The Last Great Game: Duke vs. Kentucky and the 2.1 Seconds That Changed Basketball

by Gene Wojciechowski

The definitive book on the greatest game in the history of college basketball, and the dramatic road both teams took to get there.

March 28, 1992. The final of the NCAA East Regional, Duke vs. Kentucky. The 17,848 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia and the millions watching on TV could say they saw the greatest game and the greatest shot in the history of college basketball. But it wasn't just the final play of the game-an 80-foot inbounds bass from Grant Hill to Christian Laettner with 2.1 seconds left in overtime- that made Duke's 105-104 victory so memorable. The Kentucky and Duke players and coaches arrived at that point from very different places, each with a unique story to tell.

In "The Last Great Game," acclaimed ESPN columnist Gene Wojciechowski tells their stories in vivid detail, turning the game we think we remember into a drama filled with suspense, humor, revelations and reverberations. The cast alone is worth meeting again: Mike Krzyzewski, Rick Pitino, Bobby Hurley, Jamal Mashburn, Christian Laettner, Sean Woods, Grant Hill, and Bobby Knight. Timed for the game's 20th anniversary, "The Last Great Game" isn't a book just for Duke or Kentucky or even basketball fans. It's a book for any reader who can appreciate that great moments in sports are the result of hard work, careful preparation, group psychology, and a little luck.

Genres: Sports, Basketball, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Biography

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2012

Reviews

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Sean Woods banked in his shot to put Kentucky up 1 with 2.1 seconds left in the game I was ecstatic. It was 1992 and I was 11 years old. I lived and died Kentucky basketball. I could recite the player introductions, their numbers, their heights, and their hometowns from memory. And in that moment in my parent's living room I was having the best moment of my life. We were going to go to the first Final 4 that I would remember!

And then, well you know what happened. I remember sitting in front of the TV in absolute shock. I remember being irate that the son of a mother who hit that shot was still in the game after stepping on Aminu Timberlake. I remember being furious with John Pelphrey. I remember that 3 pointer Hurley missed with the long rebound that Duke got, and passed back to Hurley for another three which he nailed (a sequence which would haunt me again in a double overtime game against Michigan State in the Elite 8 years later). I remember Mashburn picking up his 5th foul (a sequence I would have to suffer through again the very next year in the Final Four against Michigan's Fab Five).

So yea. It was the worst moment of my young life.

20 years later I'm still irritated. I spent $50 just so I could attend an exhibition UK legends vs. Villains (coached by Laettner) game just so I could boo him. And as soon as I arrived I plopped down another $15 for an I still hate Laettner t-shirt, the corresponding bookend to the T-shirt my Dad had shortly after the '92 game that proclaimed UK was #1 by crossing out the D on the front and the E on the back.

Anyways, during the run up to the exhibition game I listened to several interviews with Laettner and I was impressed with his thoughtfulness, his admission of wrongdoing, and his appreciation for the game. After those interviews I found myself liking Laettner, which of course made me hate him more.

So of course when I saw this book I had to read it. Wojciechowski does a great job at providing a look at how Coach K built the Duke program up and how Pitino helped resurrect Kentucky basketball after the scandal. The author's insights into the lives of the coaches, Duke's power trio (Laettner, Hurley, and Grant Hill), Monster Mash, and the Unforgettables were wonderful. As I read more and more my heart rate started to increase as we approached the game. I swear my pulse was about 180 bpm when I hit the overtime chapter. That game was so intense and Wojciechowski does a great job of capturing this intensity. The chapter where he watches the game with Coach K was great... I loved Coach K pointing out all the great things Pelphrey did in OT. If you love college basketball and especially if you are a fan of one of these teams than you have to read this book.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, full disclosure: As a Duke fan I had to read this book. And as long as it ended with the score the same as it was 20 years ago, I was going to be pretty satisfied with it. However, I agree with the many reviewers who have said that this book is completely readable for Kentucky fans or college basketball fans in general.

