Yes, there were questionable calls down the stretch in last night’s National Championship game between Wisconsin and Duke, but none of them contributed to Duke winning. Wisconsin had an 8 point lead mid-way through the second half and then forgot how to score. Credit Duke’s defense more so than anything an official could have done.
Following the game, Bo Ryan wasted no time in practically blaming the refs for the loss.
“It was just a situation where you just have to be able to handle all the hands and the checking. All the body contact — there was more body contact in this game than in any game we’ve played all year, and I just feel sorry for my guys that all of a sudden, a game was like that. I think they’re struggling with that a little bit. We missed some opportunities. They hit some tough shots. You know, it’s just a shame it had to be played that way.”
In fact, he even took a shot at Coach K by stating Wisconsin doesn’t do “rent a player.” What world are we living in where other coaches are taking shots at Duke for recruiting one-and-dones? Duke’s one-and-done history is a very short one. Kyrie Irving ushered in this era for Duke basketball as Coach K recently acknowledged that he had no choice to recruit one-and-dones since he would be playing against them.
Also, Bo neglects to realize that the best high school talent isn’t interested in going to Wisconsin. That may have something to do with it. But credit Ryan because he’s the only person on Earth that could make people feel happy about a Duke win.
Here are his classless comments during the post-game presser:
“All the seniors that I’ve had … hard to say the word. But every player that’s played through the program, okay, we don’t do a rent-a-player. You know what I mean? Try to take a fifth-year guy. That’s okay. If other people do that, that’s okay. That’s great. I like trying to build from within. It’s just the way I am. And to see these guys grow over the years and to be here last year and lose a tough game, boom, they came back.”
H/T: CBS Sports
