Nate Oats weighs in on Chad Baker-Mazara’s ejection

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No. 4 seed Auburn was the victim of a typical March Madness upset on Friday by losing to No. 13 Yale in the round of 64.

Outside of the loss, the main headline from the game was the ejection of guard Chad Baker-Mazara just three minutes into the game. In a supposed move of retaliation, Baker-Mazara threw an elbow at Yale’s August Mahoney with 16:59 remaining in the first half. After review, the call was deemed a flagrant 2 foul, which resulted in an ejection.

The ejection led to a discussion among college basketball fans and coaches alike. Did the officials make the right call? How important is it for players to maintain composure during important games? Head coaches have been asked those questions this weekend, including Alabama head coach Nate Oats.

Ahead of Sunday’s game between No. 4 seed Alabama and No. 12 seed Grand Canyon, Oats was asked about Baker-Mazara’s ejection. Oats responded by saying how detrimental the call was to Auburn, and even offered advice to Baker-Mazara and every college basketball player that remains in the tournament.

“You feel for the rest of the rest of the Auburn team and Coach Pearl because I’m sure that they all didn’t (want) that,” Oats said. “Shoot, (Baker-Mazara) was a good player for them. But you gotta make better decisions when the season’s on the line.”

The game of basketball can be physical and emotional for players. However, when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, winning needs to take top priority says Oats.

“It doesn’t matter how much trash is talked, how much dirty play you feel is being done to you, we’re trying to win on the scoreboard,” Oats said. “We’re not trying to win a rock fight, we’re not trying to win a backyard brawl. That has nothing to do with the scoreboard. If we’re trying to win the game of basketball on the scoreboard, anything that has anything to do with giving the opponent an advantage — two free throws, ejection — it’s not winning the game of basketball. I don’t care to…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nate-oats-weighs-chad-baker-170014166.html

Author : Auburn Wire

Publish date : 2024-03-24 17:00:14

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