Looking at the book objectively, here are some things I liked and didn't like.
* It read basically like an extended Sports Illustrated article, so it went down pretty easy. A few too many "f" words for my taste, but I guess this is de rigueur for sports writing.
* I liked the fact that 50 percent of the book was devoted to each side -- even to the point of recapping the game twice.
* I thought the author pulled his punches a lot when writing about the Kentucky scandal; it comes off sounding as if he's afraid of a lawsuit. But I can understand that he wanted to focus more on what they did to recover from the scandal, and that part he does well.
* It was interesting to meet some of the lesser-known people in each program, but nevertheless Rock Oliver [the Kentucky strength coach] got way too much attention. At times it seems as if the book is the story of Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, and Rock Oliver. Come on! Give us more of the Kentucky players.
* The chapters on recruiting were very good. I didn't know that Chris Webber came close to being a Dukie! Now that would have changed history!
* I liked the chapters on the early years of Coach K. He was truly one of the long-shot hires of all time, and the patience of athletic director Tom Butters in sticking with him through a couple of disastrous years was amazing. Butters was clearly able to see beyond the won-lost record. I can't imagine too many athletic directors with that kind of vision.
* As several reviewers have noted, the title of the book is really bad. There's no explanation of how the last 2.1 seconds "changed basketball," except for the rather trivial point that it changed end-of-game strategy a bit. I liked where John Calipari said that coaches always guard the inbounds passer now, because of that play. But it was equally interesting that Rick Pitino thinks the whole issue is overrated. In fact, *he* thinks he lost the game when he told Pelphrey and Feldhaus not to foul Laettner, and as a result they played very soft defense.
* Coach K was very cooperative, but Wojciechowski never asked him the question I would like to ask. Suppose it's best 2 out of 3 instead of just one game. What would you do differently in the next game? (Partly I would ask this because I think he got outcoached by Pitino. He had the better team, and they only won by a miracle. 'Nuff said.)
* Maybe I'm just a stats nerd, but I would have liked to see a box score of the game. One thing that people don't always appreciate is how great the first 44 1/2 minutes of the game were. Both sides shot over 60 percent!
* I was intrigued to see in the acknowledgements that the book was originally pitched to the publishers by Coach K's daughter! But then she didn't write it because of her pregnancy. I'm sure it would have been an incredibly different book if she had written it. All in all I think that Wojciechowski really did the idea justice. It takes a very professional writer to bring such passion and meticulousness to a book that wasn't originally your idea.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

College team sports can make for great drama. I think I learned this mostly from reading John Feinstein books over the years. Sure, you have guys who are good or great athletes, and to compete at that level, they have to be unusually driven. And you also have competition – in this case, at a level that's highly visible. Add to that mix the fact that these are effectively young kids who inevitably have a lot of learning and growing to do, the storyteller can follow several dramas unfolding, on and off the playing field. Finally, you have the famous coaches, the great mentors, who teach the kids how to work together and make the most of themselves. The story writes itself.

For me, this was a trip down memory lane to my college years, and I very much enjoyed it as a guilty pleasure, much the way my girlfriend enjoys watching "Glee". Wojciechowski did a lot of interviews with a lot of people all over the country to get this book right, and he put it all together to tell a great story of human drama. People familiar with this era will certainly get a nuanced perspective on some of the people involved. The background stories about Pitino and Newton, Davis and Laettner, are really well spun. The timing on this book is perfect, since everyone involved is still around and of sound mind, but enough time has passed to allow some additional inside story to be revealed.

If I have a criticism, it's the awkwardness of the presentation of that Duke-Kentucky matchup. The part the author gets right is that these two teams were very compelling stories. Throughout the book, chapters alternated between the Kentucky story and the Duke one, and it does so effectively. The setup works so well in part because the paths the programs took to the game were in many ways so different. But he continued to follow that pattern once the game began – alternating perspectives between that of Duke and that of Kentucky. It didn't quite feel right. It wasn't linear, and there was very little discussion of the first half. And believe it or not, it actually felt a little anticlimactic. I might have been happier setting the book down at the tip off and just putting in the game DVD.

I might also criticize the absurd title, "The Last Great Game" along with the subtitle "the 2.1 seconds that changed basketball". This game was exceptional for a lot of reasons, but it's reasonable to argue that Laettner's bucket (uh -- spoiler alert?) really only changed the narrative of the legacies of the players on those benches. But nostalgia is a funny thing. College basketball came of age as a big-media televised sport in those years, and Laettner's buzzer shot capped a great game in a way no others did. It wasn't Fred Brown throwing away the ball. It wasn't Lorenzo Charles cleaning up a prayer. And even Keith Smart hit his jumper in '87 with several seconds to spare. Laettner's shot was great drama, the climax in a game when both teams continued raising the stakes throughout, and we see it on television again every spring because it's such a great clip. And the legend grows.

