Chad Baker-Mazara is back in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons. Steve Pearl, the son of Auburn head basketball coach Bruce Pearl, understands that his 25-year-old fifth-year senior is responsible for his own actions. However, he also chose to cast blame upon Alabama and the officials of the SEC.
That’s where he lost me.
Baker-Mazara continues to be one of the biggest villains in college basketball. The former Duquesne and San Diego State transfer often gets himself into trouble with his mouth and/or subsequent physical actions. It has been a recurring theme throughout his entire career, dating back to 2020.
This latest incident took place on Saturday when Auburn lost to Alabama by two points on its home floor. It played the majority of the second half without Baker-Mazara. He was issued a technical foul and ejected from the game for throwing an elbow to the head of Chris Youngblood.
Bruce Pearl said during his postgame press conference that even though “Chad can’t do that,” he assumed it was a retaliation play. The head coach offered an excuse for inexcusable behavior.
His son did the same on Tuesday morning. Steve Pearl told Next Round Live that Chad Baker-Mazara’s dirty elbow was inexcusable. And then he continued on to say that it was a retaliatory play, which is an excuse.
Both Pearls alluded to a few separate skirmishes involving Youngblood and Baker-Mazara. In one, the former pushed the latter into the padding under the hoop and extended his arms. No call.
In another, Youngblood stepped over Baker-Mazara while he was down on the floor. It was likely intentional but it did not cause any harm. Baker-Mazara actually reached out his elbow to try and trip Youngblood. No call either way.
According to Steve, there was also a third occurrence prior to the elbow to the back of the head. I could not find evidence of a third spat but I do not question what the coaches have seen on film.
With that being said, this was not the first time that Baker-Mazara had a cheap shot on Youngblood. He got called for a Flagrant 1 at Alabama earlier in the season. Perhaps Pearl has it backwards?!
Regardless of whether it is retaliatory or not, it is not hard to not elbow someone in the back of the head. To say that Chad Baker-Mazara (who could return for a sixth year) needs to get himself in check while also saying that he only acted in response to someone else does not add up. Either he figures it out or he doesn’t. There is no in between.