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They gave up 53 points all season. "There were three other teams at least that were clearly,...

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They gave up 53 points all season. "There were three other teams at least that were clearly, visibly, unquestionably more talented," says Pioli. "We outtoughed them. We outthought them. We outconditioned them." And this is when Pioli started to think about what a team of intensely devoted and disciplined players could do. Well, actually, he started thinking about it a few years earlier. But the 1981 team crystallized the thought in his mind. Togetherness, real togetherness, could beat all the talent in the world.

A Dream In The Making - SI Vault Great article on Scott Pioli's roots from SI.com written by the one and only Joe Posnanski.