article_snippet: Then, the woulda, coulda, shouldas begin: Christian Laettner should've been kicked out; Christian Laettner should never have been in the game to hit that miraculous shot; Kentucky should've advanced to the Final Four.
article_snippet: The thing Christian Laettner prefers to remember from that game was the honor of playing in it -- and the locker room speech by Coach Rick Pitino after the game.
article_snippet: Coach Rick Pitino held up an old Sports Illustrated cover that said the Kentucky program was in shambles.
article_snippet: Coach Rick Pitino told Coach Rick Pitino players that although his players lost on the court, his players had done something much bigger: his players'd put Kentucky basketball back on the map.
article_snippet: the Kentucky program put a lot of things in perspective, especially for a young team in a program that had just returned from heavy NCAA sanctions,Timberlake Timberlake says.
article_snippet: All I remember is working with our heads down, attacking every practice and every game to the best of our ability.
article_snippet: And the locker room speech by Coach Rick Pitino after the game just reminded our of what was accomplished through that hard work, even in a loss.
article_snippet: That is a message, Coach Rick Pitino says, that still resonates in Coach Rick Pitino life: "Sometimes you don't see the full picture and don't reap the immediate rewards of your work, but 9 times out of 10 good things do happen.
article_snippet: But that game will never quite sit well with Kentucky players and fans.
article_snippet: Don't get Coach Rick Pitino wrong.
article_snippet: Coach Rick Pitino'd love to see Kentucky play Duke for the title this year, this time with the Wildcats walking away as the winners.