Also, the game was at elevation in Albuquerque. The Coogs had just played the game of the year 48 hours earlier. They were gassed. Play that game 5 times and Phi Slamma Jamma wins 4. But you only get to play once at the dance.
I had rewatched the game several times.
I rewatched it again yesterday.
The four-corner offense actually generated points.
It was the defense that was lacking.
And other things that we all had mentioned.
Franklin played like a freshman.
He was bailed out several times, mostly by Olajuwon.
But he made a mistake after an inbound pass toward the end of the game, throwing a lazy pass to Getty after the inbound that NC State stealed and converted.
NC St purposefully fouled him, and he missed the front end of the one and one.
Drexler's foul trouble (some of the calls were tacky or made no sense) put Benny Anders in.
Benny might be Mr. Instant Offense, but his defense was really subpar.
He wouldn't find too many minutes on the current team.
Olajuwon needed the oxygen mask.
If that game was played in a venue on the plain, he could have saved the game all by himself.
He covered so many mistakes, but he's still human.
But we have to remember that every time he covered for his teammates, he spent energy exerting himself.
Years ago, I also thought Guy didn't do the team a favor going with the four corner, but the more I rewatched and learned about the circumstances, I believe he did the right thing.