During a recent appearance on the Run It Back show, Mike Bibby recalled the 1997 NCAA tournament experience. The NBA veteran explained how his team had almost zero pressure on them to performance because they were the underdogs of the tournament. He also talked about facing Paul Pierce at the time and how his team managed to clinch the victory and mark their names in the NCAA history books.
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Bibby played for the Arizona Wildcats from 1996 to 1998. His reputation as a basketball player skyrocketed once they won the NCAA tournament and as a result of that, he was picked up by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the 1998 NBA Draft as the first round, second overall pick. Bibby went on to have a good NBA career playing for almost 14 years and during his time with the Miami Heat, he was teammates with LeBron James. But, for the way his team won the 1997 NCAA championship, it remains the highlight of his basketball career.
Bibby said that his team almost didn’t make it to the 1997 NCAA championship because they were losing games in the beginning. After that, nobody had real expectations from the Wildcats and that might have fueled them to go for the throne as they had nothing to lose. Despite that, their journey wasn’t going to be an easy one as they had to face some of the strongest team and players like Paul Pierce.
He said, “There was really no pressure on us, no one really expected us to do any damage, we were supposed to lose every round…We just came in and played.”
As difficult a start as the Arizona Wildcats had to their 1997 campaign, as they proceeded further into the tournament, the competition got tougher. But, to everyone’s surprise, they came out on top, beating all the best teams and creating several records in the process. To this day, they’re the only team in the NCAA history to beat three number one seeds in the tournament. They beat Kansas, North Carolina and then Kentucky in the finals.
The final game was one for the ages as they beat Kentucky 84-79, as per Sports Reference. Bibby and Miles Simon led the charge for their team and Bibby ended up with 19 points, nine rebounds, and four assists while Simon dropped 30 points with three rebounds and one assist. An extra layer of pride in their win is the fact that the Kentucky team comprised of five future NBA players and two NBA coaches.
