In their words: Syracuse basketball's run to 1996 Final Four and the birth of a catchphrase

[shandeezy7]

Saw that this was posted in the Daily Articles thread, but thought it deserved it's own thread. Great insight from the players' perspectives. Also, I think I might have found a new favorite SU basketball story of all time, courtesy of John Wallace:

"We'd lost to Georgetown the first time by like 15 or 17 points. I was distraught. I had such disdain for them but I let my team down. John Thompson was calling Boubacar Aw the John Wallace-stopper or something after the first game when I was just missing my shots. We went out for the jump ball and I told him, 'You're going to be my little b****.' I smiled at John Thompson after every basket."

http://www.syracuse.com/orangebaske...birth_of_a_catchphrase.html#incart_river_home

 

[djcon57]

Z doesn't hurt his wrist and Wallace doesn't foul out and we win. Literally 0 doubt in my mind.

 

[AlaskaSU]

OMG, that is the best read of my life and I am bookish. I remember that Otis spin move, best footwork imaginable, and Z hitting the two threes, and Jason's ridiculous fade away. To hear it from the players as if it happened this morning!!!

 

[DoctorBombay]

Loved this!
God bless Al McGuire for that dancing memory of a lifetime.
Btw- if you recall this FF run cemented JB as a recognized great coach. I remember after the Kansas win, Coach Al said; "Who says he can't coach? How's that for a coaching peformance"? He always loved JB and was a true giant of CBB.

 

[orange2win]

Fabulous article.

I found this piece particularly enlightening.

Wallace: "I was really close to being gone for the NBA. I had a guarantee from (Denver Nuggets general manager) Bernie Bickerstaff that he'd take me at No. 15, so I knew I would be a Top 15 pick. Late in the year I'd been told I was a second-round pick so, in that amount of time, I'd gone from a second-round pick to Top 15. I figured if I came back, I'd be top five. That was my mindset."

I am strong believer that when these kids get a chance to jump for the big money, they are nuts if they stay on. John challenges my theory.

Wallace: "Without that year, I'm just another good player at Syracuse. That cemented my legacy and made me an upper-echelon player. I wouldn't trade that for anything."

Interesting!

 

[bballbeadle]

Rick Pitino was coach of Kentucky, right? And when the horn sounded on the championship game and Kentucky had won, one of our players was rolling on the floor in agony. I remember Pitino kneeling down beside him and comforting him when by rights he should have been gallivanting with his team. I believe that was when I developed a fondness for Pitino. I know I am in a huge minority (of one?) in that regard.

 

[OrangeDW]

Fabulous article.

I found this piece particularly enlightening.

Wallace: "I was really close to being gone for the NBA. I had a guarantee from (Denver Nuggets general manager) Bernie Bickerstaff that he'd take me at No. 15, so I knew I would be a Top 15 pick. Late in the year I'd been told I was a second-round pick so, in that amount of time, I'd gone from a second-round pick to Top 15. I figured if I came back, I'd be top five. That was my mindset."

I am strong believer that when these kids get a chance to jump for the big money, they are nuts if they stay on. John challenges my theory.

Wallace: "Without that year, I'm just another good player at Syracuse. That cemented my legacy and made me an upper-echelon player. I wouldn't trade that for anything."

Interesting!

What??!! You've GOT TO START YOUR EARNING CLOCK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE OR YOU ARE SCREWED!! That's what many on here say, anyway.

 

[OrangeDW]

Easy to forget that team was 3-5 in conference play at one point. This after an impressive early season run away from home with couple nice wins(Arizona, Illinois). Sounds familiar.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

20 years... wow. I was a senior in high school, and a die hard fan. That Sweet 16 game against Georgia is still my favorite game of all time. I can't believe its been 20 years. Heroes always seem timeless. They were my heroes that year. My wife got her picture taken with John Wallace at the 2013 BET, and I was like a giddy little schoolgirl. Time goes by, but that run by that team will always seem like yesterday to me. My favorite Syracuse team of all time.

 

[RF2044]

Saw that this was posted in the Daily Articles thread, but thought it deserved it's own thread. Great insight from the players' perspectives. Also, I think I might have found a new favorite SU basketball story of all time, courtesy of John Wallace:

"We'd lost to Georgetown the first time by like 15 or 17 points. I was distraught. I had such disdain for them but I let my team down. John Thompson was calling Boubacar Aw the John Wallace-stopper or something after the first game when I was just missing my shots. We went out for the jump ball and I told him, 'You're going to be my little b****.' I smiled at John Thompson after every basket."

http://www.syracuse.com/orangebaske...birth_of_a_catchphrase.html#incart_river_home

We killed Gtown in the Dome that year, and they were top 10. Beat them by like 18.

 

[OttoMets]

Very cool write-up. Is Chris Carlson a staff writer for the newspaper, and does he know that we don't capitalize random words like "West Coast Swing" within sentences?

 

[CusefanATL]

OMG, that is the best read of my life and I am bookish. I remember that Otis spin move, best footwork imaginable, and Z hitting the two threes, and Jason's ridiculous fade away. To hear it from the players as if it happened this morning!!!

his power dribble. loved it.

 

[CusefanATL]

Fabulous article.

I found this piece particularly enlightening.

Wallace: "I was really close to being gone for the NBA. I had a guarantee from (Denver Nuggets general manager) Bernie Bickerstaff that he'd take me at No. 15, so I knew I would be a Top 15 pick. Late in the year I'd been told I was a second-round pick so, in that amount of time, I'd gone from a second-round pick to Top 15. I figured if I came back, I'd be top five. That was my mindset."

I am strong believer that when these kids get a chance to jump for the big money, they are nuts if they stay on. John challenges my theory.

Wallace: "Without that year, I'm just another good player at Syracuse. That cemented my legacy and made me an upper-echelon player. I wouldn't trade that for anything."

Interesting!

the underlined part is world changing to me. Wallace is 100% right too. He would be on the same level as like a Kris Joseph. Good player who was on some decent teams

Instead Wallace is a top 5 player in school history. That is worth something.

 

[RaoulDuke]

wow that was a great article ... memories

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

We killed Gtown in the Dome that year, and they were top 10. Beat them by like 18.

Remember that game well. AI was almost killed by Wallace and Hill. He drove baseline, went up and they contested it in a very mean manner. If I recall correctly, AI was down for a while and Thompson the elder stomped and stormed around the court blaming anyone he could. Great game.

I was at the Nova game earlier that year where SU lost in overtime. Great game despite the ending. What amazing players littering the league that year.

 

[dollarbill44]

What great memories from that tourney. That Georgia game is a very close 2nd behind the 2003 NC game as the best SU game I've seen. The back and forth and the emotion of both teams was incredible.