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Big West reprimands UH guard Bobbitt for ‘unsporting behavior’ against UC Riverside

Brian McInnisFerd Lewis
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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

UH guard Sheriff Drammeh, second from right, and forward Stefan Jankovic clapped after UC Riverside head coach Dennis Cutts, second from left, received a technical foul during the second half Thursday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Hawaii lost 77-71.

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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii guard Roderick Bobbitt (5) grabs the rebound ahead of UC Riverside guard Gentrey Thomas (0) during the second half of a men's college basketball game between the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and the UC Riverside Highlanders on Thursday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Big West Conference issued a public reprimand to University of Hawaii guard Roderick Bobbitt for “unsporting behavior” Thursday night and UH apologized to UC Riverside and the conference.

Commissioner Dennis Farrell issued the reprimand in the wake of a contentious finish to UH’s 77-71 loss to the Highlanders at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH declined to say if it will impose its own sanctions, saying any further sanctions against Bobbitt, “are between the coaching staff and the student athlete.”

In a statement Farrell said, “Bobbitt was reprimanded for being assessed an unsportsmanlike behavior technical foul with seven seconds left in the Rainbow Warrior’s loss at home to the Highlanders. In addition, immediately at the conclusion of the game, Bobbitt aggressively attempted to engage UCR head coach Dennis Cutts during the handshake between teams.”

The statement said, “The Big West Conference takes sportsmanship very seriously and Mr. Bobbitt’s actions were contrary to the standards expected of our student-athletes.”

In a subsequent statement from UH athletic director David Matlin and men’s basketball coach Eran Ganot, the school said, “We accept the reprimand handed down by the Big West Conference. Roderick takes full responsibility for his actions during Thursday’s game and he understands those actions do not live up to the standards we expect of our student athletes.”

UH said, “Rod let his emotions get the best of him and he will learn from this and be a better leader of this basketball team. We apologize to UC Riverside and the Big West Conference.”

45 responses to “Big West reprimands UH guard Bobbitt for ‘unsporting behavior’ against UC Riverside”

  1. haroldm says:

    I hope we get Bobbitt’s side of the story. He’s usually a pretty cool cucumber but he was pretty upset with UCR’s coach last night….

  2. samidunn says:

    Saw the game & it appeared Bobbitt was way out of line. Hope we get his side of it.

  3. toobn says:

    At one point in the 2nd half Jankovic was driven out of bounds and onto the scorer’s table by a Riverside player that treated him like a football blocking dummy. No foul…unbelievable! Bobbit’s tirade against the Riverside coach after the game was out of hand…hope he doesn’t get suspended for Senior Night!

  4. wrightj says:

    Someone in that picture just seen a ghost.

  5. lwandcah says:

    Win like a man, lose like a man.

  6. usahwn says:

    That ……. coach was having fun taunting Bobbitt obviously . Resorts to low class tactics to play the game. That is why the conference has no respect with clowns like that coach.

  7. pgkemp says:

    i was at the game and believed it was poorly officiated, alot of late whistles and it seems against the warriors……….

    • ahkyee says:

      I agree, the refs completely lost control of the game from the beginning. Very inconsistent calls. They allow a lot of contact at chest level and below and are very inconsistent on whether hand and wrist slaps are called.

      This is not just this crew, the Conference in general seems to allow physical play and officiate games to allow physical play.

  8. DownSpout says:

    Where was Coach Ganot during all this? Out getting some garlic fries?

    • islandsun says:

      Yes, he should be in control or at least the assistants

    • Pacificsports says:

      Two T’s in one game and before the sanctioned behavior Bobbit was mouthing off and getting out of control. Don’t believe the BS that Ganot is instilling discipline in the players because the facts show otherwise.

      • jimmyhouse67 says:

        You’ve been waiting all season to say something negative about this team. It’s so funny that you and many others only comment when there is something bad happen, or during losses but you can’t give a team credit for success. Couch potato fans like you with no athletic talent have a right to an opinion obviously but it shows your ignorance when you only look to bring them down rather than raise the players and coaches up. How do you know Ganot has no control? What is your personal experience as a college coach or even athlete? Nothing! If you want to man up, I can be contacted at jimmyhouse67@aol.com. As usual you won’t go there because you and many others are only brave when you can be anonymous. Such an admirable quality.

        • d_bullfighter says:

          agreed jimmy these posters don’t know squat…Jankovic spent a lot of minutes on the bench after he picked up his tech where he was being talked to by the coaching staff. But of course these coach potato fans don’t even notice.

        • tjn says:

          TRUE..!!! There are a bunch of those self righteous, know-it-all negative TROLLS just eager to share their criticism at any opportunity. Easiest job in the world – being a critic. God love ’em and their few friends…

      • amela says:

        Need more discipline get Chow.

  9. barak181 says:

    All the T’s were a result of a poorly officiated game. The refs were inconsistent and made a lot of non-calls on some very physical plays. They never tried to control the game until after things had escalated past the point of ridiculous. A fair amount of blame has to go the coaching staffs, as well. Hawaii’s for not better reigning in their players, UCR’s for being part of the problem.

    • HAWAII_BOY_008 says:

      Make some free throws and easy shots and Hawaii wins by 7 or more points…team not focused…betta show up on SAT…road trip to mainland will be a test….

    • tarheelnation says:

      Did you watch the game? Yes the referees were inconsistent but I think it was for both sides it all came to making free throws witch riverside did and Hawaii didn’t so if your gonna talk smack then you need to back it up and shut your mouth because from what I saw things weren’t going their way so they started smack talking and complaining.

