Geno Auriemma Says Men's College Basketball Is A Joke
Q. You’ve read a lot about the state of the men’s college game this year, that the game is not as fluid, efficient, exciting, well played as it has been in years past. There’s many reasons people would surmise that from more freshman, sophomores playing than juniors and seniors. I know you are obviously an authority on the women’s game and your team. But you’re a basketball coach and a basketball fan, so you see a lot of men’s college basketball. What has been your thought about where you see the state of the men’s game is right now?
HEAD COACH GENO AURIEMMA: I think the game is a joke. It really is. I don’t coach it. I don’t play it, so I don’t understand all the ins and outs of it. But as a spectator, forget that I’m a coach, as a spectator, watching it, it’s a joke. There’s only like ten teams, you know, out of 25, that actually play the kind of game of basketball that you’d like to watch. Every coach will tell you that there’s 90 million reasons for it.
And the bottom line is that nobody can score, and they’ll tell you it’s because of great defense, great scouting, a lot of team work, nonsense, nonsense. College men’s basketball is so far behind the times it’s unbelievable.
First of all that’s the headline you’re going to see everywhere, and it’s not wrong. It is literally an exact quote of what Geno said pulled directly from his transcript, so when he complains he got taken out of context, he has no one to blame but himself. And yes a coach from the women’s league calling men’s basketball “a joke” makes my blood boil just typing it out.
But I will acknowledge the full Geno quote, in its entirety, where the points he makes aren’t completely horrible.
HEAD COACH GENO AURIEMMA: It’s funny, you asked me that, I just had a conversation with Phil Martelli yesterday and I think he’s the president on the ABC board of directors or whatever.
And we had this conversation and we talked a lot about where the game is and what the future of the game is. And obviously it’s immensely popular. You look at the interest paid on the NCAA tournament. I don’t know that it’s as immensely popular during the regular season as it used to be, but obviously the tournament is just at another world when it comes to that.
Having said that, I think the game is a joke. It really is. I don’t coach it. I don’t play it, so I don’t understand all the ins and outs of it. But as a spectator, forget that I’m a coach, as a spectator, watching it, it’s a joke. There’s only like ten teams, you know, out of 25, that actually play the kind of game of basketball that you’d like to watch. Every coach will tell you that there’s 90 million reasons for it.And the bottom line is that nobody can score, and they’ll tell you it’s because of great defense, great scouting, a lot of team work, nonsense, nonsense. College men’s basketball is so far behind the times it’s unbelievable. I mean women’s basketball is behind the times. Men’s basketball is even further behind the times. Every other major sport in the world has taken steps to help people be better on the offensive end of the floor. They’ve moved in the fences in baseball, they lowered the mound. They made the strike zone so you need a straw to put through it. And in the NFL you touch a guy it’s a penalty. You hit the quarterback, you’re out for life. You know, in the NBA, you touch somebody in the perimeter, you whack guys like they used to do when scores were 90 to 75, they changed the rules.
This is entertainment we’re talking about. People have to decide, do I want to play 25 bucks, 30 bucks to go see a college scrum where everybody misses six out of every ten shots they take, or do I want to go to a movie? We’re fighting for the entertainment dollar, here, and I have to tell you it’s not entertainment from a fan’s standpoint.
So that’s just?? I’m talking as a fan, not as Geno, Auriemma, the basketball coach.
Now first of all, I know he addressed the women’s game, but even so, let’s be real: anyone who makes their living in a league where there are 60 point blowouts multiple times in the same tournament, and 1, 2, MAYBE 3 teams tops have a chance of winning it all every single year, has no business criticizing another league being a joke. Women’s college basketball is a joke. That’s not sexist, that’s a fact.
But I see his point about college basketball not being as entertaining as it should be. It’s really not. And it’s mostly because of these new rules they have where every tiny piece of body contact is a foul. It’s absurd. Seriously anyone who has watched 10 minutes of the tournament knows exactly what I’m talking about. It’s out of control. The ticky tack fouls are constant. Every single game the “foul trouble” chart is full from top to bottom. The rule changes they put in a couple years ago encouraging more foul calls has blown up in their face and is actually significantly destroying the product on the floor, to the point where I’m sure casual fans are having a hard time enjoying what they’re watching. And the shot clock is wayyy too long, which is a given.
I mean I grew up playing and watching basketball my whole life so I can appreciate teams like Virginia, teams like SDSU who work their ass off on defense and win games with defensive stops. I LOVE watching Kentucky play defense. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need more scoring and a faster pace to make the game more exciting, and frankly there are not many teams doing that. Sure March Madness is awesome, it always is. But how many people are sitting through entire random regular season college games that their team isn’t playing in or that they didn’t bet money on, just for entertainment?
So yeah Geno really has no place commenting on the men’s game, especially when he’s never had the balls to coach in it himself. But I won’t discount all of his points he made here.