So, I still liked the book. I remember distinctly that I jumped so high I put my fists through the drop ceiling in the dorm commons room that day, 20 years ago. I can't say I've done anything quite like that since then. So, yeah, the book also made me feel old. Which I am. So it goes.

[Tom Gase · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good and a fun read but I didn't give it five stars, I gave it four for a couple reasons. It was an entertaining and well-researched book that brought me back to 1988 through 1992. College basketball was a lot more enjoyable to watch back then, when players stayed at a minimum of two years and most of the good ones stayed three to four years. So you could watch a season and the next year see some familiar faces. That doesn't really happen in college basketball anymore. I really remember liking to watch some of these games mentioned in the book with my dad, so this book really brought those good times back. It also did a good job building up the scene leading up to the Kentucky vs Duke game in 1992 that this book is about.

In case you've lived in a cave, I won't give the ending away, but my big problem with this book is the title. The Last Great Game? What about the six-overtime game between Syracuse and UConn? Or Kansas and Memphis a few years back in the final? Maybe the title should have been "College basketball's greatest game." That might ring a little more true. But also the book should have been renamed because the actual game is mentioned in the prologue and then not again until around page 200 of a book that is 292 pages. To me, there wasn't enough breakdown of the actual game and that's what this book is supposed to be about. I know the author, Gene Wojciechowski is just trying to build up the tension going into the game, but for me at least, that's no good. I can read about the history of Kentucky and Duke in a lot of books, and I have. Everyone knows the story between Coach K and Bobby Knight by now. Why spend so much time on it? I understand the telling of Kentucky's scandal story I guess, that story hasn't been told as much, but probably edit on the Duke side a little. I should be reading about this game no later than halfway through the book with a title like that. All in all, a good read. And people that don't read as much sports books as me, will probably give this five stars. But it will have to settle for four from myself. Not bad though, just could have been a little better.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great sports read in every sense. The story of the players, coaches and supporters of Duke and Kentucky, as well as the 1992 East Regional Final itself lends itself to a fantastic retelling, but Wojciechowski does it justice. The pacing of the books works wells, balancing background of the players, coaches and teams, providing good build up. You can tell that Wojciechowski had great access to the key people involved in the game, because I really came to understand the context of the game much better.

The sanctions that Kentucky were faced with and the subsequent effect on Big Blue Nation were portrayed really well in this book. The relationships between players, coaches and other important people was also dealt with wonderfully, and I finished the book feeling like I understood the individuals and the teams a lot better. Particularly, the portrayal of camaraderie of the Kentucky team (particularly 'The Unforgettables'), as well as the Hurley-Laettner "like-hate relationship" really added to the story. I was able to tie together the events in this book (including the Duke-UNLV rivalry, the rise of the Fab Five at Michigan and Krzyzewski's relationship with Bob Knight) with other college basketball books I've read and loved. That made the reading of this book all the better.

My only criticism was that it lacked some critical insight into the teams, games, coaches and events - this might be because it's literally a retelling, 20 years after the fact, rather than following an unknown season. Perhaps people's recollections are mostly of fondness of people and events, rather than what the feelings truly were at the time. It's also likely due to the fact this is an ESPN commissioned book. Nevertheless, I loved this book - it's pacing was great and I highly recommend re-watching the game as well - amazing, every time.

[Blake Wilkins]

Since I am a Duke fan I had to read this book. My grandma is a huge Duke fan and told me to read this book, so I read it. I thought it was very good because you feel like you are one of the players during this time. The author goes through daily life of each of these teams throughout the year. I enjoyed it because I got to learn more about Duke players during this time. Since I wasn't alive and I have heard how this National Championship game was such an epic game. It made me want to learn more about it. So I started reading this book. I enjoyed learning the hobbies and habits from the Duke team. I didn't read much about Kentucky because I'm not a fan and it was pretty boring. I just wanted to learn about this Duke team. I just loved how they got this new coach that everybody thought was awful and he had been somewhat successful in the tournament and then one year he finally won it on a last second shot. I couldn't help but smile when I read about the last second shot part. The way the book describes it makes chills run down my spine.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Last Great Game: Duke vs. Kentucky and the 2.1 Seconds That Changed Basketball by Gene Wojciechowski (Blue Rider Press 2012)(796.323) is a fabulous book about college basketball. I've always thought of the game in question as the greatest game (and the greatest shot) that I've ever seen. Grant Hill inbounds the ball - throws three-quarters court to Christian Laettner at the opposing foul line - Laettner catches the ball, he turns, he shoots over two Kentucky defenders, and it's......GOOD! Oh my! A couple of things that truly stood out about this book were (1) how much Duke Coach Mike Kryzezewski loved Bobby Hurley and Laettner, and (2) the fact that Laettner could walk the length of the basketball court on his hands! Now THAT'S a freakish athlete. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 9/27/12. Reread 4/15/19. I purchased a used HB copy in good condition from Amazon 1/23/19. HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[Dan Hickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like/love college basketball you need to read this book. Wojciechowski weaves together a compelling narrative by tracing the individual journeys of the Duke and Kentucky players and coaches from their earliest days with their programs to the moment their lives intersect in the final 2.1 seconds of the greatest basketball game ever played. I actually hate Duke, but found myself appreciating, even admiring, them and how they played the game.

