OT: St. Johns's MBB To Refrain from Postgame Handshake

[HCCForever]

Rick Pitino has announced that St. John's will no longer participate in postgame handshakes. I respect tradition but I am an OG.

Handshake Link

 

[HooperScooper]

How long before he reverses course on this? I give it until tonight.

Pitino has gotten more strange as he gets up there in years. He seems to speak first and then think later. Remember when he said he wouldn't play UConn at MSG again? Yeah that lasted a few days before his AD told him to STFU.

 

[TheHorde]

Germphobes? Poor sportsmanship? Or something else?

 

[Jaydumo20]

How long before he reverses course on this? I give it until tonight.

Pitino has gotten more strange as he gets up there in years. He seems to speak first and then think later. Remember when he said he wouldn't play UConn at MSG again? Yeah that lasted a few days before his AD told him to STFU.

100%. Dead on. Look at the things that bother you now that never bothered you when you were younger. If you're not vigilant, in your later years....well you become "angry like an old man trying to return soup at a deli"

 

[Kitaman]

NBA Cup, NIL, increasing Tourney Teams, new NBA All Star game selection procedure, and now no more cordial sportsmanship (handshakes). Basketball used to be a simple and great sport.

This ain't about hygiene because players have been rubbing sweat body to body all game.

If my kid were playing for Pitino I would insist that he be a leader and lead his team to the handshake line while Pitino watches.

 

[Viet Vet]

He should take a cue from hockey's sportsmanship protocol, the end-of-game handshake line at center ice.

 

[temery]

Rick Pitino has announced that St. John's will no longer participate in postgame handshakes. I respect tradition but I am an OG.

Handshake Link

I've always thought it was kind of stupid to expect the losing players to shake hands with the winners. Just let them go home.

 

[housekeys]

Maybe Danny can offer his players the gloves they use in practice.

 

[jibsey]

No handshake is bush league. My most hated team in the BE is St.John’s and I will never root for them no matter who they play whether they are BE or not. Go ahead and see how chippy their players and coach will be when we play them. Their Garden crowd are always rotten.
For me it’s like Yankees Red/ Sox. Do Yankee fans root for RS in a Word Series or vice versa? Don’t say yes because I’ve seen plenty of evidence. Both fanbases root for the other team to lose.
Screw Pitino. I don’t want them to make the NCAA, let it be other BE teams.

 

[uconngb]

No handshake is bush league. My most hated team in the BE is St.John’s and I will never root for them no matter who they play whether they are BE or not. Go ahead and see how chippy their players and coach will be when we play them. Their Garden crowd are always rotten.
For me it’s like Yankees Red/ Sox. Do Yankee fans root for RS in a Word Series or vice versa? Don’t say yes because I’ve seen plenty of evidence. Both fanbases root for the other team to lose.
Screw Pitino. I don’t want them to make the NCAA, let it be other BE teams.

Right on!! Have always hated Pitino and always will

 

[Hoophound]

His second comment is much more interesting. He wants the NBA to bring back hand checking. Too many 3’s in today’s game and not enough physicality. I agree. The physicality creates more drama. NBA ratings are down 28% this season per the article.

 

[J187Money]

His second comment is much more interesting. He wants the NBA to bring back hand checking. Too many 3’s in today’s game and not enough physicality. I agree. The physicality creates more drama. NBA ratings are down 28% this season per the article.

I have to wonder if that is due to the standings:

Cavs are leading the east (and not with LeBron) - the Celtics are legit but the rest of the east is largely a mess.

In the West you have OKC/Memphis/Houston at the top - the Warriors are in 8th, the Lakers are 10th.

The product on the floor is interesting - but it is a star driven league. If they end up with a Cleveland/OKC final will anyone watch?

 

[BFieldHusky]

How long before he reverses course on this? I give it until tonight.

Pitino has gotten more strange as he gets up there in years. He seems to speak first and then think later. Remember when he said he wouldn't play UConn at MSG again? Yeah that lasted a few days before his AD told him to STFU.

That MSG think was hilarious. My source at UConn says St. Johns always asks the BE to schedule our game on a weekend as it is their big money maker for the season. Pitino thinking the AD would allow that game at Caranesca...

 

[ScottCT]

I have to wonder if that is due to the standings:

Cavs are leading the east (and not with LeBron) - the Celtics are legit but the rest of the east is largely a mess.

In the West you have OKC/Memphis/Houston at the top - the Warriors are in 8th, the Lakers are 10th.

The product on the floor is interesting - but it is a star driven league. If they end up with a Cleveland/OKC final will anyone watch?

No it's due to them making games harder to watch. You have to purchase multiple streaming services if you want to watch all the games and people are not going to do that.

 

[willie99]

He knows that's where coaches can recruit players, because he does

Nahiem Alleyne anyone? Which may have opened the door for Cam BTW

 

[UCFan1513]

Personally, I love other coaches being petty and firey. It introduces a game within the game. This league needs more storylines and must market itself better. The more subplots, the more fun as a fan, the more eyeballs

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

He should take a cue from hockey's sportsmanship protocol, the end-of-game handshake line at center ice.

That doesn't happen after regular season games.

 

[UC0NN]

The NBA is mostly a 3 point shooting contest. Sure there is a ton of moving parts screens etc to get that shot off, but it is essentially a 3 point shooting contest with dribble drives mixed in.

 

[J187Money]

No it's due to them making games harder to watch. You have to purchase multiple streaming services if you want to watch all the games and people are not going to do that.

That's probably fair also. I'm a Bucks fan - and I watch most games that are on TV if they are big games. I do have most streaming services, but I don't pay for NBA League Pass - don't see the value - NBA games that are big enough are generally on ESPN or TNT - it isn't like the NFL where you really don't want to miss a game.

Given that the NBA had record attendance last year it isn't that people hate the NBA.

 

[HooperScooper]

That doesn't happen after regular season games.

Don’t they only do that after playoff series clinching games?

 

[freescooter]

His second comment is much more interesting. He wants the NBA to bring back hand checking. Too many 3’s in today’s game and not enough physicality. I agree. The physicality creates more drama. NBA ratings are down 28% this season per the article.

The NBA needs more than hand checking to slow the slide in ratings. It will get killed on what was its big day when the NFL kicks off on Christmas. It needs to think outside the box I think similar to what baseball has done. The stars are aging out and haven’t been replaced. They now have “stars” who play 30% of the games or something. They have “load management.” All leads to the conclusion that there are just too many meaningless regular season games. Players don’t care. Why should fans? I’d say make it harder to make the playoffs which means fewer not more teams. Maybe experiment with other radical changes. Eliminate the 3 except if a team is 10 points down. If a team misses 2 consecutive 3s the other team gets possession? Only 1 or 2 guys can shoot 3s. Give MORE points for a driving hoop and fewer for bombs? The 3 was supposed to be a more difficult shot. The league average was 36.6% last year.

As for Pitino and his no handshake nonsense, maybe he is just trying to protect opposing teams from STDs. Is he still hiring whores to hang out in the players dorm?

 

[nomar]

Germphobes? Poor sportsmanship? Or something else?

Something else. Skirmishes in the handshake line.

 

[Deepster]

I’ll play along on this one.

So what if they don’t shake hands? The players just fake it thru halfassed. Most of the times the coaches force some niceties and move on. Is it really sportsmanship? It’s like sitting at the Thanksgiving table, your aunt making you say what you’re thankful for and saying ”friends and family”.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Don’t they only do that after playoff series clinching games?

Yup.

 

[TheHorde]

Something else. Skirmishes in the handshake line.

Oh geez lol