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Anthony Davis, unlike Christian Laettner, will get a chance to shine at Olympics

Anthony Davis - photo from Getty Images

– photo from Getty Images

For the first time in two decades, since the 1992 transformation of U.S. Olympic basketball by the collection of NBA superstars dubbed “The Dream Team,” there will be one player on the Team USA roster with no professional experience. For 19-year-old Hornets rookie Anthony Davis, his journey with the current group of men's Olympians should be far different than the one experienced by the last collegian who was part of the '92 gold-medal winning team in Barcelona, .  Laettner, who had played for four years at Duke, was part of the 1992 USA roster that included Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and other legends of the game.  Though Laettner played in each game — the Americans won every game it played by an average of more than 43 points at the Games — Laettner was more a practice-session whipping boy. Davis, 6 feet 10, 230 pounds, is expected to shoulder a bit more in-game responsibility.

 

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On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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