Cal coach shoves player; leads team to victory, according to a Feb. 17 report. Cal coach Mike Montgomery shoved guard Allen Crabbe during a timeout, leading to a scuffle on the bench. The report states that it happened when Crabbe was heading toward the bench during a timeout and was confronted by a yelling Montgomery. Montgomery is then seen pushing him square in the chest with both hands.
Some fans might say that the exchange pushed Crabbe to perform better on the court, as he scored 23 points and led Cal to a 76-68 win over USC. When asked about the push and his teammates having to hold him back, Crabbe showed a lot of maturity in his responses. He said that it was, "An emotional game was going on at the time and I guess he was just trying to motivate me. But everything’s fine. It’s under the bridge. He’s my coach, no hard feelings. We’re just going to keep moving on.”
Whether he really believes that is another question, but Montgomery was equally low-key about what had taken place. When he was asked about the incident, Montgomery stated that it, "Worked, didn’t it? Allen had come down twice went to the wrong side of the court and his guy shot two 3s. I was trying to get him going. Probably overdid it a little bit but Allen’s my guy. We can’t win if he is not ready to play.”
This is definitely an incident that will be placed in front of the Pac-12 Conference for possible discipline. When a Cal coach shoves a player, something probably needs to be done about it. This wasn't a celebration, but rather the chastising of a player and the conference may have to draw a line here. It's certainly not something that California is going to be able to sweep under the rug, especially when the story goes wide after the holiday weekend.
More Sports News:
Indiana The New Consensus No. 1?
Comments