Thursday, February 21, 2013

Coach gets a little froggy during timeout...

ESPN.COM LINK


Coach Mike Montgomery isn't Bob Knight 2.0, not even close really, but in the media age that we live in today he should certainly know better then to push one of his players....in front of 10's of thousands of fans, on a nationally televised game....even if it is with the best of intentions.

Yes, I do think this whole situation got blown out of proportion.  The player in question, Allen Crabbe, did his best to defuse all of the hoopla by defending his coach after the game. Crabbe is the leading scorer on the  Cal Golden Bears while also leading the entire league in scoring. Prior to that forgettable moment Montgomery found his team losing by as many as 15 points in the second half while Crabbe seemed to be coasting. Whether it was the push both literally and figuratively from his coach or simply a big time scorer stepping up when he was needed, California rallied for the win with Crabbe putting up 10 points, nearly half of his entire total output of 23 for the game.

The biggest problem with situations such as this is the inequality of the public's reaction. While I've heard the so called experts talk about a good man losing his head "in the heat of the battle" and ask that we move on, I simply ask this, If the situation were reversed and after missing a few shots Crabbe had let his frustration get the better of him and shoved his coach would he be given the same benefit of the doubt? I HIGHLY HIGHLY DOUBT IT!

From everything that's been reported Mike Montgomery has a close relationship with Allen Crabbe and there is no reason to believe that he isn't being 100% honest when he says he was only trying to get his head in the game and the overreaction on his part by going beyond words and getting physical was a once in a lifetime mistake that will never happen again. Obviously situations like this need to be judged on a case by case basis by both the NCAA and individual teams, I just hope that in the future those "experts" are willing to give a young man/women who happens to get caught up in the heat of the moment the same benefit of the doubt if he's earned the reputation of character traits such as having a good character.

So, what do you think the NCAA or California University needs to do in this situation???

Please post answers on the poll at top of the page so we can see what the verdict of the readers is!