[Rick Hosey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recovery

Recovery

I have to say that I enjoyed the book. Being a Kentucky fan I have never watched a replay of the game and always turn my head every March when the damn shot is shown during March Madness. It was time to get over it and appreciate the game for what it was.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal behind-the-scenes book about this game and the two bball programs that made it happen. I grew up a Duke fan and in couldn't put this book down. Was sad to see it end! It's too bad that players come and go so quickly nowadays - it used to be so satisfying and enjoyable to see a talented player develop for 4 yrs.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and ultrareadable behind-the-scenes look at THE game and THE shot. Great choice for all for college basketball fans, but as a warning to my fellow Kentucky fans, after all these years, it still kinda hurts.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm... This was a solidly good book about one of the worst events of my entire life.

I was left wondering exactly who the author considered his target audience to be, though.

[Marc Brueggemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

During college, I watched an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary called "I Hate Christian Lattner." It mostly looked at the perspective of Lattner and his famous shit that made basketball history, as well as why fans and other programs hated him so much as well as Duke basketball. I bought this book after watching it, but I never got a chance to read it until now. It has really expanded how I view this great moment in sports history.

I was more compelled by Dukes perspective than Kentucky's. Winning two championships in a row in college basketball is extremely hard! Especially at that time when North Carolina, Indiana, as well as Kentucky were very willing to stop their second national championship win. But it's not just Duke, it is also about Kentucky when the program was at its lowest, because of NCAA infractions, paying players to play, and a two-year postseason play ban. Rick Pitinos work in brining basketball stars throughout Kentucky to bring it's basketball program from the ashes is very inspiring. But for Duke, before their back to back championships, we're having a hard time winning a championship once they got past the Final Four; only to lose in the championship game. Duke and Kentucky were desperate to win a championship, and this leads to the infamous game called simply The Greatest Game or as it is called, The Shot.

The shot is done by Dukes Grant Hill and Christian Lattner, with only 2.1 seconds left in overtime with Lattner hitting the shot at the buzzer with Duke winning 104-103. This shot shows how it impacted both teams, as well as the country. The Shot or The Greatest Game was talked about by George Bush Senior the next day at the White House asking everyone if they watched the Duke-Kentucky game and talked about it, as well as to a thoroughbred horse owner in Kentucky that he named his horse Lattner Be Gone, Kentucky fans are still traumatized by this shot; but with Duke, it was one of the greatest moments in Duke Basketball history as well as Duke sports history. This book is one of my favorite sports books, especially when a great sports moment impacts a culture.

[Lana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. But I didn’t love it. It’s a pet peeve more than anything, but I have an issue with sports books that have grandiose titles where the book didn’t live up to the title, and sports books that think they’re only about sports reporting and not about theory. If you posit a theory in the title, then you need to prove it in the book. For me, that was the frustrating thing about this book.

First, let’s talk about what this book was, because it was an enjoyable read. This was a great examination of a piece of college basketball history. It is a detailed history of who everyone was that played key roles in the March 1992 Duke vs. Kentucky game, how they got there, and what their mindset was. It was great to read and remember some of these players, and coaches, and those that were mentioned in passing. I know it’s because it’s the time I fondly remember – but these players, this was my “golden era” – even those at the teams I didn’t like, or coaches – I loved this time in college basketball history and it was great to see it again. It also is a great examination of some of the main players on Duke and Kentucky and showed both the good and the bad about both teams, coaches and atmospherics.

