says the Duke legend knew how to push Hurley’s buttons to bring him to the next level competitively and that they still remain friends.
“He’s living in Jacksonville now but we talked before our conference tournament started and he wished me good luck,” Hurley said. “We also talked about the documentary. What happened in the past between Christian and I was him trying to get the most out of me as a player to push me. I think he knew that I could take it because I was a tough guy and he thought that if he could challenge me every day that it would bring the best out of me.
“At times it wasn’t smooth between him and I and at the end we won a lot together. We still remain pretty close and I’m happy for him because the documentary shed some light on who he really is and he wanted to get his message across and I think it worked out really well for him.”
What was the most annoying thing Laettner did? Calling Hurley “Bart Simpson”?
“More of the stuff that bothered me was the stuff that happened on the court, he would talk some smack to me as we played,” Hurley said. “He always wanted to be the best and he always challenged everyone to rise up to his level. Some days it became too much, like the day that I threw the ball at his head in the pick up game. I was just tired in listening to him. We got through all things like that that transpired and we both rose above it and became champions.”
Photos; AP
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
NEW YORK — Bobby Hurley says the 2014-15 incarnation of Kentucky is deeper than his early 1990s Duke teams, but that the Wildcats don’t have anyone “close” to Christian Laettner and Grant Hill.
How would the 1991 or ’92 NCAA champion Duke teams do against this 34-0 Kentucky team?
“It’s really hard to project with a different era and a different time, guys stayed a lot longer,” Hurley told me yesterday on “The 4 Quarters Podcast” on SNY.tv. “My team was an older team, a veteran team. Laettner was one of the most clutch and versatile players ever to play at the college level and Grant Hill was a one-of-a-kind player. I don’t think Kentucky has anyone close to those two guys but collectively they are definitely a deeper team and I know that it would be hard for us to generate the offense against this team.”
In just his second year as a head coach, Hurley has guided No. 12-seeded Buffalo into the NCAA Tournament where it will play No. 5 West Virginia in a Midwest Region matchup on Friday in Columbus, Ohio. The 12 seed has beaten the 5 in 6-of-8 meetings since 2013.
Back in November, Hurley’s Bulls held a 38-33 lead at the half against No. 1 Kentucky before the Wildcats moved ahead in the second half for a 71-52 win at Rupp Arena in front of a nearly sold out crowd of 22,175.
So what will it take for anyone in this NCAA Tournament to even have a chance against the Wildcats?
“They are so impressive and really before they even got to where they are now, I thought that it was possible for them to run the table based on their talent, their size and their athleticism, their commitment to play defense and their versatility on defense,” said Hurley, the former Duke and St. Anthony High School star.
“They are one of the best defensive teams that I’ve ever seen both as a player and as a coach at the college level. They absolutely smother you and they are so explosive. You need good guard play that can tempo the game, take advantage of chances on offense to score before they set their defense but at the same time, not getting into too fast of a pace that would favor Kentucky, and then you have to hope you are fortunate that they would miss some perimeter jump shots and that you can rebound the ball and at the very end you hope that you can put some game pressure on with their undefeated season on the line and hope it works in your favor.
As for Laettner, a Buffalo native and the subject of Sunday’s ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, “I Hate Christian Laettner,” Hurley says the Duke legend knew how to push Hurley’s buttons to bring him to the next level competitively and that they still remain friends.
“He’s living in Jacksonville now but we talked before our conference tournament started and he wished me good luck,” Hurley said. “We also talked about the documentary. What happened in the past between Christian and I was him trying to get the most out of me as a player to push me. I think he knew that I could take it because I was a tough guy and he thought that if he could challenge me every day that it would bring the best out of me.
“At times it wasn’t smooth between him and I and at the end we won a lot together. We still remain pretty close and I’m happy for him because the documentary shed some light on who he really is and he wanted to get his message across and I think it worked out really well for him.”
What was the most annoying thing Laettner did? Calling Hurley “Bart Simpson”?
“More of the stuff that bothered me was the stuff that happened on the court, he would talk some smack to me as we played,” Hurley said. “He always wanted to be the best and he always challenged everyone to rise up to his level. Some days it became too much, like the day that I threw the ball at his head in the pick up game. I was just tired in listening to him. We got through all things like that that transpired and we both rose above it and became champions.”
Photos; AP
