Coach reflects on 1987 championship game

Indiana was down 73-72 with under 15 seconds to play. Smart passed to Thomas in the post. Thomas kicked it back out to Smart. From the baseline, Smart, to win the game …\nIn the 1987 NCAA title game, senior guard Keith Smart's 15-foot jumper from the left corner with six seconds remaining in the game won the national championship, 74-73 against Syracuse.\n"Everybody had a picture of Keith Smart's shot," Bob Knight said. "I have a picture of Daryl Thomas' pass. We probably went from a low-percentage shot with Daryl under pressure, throwing a really good pass and getting a basket. And that pass was the key in that game."\nIt was Smart's shot that clinched Indiana's third and final national championship of the Knight era. But, it was Thomas's pass that made an imprint with Knight. And, although Smart's shot is perhaps the most vivid moment in college basketball history, it was a different Smart circumstance that make an impact with his former coach.\n"Smart's key play in the game was at a timeout with 29 seconds to play," Knight said. "I had told junior forward Steve Eyl to foul (Syracuse forward Derrick) Coleman. Well, they foiled that a little bit by putting Coleman out-of-bounds, which was a pretty good move to start with, because now he's not going to get any in-bounds pass."\nAfter the pass to Orangemen center Rony Seikely, Eyl immediately left Coleman and began double-teamed Seikely. But, as Seikely received the ball, he tossed it back to Coleman who was just stepping in-bounds.\n"Keith Smart fouled Coleman, which was a great play, that was even better (than) the shot he made. It was a really good shot, from a good spot for him. He's a good baseline shooter. But thinking and rotating up, trying to get the ball, not getting it and foul Coleman." \nSmart's foul stopped the play at 28 seconds when Coleman missed his free throws, leaving IU a chance to win the game. \n"Those two plays were just great basketball plays. I just like the way that that team came together. That was a really cohesive, competitive team." \nKnight's coaching technique in the final minutes of the 1987 championship game was only a glimpse into the aura of greatness that surrounding Knight. \nDigger Phelps, a longtime friend and the head coach of the Notre Dame basketball program from 1972-91, faced Knight 16 times during his career, emerging with only four victories.\n"He owned me," Phelps said. "When he got focused on games, he coached as well as anyone. (Knight is) one of the great ones ever. And (IU) will miss him."\nIsiah Thomas, current head coach of the Indiana Pacers and former IU player, was a member of the unheralded 1981 team that won the national title. Thomas noted Knight's attributes as a person contributed to his success as a coach. \n"His methods of motivating are much more mental than physical," Thomas said. "He continually takes players and makes them better. That's how you should measure coach Knight. (He) maintained a high level of excellence that we take for granted."\nAfter 763 coaching victories, 11 Big Ten titles and national titles in 1976, '81 and '87, Knight reflected on what it meant to win a championship. \n"It's a culmination of all of the things that you're doing. Everything that you've done in that season has come together to make you, at least for that season, the best team there is"