Now, a bit more criticism about what this book wasn’t - this wasn’t a book of show rather than tell - there was a whole lot of tell going on here. And it wasn’t a book that really explained why this was the last great game or how it changed college basketball. And the shame about this -- why I’m bothering to write out my thoughts in detail is -- I think his title is right. I think both of those statements are true. There are glimpses in the book when you can see why it was a great game – but ultimately not enough real estate in the book it spent talking about the game itself, or showing that it was a great game. There’s so much time on how each of these kids got to those schools, what their training was like, what their mindset was, what happened for the 2 years prior (what happened after this game) – and so little on the game itself.

Memory could prove me wrong, because I haven’t watched the game recently, but what I remember is that regulation was a closely contested, well-coached, enjoyable, back and forth affair – the type which we see glimpses of still today (not often, but you can find one or two a year). And then overtime happened, and watching the game, you could see something that was mentioned in passing in the book – that the players were not hearing anything from off the court, that they weren’t thinking about anything but that game, and trying their hardest to win it. BUT - it also became fun. As opposed to our angst ridden, mistake filled overtimes we often see now - where the pressure on those kids is overwhelming, where they get over coached and run only set plays - in 1992, it became about only 10 very gifted players, playing their hearts out. They had been well coached and well trained, and now it was just about ok, let’s see what you got… can you stop this?. It was like watching an extremely competitive game of horse, with massive stakes.

Even thinking about the overtime has me grinning – not just because I was cheering for the team who ultimately won, but because you could see how much fun all the players on both teams were having. Yeah, you think it’s impressive you just made a driving jumper dragging two players with you, well, here’s our little guy who is going to bank one in over your tallest player. It was a great game because it was the type of game that everyone who has played any sport hopes to have – a game where all your training, hard work, everything that every coach has ever said to you, all comes together, and it becomes sheer unbridled fun until the final horn sounds. There wasn’t the recrimination you see on players faces so much these days, there was appreciation on both sides for what the other team was doing. Every person on both those teams wanted that win badly, had heart, played with passion, and deserved to win that game.

Back to the book. Let’s just talk about how that March 1992 Duke vs. Kentucky game was handled. When we finally saw it, and got done with the play by play action, then we were left with a few pages of narration about how the sports reporters and writers all were in awe of that game and didn’t want to go to sleep after watching it (why?). The book didn’t promise this, but if you’re going to go that far to show that – to talk about the writers reactions to the game, then I really wanted a narrative about how sports reporting is no longer was able to convey the magnitude of a game like this. This game deserved Grantland Rice; it deserved a 1920s-style sports reporter who was essentially going to convert the game into a massive metaphor about the salvation of your soul. Every article that I’ve seen about this game was inadequate, because there are no longer the tools for a writer in the modern-day press to tell that story. What the book does say is that the articles were written with headlines changed from “Kentucky wins” to “Kentucky loses” - in other states “Duke wins.” And ultimately that was the problem with the reporting – sports reporting by this point was only about the winner or the loser. (It’s not much better now, except we have the twitter too.) The story the next day wasn’t about the story of the game anymore; it was only about the final score. And by that measure this game was exciting (won in the last 2.1 seconds!) but the game was so much more than that, and, even as a fan of one of the two teams in the game, what’s a shame about this game is that either team had to lose. We no longer could tell that story. We couldn’t tell the story of what it felt like to watch that game, complete with religious or historical metaphors (Greece and Rome met on a battlefield…), we were left with there was a winner, and a loser.

My last point, I’ll be brief, is that no where does this book touch on the theory that this game changed college basketball. I think there is an argument there, college basketball certainly has changed, and I don’t think you could see a game like this again, but why? And what does it have to do with this game? That’s not addressed. If it’s going to be in the title like that, it needs to be in the book.

When I write this much about a book, it means I really like it – even if I wanted it to be more.

[Hildie Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredible sports book! To quote Verne Lundquist (used also in the book): "There's the pass to Laettner... puts it up... yessssss!!!" This was the perfect book to read ahead of March Madness!

I learned a lot about both teams, the coaches, and the school's respective basketball histories pertaining to this era. While I have always been a proud Duke basketball fan, the story presented sheds some light with respect to Kentucky, especially as they were picking themselves up from a major sports scandal. Still, being a Duke fan, I really liked this inside look into the incredible team of the early 90's. Hurley, Laettner, the Hills, and all of the other boys made this team outstanding, the likes of which only come around so often. When I got to the part (in the book) of the actual shot, I had to YouTube it to see it all again! It's hard to believe something so cool is now 33 years ago!! I'm glad I was alive to see it when it happened and thank the author to now be able to read about it so many years later.

