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- Jay Bilas doesn’t agree with the ACC suspended Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim after his sucker punch in the conference tournament.
- College basketball fans don’t agree with Bilas’ lengthy explanation of why the suspension is “wrong.”
- Be sure to check out more sports stories at BroBible here.
ESPN college basketball analyst isn’t happy with the ACC’s decision to suspend Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim after he sucker-punched a Florida State player on Wednesday. Bilas posted a lengthy video explaining his stance, but the majority of college hoops fans don’t agree with him.
Bilas was on the call for Syracuse’s win over the Seminoles in what was a first-round matchup in the ACC Tournament. He noticed the cheap shot and said that it “looked intentional” after seeing the replay.
Head coach Jim Boeheim, Buddy’s father, came to his son’s defense after the game when asked about the punch.
https://twitter.com/CarterKarels/status/1501611343174066179?s=20&t=fBCqYB5ABFqVuPROjBZaaA
There was no foul called nor was the play reviewed, which is Bilas’ biggest gripe with Boeheim’s suspension.
“The suspension of Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim for what happened in the Florida State game is just wrong,” Bilas explained. “The ACC came in after the fact and decided to suspend Buddy Boeheim. It’s disproportionate to the offense.”
“Rules are rules and the rules of the game indicate that if play started after the fact, and the action could not be reviewed, that’s final. And it was final. The referees could not review the play after play started again. They missed it, and that’s fine.”
The suspension of Buddy Boeheim is just wrong. pic.twitter.com/80lg4C1AEp
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) March 10, 2022
Bilas did make a point to say that “no one is saying what happened was right, it wasn’t,” but that hasn’t kept college basketball fans dunking on him for his explanation.
Come on Jay… https://t.co/vyHrADrEt6 pic.twitter.com/S08bbTKLvQ
— Ben Muad’dib Meyerson (@ByBenMeyerson) March 10, 2022
The suspension didn’t end his career. The rules didn’t. His own actions did. People get so upset when rules are implemented, but if Buddy did nothing wrong to begin with, he’d face no penalties. He’s facing penalties because of what HE did. https://t.co/BGimg9IWuN
— Jenny (@jen_NY25) March 10, 2022
Jay Bilas, who complains about college basketball officiating more than any broadcaster who has ever put on a headset, believes conferences should have no recourse if refs miss a player punching another player during a game.
Man, my head hurts after listening to this. https://t.co/Stp8d08ZH8
— Ira Schoffel (@IraSchoffel) March 10, 2022
When you're arguing that it's an "overreaction" and "wrong" to suspend a player for intentionally punching an opposing player in the stomach while not running down court when there's not even a play going on, you've lost the thread.
Think about retiring, Jay. This ain't it. https://t.co/OytzhrMCxb
— Ari Cohn (@AriCohn) March 10, 2022
Jay Bilas is trying to equate stepping out of bound with punching another player. https://t.co/ElYie4yFhj
— JR’s Rankings 🌰🅾️⭕️ (@jrs_rankings) March 10, 2022
I really have a lot of respect for Jay, but this isn't the ruling I'd be issuing a statement against. I get it that Buddy Boeheim is a "great guy," but that looked like sh*t, especially during a week in which we had players go into the stands. You can't have this in basketball. https://t.co/Hun0l6BxRS
— Rick Blame (@realRickBlame) March 10, 2022