Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="IthacaMatt, post: 5281319, member: 405"] There was a year, I think it was 1998-99. Etan Thomas got hurt early in the season, and all these other guys had to step up in terms of rebounding and defense. It was during this stretch, as I recall, that Ryan Blackwell really emerged as a leader on the team. And then when Etan came back, we were a much better team because other guys had to take on new responsibilities in his absence. The following year they were one of my most underrated SU teams. They lost to Michigan State in the Sweet 16 after leading by around 15 points. If I'm remembering correctly that was the Mateen Cleeves team who wound up winning the championship for Izzo that year. We were playing at that kind of level. That team could have won it. Kind of like how we lost to eventual champion Arkansas in '95 when Moten called the phantom time out. [/QUOTE]