Pirates and Bearcats at the Rock

My buddy Paul and I were able to go to a Seton Hall basketball game last Saturday, courtesy of friends of mine who are boosters and season ticket holders. While the arena had pockets of empty seat no doubt due to Seton Hall students still being on winter break as well as a New York Jets playoff game going on at the same time (in addition to score updates being given, there actually was an impromptu 'J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets' cheer led by the arena MC), there was a still a pretty good crowd at the Prudential Center, also known as 'The Rock'.

The seats were great - four rows from courtside at center court, so we could hear players whining and Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez screaming at his players and the refs. Coach Gonzalez's uh... loquaciousness is already somewhat notorious, recently necessitating Gonzalez's recent denial that he had cursed at fans who were heckling him during a game. Having been to Saturday's game, there's no doubt that Gonzalez is a "screamer". He was constantly yelling at his players and the refs, whereas I never heard a single peep from Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin, who was presumably coaching his players but didn't feel the need to be heard by the entire arena.

Gonzalez is a bit of a hothead and come off as a but petulant. Take one example from Saturday, when a ref under the basket called a ball out of bounds during a scramble going back to Seton Hall. A sideline ref ran up to confer with the ref who had made the call and Gonzalez, red-faced, jumped up screaming, "Don't you make him change the call!!! Don't you make him change the call!!!" As fellow fan 'Uncle Al' murmured, "What's the point of that? All (he's) going to do is make the refs mad at him."

As for the game, I have to say that Jeremy Hazell can put up points in a hurry and he has NBA 3-point range and then some. There was a play where he corralled a loose ball about six feet behind the 3-point line, squared up and drilled it from downtown. As far as Lance Stephenson, the guy who arguably has the greatest NBA potential, he was unimpressive. He looked sluggish and a little lost when the team would run a structured offense, and on more than one occasion he played a bit out of control.

But the one thing that stuck with me from my experience is just how ridiculous fan complaining and heckling is when you step back and think about it. As I was sitting there, I couldn't help but notice all of these out of shape middle-age and older fans with beer screaming at athletic 19-year old men things like, "C'mon Eugene, stop the ball, stop the ball!" or "That was just awful, you gotta go up strong with that!" as if they would be able to step on the court and do any better. Of course all of us fans are guilty of this. I'm sure the players, insomuch they hear the unsolicited coaching, are tempted to say, "Hey, the fat balding guy in Row 2, Seat 12 - you get over here and try to box this 300 pound center out while I sit in the stands with everyone else and laugh at you."

In any case, I was thankful for the diversion and a chance to see two teams who are trying to break out of the pack in the Big East.