Jay Bilas reacts to Juwan Howard throwing punch, melee vs. Wisconsin

Jay Bilas was filled with disappointment after watching Juwan Howard throw a punch that set off a melee between Michigan and Wisconsin after the final buzzer. On ESPN’s Get Up on Monday morning, Bilas joined the show to react to the unfortunate situation.

“Well, it was disappointing,” started Bilas. “To see two coaches get in a fight in the handshake line after a game is profoundly disappointing. Usually it’s the administrators and the coaches who are waving their finger at the players to show decorum and act the right way. When the coaches can’t do it, it’s disappointing.

“It’s also disappointing that people are talking about, ‘Well, this guy pressed’ or ‘This guy called a timeout’ — So what? None of that matters. The game was over. If we can’t act the right way in the handshake line, and then can’t take the right tone in the press conferences afterwards, I don’t know what. It’s really disappointing.”

Bilas expected more professionalism from Howard once the game was over.

Bilas: ‘We expect the coaches to set the standard, the example’

Furthermore, Bilas stated his thoughts regarding the punishment Howard, as well as everyone involved, should receive.

“If you’re talking about sanctions, the first thing I would look at is what do they do with players? It shouldn’t be any less than a player would get for something similar,” stated Bilas. “There are differing levels of culpability here, and Juwan Howard being the most culpable for the fact that he threw and open-handed punch, or slap, whatever you want to call it. But there are different levels of culpability here.

“And what I’m saying is, no one that we’re talking about as being involved is blameless. One of the first questions I would’ve asked in the press conference is, ‘Do you feel that your words and actions, are you proud of them? Do you feel they were appropriate under the circumstances?’ Because I’d like to hear the answers from each one of those involved. But I don’t think it should be any less for a player, when we expect the coaches to set the standard, the example.”

Jay Bilas echoes the sentiment of college basketball fans and experts alike.