Geno Auriemma isn't one to keep his thoughts to himself. And because of that, it's why we know that, without equivocation, he is not impressed with the men's college basketball, which is a completely game than the one he grew up watching.
“I just had a conversation with (Saint Joseph’s coach) Phil Martelli,” Auriemma said on a conference call Wednesday (via SNY.com). “We talked a lot about where the game is and what the future of the game is. Obviously it’s immensely popular. You look at the interest paid to 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 10 teams that actually play the kind of game of basketball that you’d like to watch.”
The issue, according to Auriemma, is the lack of offense.
“Every coach will tell you that there’s 90 million reasons for it,” he said. “They’ll tell you it’s because of great defense, great scouting, a lot of teamwork … 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. ... This is entertainment we’re talking about,” he said. “Do I want to pay 25 bucks, 30 bucks to go see a college scrum where everybody misses six out of every 10 shots they take, or do I want to go to a movie? I have to tell you, it’s not entertainment from a fan’s standpoint.
“I’m talking as a fan, not as Geno Auriemma the basketball coach.”
