Greg Gard Ripped The Officials After Wisconsin’s Loss To Iowa

Wisconsin cheerleaders fly Wisconsin banners at the NCAA Tournament in 2014.
Wisconsin cheerleaders fly Wisconsin banners at the NCAA Tournament in 2014.

Like most people who watched today’s Wisconsin vs. Iowa game, Badgers head coach Greg Gard was not amused by the officiating. Though unlike Jay Bilas, his biggest complaint isn’t about how long it took for the officials to sort things out.

Speaking to the media after the game, Gard absolutely shredded the officiating for “going to the monitor” every time an opponent calls for a foul or questions a call. He said that it “sickens” him to see games decided by officiating in that manner.

“People have questions about it, the mockery that has now been made of the hook and hold,” Gard said, via 247Sports. “And it appears to have become the Brad Davison rule, where it’s become, quite frankly, a joke. Any time there’s a foul or a question, the opponents are yelling to the officials about the monitor, to go to the monitor, I saw the play. If college basketball is headed in this direction we’re in big trouble. It really sickens me that we have games decided like this and this is where it’s at. That rule was not put in place for that. That was for the safety of the players and it was for post play. Those types of things happen on every single possession of the game, specifically in the post…”

Gard went on to say that basketball officiating has become a joke. He feels that the way it’s done makes “a mockery of college basketball.”

“So, I think it’s really turned into a joke,” Gard said. “I feel bad for Brad Davison, the kid’s a great kid, plays his ass off, but he continues to get screwed by this and how the officials and the league and opponents have continued to just call that out and put a spotlight on that and deaden the ball and it’s really become sickening. It’s made a mockery of college basketball specifically the positions we’ve been in.”

Yikes. That’s going to get Gard a letter from the NCAA and probably a notice of a fine to boot.

But Gard has every right to be upset. The final minute of today’s 77-73 loss took a whopping 20 minutes to finish.

Given that his Badgers have lost five of their last six, they have virtually no momentum heading into the Big Ten Tournament.

Wisconsin will play either Nebraska or Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday.

The post Greg Gard Ripped The Officials After Wisconsin’s Loss To Iowa appeared first on The Spun.

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