  10. thevoiceofhawaii says:

    It would be helpful if the story explained what these behavior sanctions would entail (given the recent stories about NCAA sanctions) and what behaviors in previous games (even if other teams) were sanctioned.

  11. HanamauluBoy says:

    Someone should look at the tape of the incident. I swear I saw one of the UC-Riverside’s assistant coaches push one of the referees right after the UC-Riverside Head Coach called a time-out in the second half.

    • raiderDogs says:

      The ref’s were soft on the coaching staff of riverside but were quick to T the Hawaii players. That’s why other coaches work the refs something Ganot needs to learn.

  12. Valleyisle57 says:

    Dis ain’t “da hood” Bobbit! You should have controlled your emotions a whole lot better than how you did. We’re the other players just as guilty? YES and they got under UH’s skin. Believe me, going into to the tournament every team as well as official will watch UH like a hawk and use that against them. Real dumb move UH!

  13. tarheelnation says:

    Good that they lost the team behave like fools on the court especially bobitt
    They need to stop crying for fouls and just play the game

    • jimmyhouse67 says:

      All these people jumping on with negative comments when they lose, yet at the most only 4 comments when they win. What a sad bunch of people, looking to rip on those they can only envy. jimmyhouse67@aol.com

      • Valleyisle57 says:

        This isn’t about their loss. It’s about their character in losing. The fact that they lost can be overlooked and I know I am still with them. It’s sad that they were rattled so bad that they lost their composure and lost the game due to that!

  14. hawnpunch says:

    Very sad state…coach got no control on players…….imagine what would of happened if this s… happened on the road! Man UP C O A C H !!!

    Shouldn’t be surprised though hiring an inexperienced bball coach!

    • hawnpunch says:

      BTW he got a GIFT of a team…just don’t know how to unwrap it!

    • HIE says:

      You might think that your post makes Coach Ganot look bad, but it doesn’t. Any true UH fan, or even a non-fan of UH who knows basketball, can see from your posts that you’re simply a l0ser trying to discredit the coach to ease your own broken ego. Compared to previous years, Coach Ganot has this team playing a lot better, in more control and as a true team. This game was an anomaly among a season full of great wins by a well-coached squad.

  15. Piikoi02 says:

    Well, maybe if he was dismissed from the team, we would win the next game? It worked for UC-Riverside. Sad to see such a talented team lose their composure regardless of how terrible the officiating may or may not have been. It affected their play and ultimately the outcome. If we want to be champions, we cannot lose our composure the way we did.

  16. hon2255 says:

    Reprimand the Riverside coaches for mouthing off to our team to begin with. The Ruverside players started the dirty play in the first half. They also tried to injure Valdes on a dirty play when he was going up for a dunk and wiped his legs from under him. No Foull called. It should have been a flagrant. Ganot needs to be more demonstrative with the referees and get on them , he’s a bit too passive at times. When the refs foul up as a coach you need to stand up for your team.

  17. tigerwarrior says:

    If there’s any consolation, it’s actually a blessing in disguise that UH faced a team that pushed the limits of physical play in the regular season, instead of having UH be unprepared and untested in such a way and failing to adapt to teams with an overly aggressive defense during the Big West Conference tournament. Reminds me of how the Chicago Bulls had to find a way to outsmart physical teams such as the Detroit Pistons and later, the New York Knicks, teams Chicago had to beat in order to advance to the NBA Finals. The Pistons even coined the expression, “The Jordan Rules”, which involved playing Micheal Jordan tough and physically challenging him every single time Chicago had the ball in order to throw him off balance. But instead of trying to match physical teams by playing physical, Phil Jackson found ways to outsmart tenacious defenses, even defenses which employed dirty tactics on defense, by implementing his triangle offense. The Rainbows, like the Bulls teams of the early ’90s, is more finesse than physical, so they must likewise find a way to play to their strengths. Hopefully if they do this, cooler heads will prevail. Go ‘Bows!

  18. fstop says:

    The article is about Roderick Bobbit, but the SA shows a picture of other UH players. What, no photo of Bobbit available?

  19. AieaJon says:

    WHAT ABOUT THE RVERSIDE COACHES? DID THE CONFERENCE SEE ON THE VIDEO ANY REVERSIDE COACH PUSH A REF, TOUCHING A REF, WHICH PEOPLE SAID THEY SAW. IF SO, THAT IS WORSE THAN WHAT A STUDENT ATHLETE JAWING WITH A COACH, SINCE THE COACHES SHOULD BE HELD UP TO A HIGHER STANDARD. ANY REPRIMAND ON THAT COACH? WHAT OUT ANY OBVIOUS DIRTY PLAY IN THE GAME BY RIVERSIDE THAT CAN BE SEEN ON REPLY OF THE GAME? WHAT ABOUT ANY INITIATED JAWING BY THE HEAD COACH AGAINST OUR PLAYERS, WHICH PEOPLE SAID THEY SAW. I THINK OC16, OR NEWSCASTERS SHOULD BE REVIEWING THE VIDEO TO SEE IF THERE IS ANY TRUTH TO THESE ITEMS, INSTEAD OF PILING ON BOBBIT, WHICH IS SO EASY TO DO. DO YOU JOB?

  20. jankenpo says:

    Other teams will use this game as part of their game plan. Get in UH’s players heads early…play their own game and run UH over. UH will focus on playing with cool heads; other teams will nudge them and try to get them frustrated. That being said, GO WARRIORS!!!!

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