If you are a Duke fan, read this! If you are a college hoops fan, read this! If you are a fan of sports history, read this! I loved it!

[Zeke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid but unremarkable account of Duke and UK's programs leading up to that legendary 1992 regional final game. There's lots of fun anecdotes and behind the scenes stuff but absolutely zero larger context for how the outcome of the game supposedly changed college basketball, according to the book's title. Looking at other reviews I'm hardly the first to notice it doesn't follow through on the title's premise but pretty annoying nonetheless.
Besides enjoying revisiting some of the teams and players that made me interested in basketball in the first place (Grant Hill was my first favorite player), my main takeaway is that stuff we found "amusing" and "intense" in the 90s is just straight up abusive, and thank God we've grown out of it. Also, Rick Pitino and Christian Laettner are complete a-holes, which everyone basically already knows but this book definitely confirms it (though it doesn't seem to intend to).

[Dave Cottenie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Focused on two legendary programs that met in one of the most legendary college basketball games ever, “The Last Great Game” brings the reader back to a simpler and better time in college basketball. The focus begins with the coaches and stretches to the players of both Duke and Kentucky. Culminating in their meeting in the 1992 NCAA Tournament and focusing on the last few seconds of overtime, the author brilliantly analyses what many call the greatest basketball game ever. A must read for college basketball fans, especially those who are tired of the faceless one-and-done era we currently reside in.

[Randy Wojtasiak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was always hesitant to read this book. I don't like books that rehash every small detail of a game. If anything this book has been marketed poorly. It was much more than the individual game. It of coursed covered the back stories of both teams but more than that it covered relevant storylines in college basketball at the time. The UNLV team, the Fab Five, Bob Knight's beef with Coach K, and much more. It was an excellent read for those of us nostalgic about this time period in college basketball. This ranks as one of my favorite reads ever.

[Paulo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why is that game supposed to have changed basketball? The title says just that, but I didn't find any mention to it in any page. So it seems a 'clickbait', and this is not a good beginning.

The book is still fine, it becomes in some way enjoyable alternating chapters between one team and the other. It was a really great game, and this is an good entertaining and a decent approach to college basketball in those years.

And a recommendation, you must have seen the game before reading the book.

[Jake Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Duke fan, this book was especially fun to read! But even if you're not a Duke fan, but a fan of sports and big moments in the history of athletics I think you will enjoy this book (even most KY fans!). There are some parts of the book that go into great detail that some might find boring/non-relevant, but don't let that deter you from reading it.
(4.5)

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you remember this game as vividly as I do, you might be thinking this book can’t tell me anything I don’t already know. Don’t be a fool. This book gives back story on top of back story leading up to the game. I don’t know that I look back on the game with the reverence of the author (or Bob Ryan or Pat Forde), but this is a terrific book for any college basketball fan.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love the late 1980s/early 1990s college basketball era and want to revisit what is still one of the most memorably epic tournament games, then you'l like this one.

Author does a good job presenting the human side of the players and coaches involved which is what I most enjoyed, even though I'm not a fan of either the Duke or Kentucky programs. (Hoya Saxa forever!😀)

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Read!

Brought back a lot of memories. As someone who was in college in the state of Kentucky at the time, it was this moment I found out how big Kentucky basketball was.
This book was more than about 2.1 seconds. Highly recommended!

[Christopher Heaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for good sports books & I couldn't put this one down. Memorable account of the last second second shot by Duke's Christian Laettner that knocked Kentucky out of the NCAA tourney as Duke continued its March to consecutive championships.

[Stevie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I hated the both of them. I must have been filled with much anger as a teen. It's much funner now that I realize sports aren't that important.

[Chris Zaveckas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because I’m a huge duke basketball fan. You would like this book if u like sports.

[Jack Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read about a great game!!

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little piece of history. Nothing exceptional, but it didn’t need to be. It was a good true story, and the author didn’t mess it up.

[Artie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat interesting but I was disappointed that most of the text involves things that took place either before or after the game.

[Andrew Murawa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just a great sports book, but a great book. Amazing stories on both teams, told wonderfully by Geno.