Bo Ryan can't win the big one

[Scotch]

Just wondering why some folks on this thread say Okafor and Winslow picked up tick tack fouls in the first half. The fouls seemed pretty clear cut to me. The first foul on Okafor he barreled over Kaminsky - every ref in the world would have made that call - even the incompetent ones we saw in this tournament.

Agreed. And Winslow should have picked up his fourth earlier in the second after his euro step charge into Gasser that was inexplicably called a block.

 

[Orangeman]

Just wondering why some folks on this thread say Okafor and Winslow picked up tick tack fouls in the first half. The fouls seemed pretty clear cut to me. The first foul on Okafor he barreled over Kaminsky - every ref in the world would have made that call - even the incompetent ones we saw in this tournament.

That was a foul. The other three were questionable calls on contact that also occurred on the Duke end but no whistles on Wisonsin in the entire first half.

The Badgers' undoing was not being up by 8-10 at the half without having to play 2/3 of Duke's best players.

Also, Duke's 6th man outplayed Wisconsin's 2nd guy...amazing it was as close as it was...those three foul calls in the first half had a lot to do with it.

 

[CusefanATL]

What an embarrassing post-game interview that was from Ryan.

Maybe I'm wrong, though - Gumbel said that Ryan was gracious and classy in the interview

Yeah - what was Gumbel talking about?

 

[NKR1978]

I'm not sure he was talking about Duke with that comment - he may have been. People on our site talk about Kentucky all the time in that way. I'm not sure why a coach cannot talk about it as well. But I know where you're coming from. I was really reacting to the ESPN and CBS commentators who criticized Bo and did not criticize the refs in nearly the same manner. Lost some respect for Bilas after the game when he said the refs did not impact the game - What! But of course as a Dukie, I probably should not have expected anything different.

After some thought, I like that he called out the officiating. I don't think that's why they lost the game and his team benefitted from the huge miss on the obvious shot clock violation against Kentucky, so I don't feel too bad about it. Also saw syracuse get hosed two years in a row against B1G teams in the tournament, so again, not shedding any tears for Wisconsin.

Regardless, it isn't the refs fault that Kaminsky came up small in crunch time. It isn't the refs fault that Wisconsin screwed up the end game by fouling too late. It isn't the refs fault that Okafor, who had done nothing all game, was able to abuse Kaminsky at the end because he was rested and Frank was exhausted. And it isn't the refs fault that Duke's 8th man abused Ryan's all Americans in the 2nd half.

But Ryan can f*** himself with the rent a player comment. People say the same s*** about us with Carmelo so screw him. I kind of liked this Wisconsin team, but Ryan's whining and the fact that the #WhitePower hashtag has somehow become associated with Wisconsin basketball (which isn't their fault necessarily) makes me so glad that they lost and it's particularly satisfying that Ryan shat the bed as a coach in the last 5 minutes.

 

[CusefanATL]

He called Duke's freshman rent-a-players

Thats not really what he said.

 

[samspann1]

Thats not really what he said.

He didn't specifically mention Duke's freshmen class when he made the "rent-a-player" comment, but I thought that the implication was clear.

 

[orange79]

So sad that Bo Ryan is made to look bad by the way he handled the presser. But if the refs had done their job properly, we would have had a buzzer beater game with no complaints from anyone at the end. The refs get away with being pathetic and Ryan ends up being their fall guy.

Is made to look bad? He didn't need any help. He did just fine all by himself. Gumbel tried to bail him out and he still looks like a sore loser.

As to the refs - UW only had 2 fouls called on them in the 1st half, and all they could muster was a tie. Take advantage or shut up. Never really felt one way or the other about Bo. Now I really can't stand him. Have a little bit of class, would ya?

 

[orange79]

Did Gumbel even listen to what Ryan said? My god that was the definition of classless yet Gumbel fawned over him.

Also, wow was Ryan classless in the PC saying Duke was full of rent-a-players. What a douche and classless performance. We get it you are hurting, but my goodness Ryan was a dink.

Probably because Wisconsin couldn't get within 50 yards of a rent-a-player even if they paid him. Bitter old man.

 

[CusefanATL]

Is made to look bad? He didn't need any help. He did just fine all by himself. Gumbel tried to bail him out and he still looks like a sore loser.

I think you mid-read his post.

 

[Melancer46]

A couple thoughts on all of this:

1. I'm all for people calling out bad officiating when they see it. The fact that leagues have tried to make them untouchable is ridiculous to me.
2. The rent-a-players comment was completely unnecessary.
3. I don't even know how people can say the officials decided the game anymore. It's gotten to the point that they're so horrific at their jobs that it's hard to tell how much of an impact they actually had on the outcome of the game because there's too many bad calls to keep track of.

Edit: Bronson Koenig's tweet was great though:
Bronson Koenig @BronsonK_24 · 8h8 hours ago
Trying to keep my chin up n all but it's a little sore, not sure why

 

[kuethstheman]

Did Gumbel even listen to what Ryan said? My god that was the definition of classless yet Gumbel fawned over him.

Also, wow was Ryan classless in the PC saying Duke was full of rent-a-players. What a douche and classless performance. We get it you are hurting, but my goodness Ryan was a dink.

Not what he said.

 

[orange79]

I think you mid-read his post.

Damn you, Evelyn Wood!

Yup, I did. I stand by what I said, though, in the rest of the post.

 

[kuethstheman]

Ryan made himself look like the bad guy. Never mind the officiating comments - why did he bother making the "rent-a-player" comments?

