Mike Bobinski confirmed at a press conference today that Tu Holloway will be suspended for a game, Mark Lyons will be suspended for two games, and Dezmine Wells and Landen Amos will be suspended for four games each. He also stated that the schools will work together in the community to promote sportsmanship throughout the city. Bobinski seemed committed to making sure that the Xavier players learned from this as they moved forward, and I think Xavier got it about right with the suspensions. I don't think any of the players involved are bad guys, but they'll all take an extra to contemplate they'll react to high tension situations in the future.
Another interesting thing Bobinski touched on was the tenor that the Crosstown Shootout has acquired over the years. He said that, regrettably, the emotional nature of the game has been building for years and that this kind of thing could have been seen coming. The game, he said, "should be a celebration of the division one basketball tradition in this city, not the Hatfield and McCoy rivalry it has become." As much as I love a really heated rivalry, I believe Bobinski is bang-on with this. Clobbering UC in a colloquial, on the court way is fun; actually having clobbering happen at any point during the game is not what we're looking for.
Tu stepped up to the mic to take responsibility for what he said at the press conference yesterday afternoon. He said that he was trying to represent the University and did not do it well, and that he regretted his choice of words after the game. "We're good guys," he said, not gangsters. It's hard to be too harsh on Holloway; he was set before a microphone in an emotional state and answered questions asked to him as honestly as possible. It's probably regrettable that he was up there in the first place, to be honest.In response to a question regarding what he meant by the term "gangsters" last night, Tu said he meant, "we're doing things on the court, hitting big shots, playing team defense. When I talked about Ray Lewis and Kevin Garnett earlier, I talked about the way they play hard and lead their teams. We're not out there doing stuff in the streets; we're not actually in any gangs. We're just tough." That he had to explain that is kind of ridiculous.
Coach Mack said he regretted not calling a timeout. He thought extended the game would just antagonize Cincinnati, which he obviously wanted to avoid doing. "I was hoping time would expire," he said. He also noted that "drama sells" when asked about what the media's influence was on the coverage of the Shootout and what happened at the end of the game. He also apologized - as did Tu Holloway - to the young fans and the parents who had to try to explain things to their kids after the game.
Other notables:
-Mike Bobinski said that the UC suspensions didn't have any bearing on the discipline Xavier handed down.
-Coach Mack reiterated that "this is not who we are, it's who we were for two minutes on Saturday, and now we're suffering the consequences of it."
-Tu: "So many guys before me made Xavier a great place, and we kind of messed that up yesterday... we all feel bad; none of us are excited about a fight."
-Tu: "I take blame for what I did."
-The Crosstown Shootout will go on, and there has been no talk of moving it off campus.
-Coach Mack: "We recruit character; it's not just about talent. It's about the whole package... people can make bad decisions, even good people."
-Tu, in re: Dez Wells' suspension: "I take full responsibility. If I had never talked to the bench, maybe Dez Wells doesn't get suspended four games. I brought him down, I brought Mark Lyons down, I brought the whole team down."
There you have it. What are your thoughts on the suspensions? Too much, too little? Just right? What about the future of the Crosstown Shootout?