What goes up… should have never come down.

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If this were a Hollywood script, the game and film would have ended and faded to black (in slow motion) as Gordon Hayward launched his 50-foot (potential game winning) shot toward the basket as time expired.

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“The ball is in the air.  And because the ball is in the air, anything is possible…”

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“Anything Is Possible.”  Those were the words written by Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated to describe the event.  Similarly, nothing more need be written nor spoken here either.

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The prologue included a young coach, a team fielded from a private school with an enrollment of 4200, on a 25-game winning streak to arrive in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game.  The game itself featured 145 possessions of which Butler would have 72, one short of what might have been needed, and one less than their victors.

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Ironically, during the entire tournament, Butler had not allowed an opponent to score more than 59 points (Syracuse and UTEP).  Monday, it was they that scored only 59, two points less than Duke.

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Finally, as Gordon Hayward’s shot left his fingers with what appeared to be less than 0.4 seconds, and maybe even 0.3 seconds on the clock, I’ve played it back no less than 59 times myself, these were the words used to describe it…

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“It had a chance,” Butler coach Brad Stevens.

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“It looked good,” Duke MVP Kyle Singler.

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“I thought it was going in,” Butler’s Matt Howard.

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Didn’t we all…

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Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/joe_posnanski/04/06/duke.title/index.html#ixzz0kP5zGZWU
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