He was explaining how close he is to the seniors because he's had them four years.

 

[Quazzum69]

Now I really can't stand him. Have a little bit of class, would ya?

I'll have more respect for someone that says what needs to be said (Ryan, Boeheim) and plays the game than somebody that threatens the integrity of the competition by exploiting some flaw (incompetent refs) just to add anther W to his list of wins (the weasel cheat K).

I have the title of K's next book:

If you can't beat 'em, cheat 'em: Falling, flopping and the art of winning by any means possible - the Duke Way

 

[CusefanATL]

He didn't specifically mention Duke's freshmen class when he made the "rent-a-player" comment, but I thought that the implication was clear.

What I found most interesting was this part in the quote "Try to take a fifth-year guy. That's okay."

Duke doesn't currently have a 5th year guy on their team. He has to be talking about Dylan Ennis right? That validates my opinion that Ennis to Duke has long been set in stone.

 

[RandygoCuse]

I'll have more respect for someone that says what needs to be said (Ryan, Boeheim) and plays the game than somebody that threatens the integrity of the competition by exploiting some flaw (incompetent refs) just to add anther W to his list of wins (the weasel cheat K).

I have the title of K's next book:

If you can't beat 'em, cheat 'em: Falling, flopping and the art of winning by any means possible - the Duke Way

I have no problem with one and does. And I suspect that Ryan would have no problem if Okafor and Winslow came to Wisconsin. As for the flopping, I absolutely hate it but the NCAA needs to make changes.

 

[Melancer46]

I wish they'd move to a model like the one baseball and the NHL uses where you basically either go straight from high school to the pros, or you commit to college for like 2 or 3 years.

 

[NKR1978]

I wish they'd move to a model like the one baseball and the NHL uses where you basically either go straight from high school to the pros, or you commit to college for like 2 or 3 years.

Why should a player have to commit to indentured servitude for 3 years where he can't make a dime off of his name, image or likeness, if he's ready for the NBA?

 

[Melancer46]

Why should a player have to commit to indentured servitude for 3 years where he can't make a dime off of his name, image or likeness, if he's ready for the NBA?

He doesn't have to. He can choose to go to the NBA out of high school if he wants. I don't think the NHL/MLB model can ever work until the D-League becomes bigger though, because a lot of the guys that would go from high school would probably be better off in the D-League for a year or two. But the one and done rule hurts the quality of play in college basketball IMO. Anyways, that's just one issue. There's others that college basketball actually has control over and should fix IMO, like shortening the shot clock.

 

[Yegorange]

Calling the cream of the recruiting crop "rent-a-players" is just plain jealousy and sour grapes. Sorry Bo they didn't choose your school before being good enough to quickly go pro to become millionaires or at least make a living (needed in some cases like CMC with a kid on the way). Thanks again, Melo,BTW.

 

[kuethstheman]

I think many of you are way off on what Ryan was talking about. Here's how I'd paraphrase his answer to the question about being close to his seniors:

We have our guys for four years so we're really close.
We don't do rent-a-players like taking fifth year transfers. That's fine to do that but we don't so I get to see players grow for four years.

He wasn't talking about Duke. He was talking about Wisconsin. He wasn't complaining and he specifically mentioned one-year transfers. Didn't say anything about one and dones.

 

[Yegorange]

Disagree, "like" reads as "for example", or one of the types of players fitting into the category. What would be others?

 

[sufandu]

Why should a player have to commit to indentured servitude for 3 years where he can't make a dime off of his name, image or likeness, if he's ready for the NBA?

He doesn't have to. Anyone can choose to not go to college (it is ironic, however, that many players wouldn't have a demand for their likeness without going to college), but an employer also has the right to state minimum requirements for employment eligibility such as minimum experience, internships, etc. That's essentially what the NBA does with it's one year rule that it would like to extend to two. Their responsibility is to the quality of their product, not someone's dream of becoming a millionaire. If having the opportunity to see players compete in college (or in another country's league, since the player has that right too) against more similarly skilled/athletic/sized players than in high school/AAU helps them determine who they would like to employ, more power to them.

 

[sufandu]

I think many of you are way off on what Ryan was talking about. Here's how I'd paraphrase his answer to the question about being close to his seniors:

We have our guys for four years so we're really close.
We don't do rent-a-players like taking fifth year transfers. That's fine to do that but we don't so I get to see players grow for four years.

He wasn't talking about Duke. He was talking about Wisconsin. He wasn't complaining and he specifically mentioned one-year transfers. Didn't say anything about one and dones.

Stop this nonsense of using context to actually understand what someone is saying! Stop it, I say!

 

[NKR1978]

He doesn't have to. Anyone can choose to not go to college (it is ironic, however, that many players wouldn't have a demand for their likeness without going to college), but an employer also has the right to state minimum requirements for employment eligibility such as minimum experience, internships, etc. That's essentially what the NBA does with it's one year rule that it would like to extend to two. Their responsibility is to the quality of their product, not someone's dream of becoming a millionaire. If having the opportunity to see players compete in college (or in another countries league, since the player has that right too) against other similarly skilled/athletic/sized players than in high school/AAU helps them determine who they would like to employ, more power to them.

So with this three year rule, would a player be able to go make $400,000 in Europe or Asia or are they stuck with college? It just seems like BS. If a player doesn't keep his grades up he isn't eligible for college and can't go to the NBA even if he's capable?