Sunday’s postgame incident between Michigan head coach Juwan Howard and Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard has fans wondering about the need for a handshake line.
In college basketball, teams and coaches from both teams get in a line to shake hands following the final buzzer.
This doesn’t often result in postgame skirmishes, but it can create some heated moments.
Juwan Howard throws a punch. pic.twitter.com/HiC3y7yKvG
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 20, 2022
Do we need postgame handshake lines?
Fans are debating following the incident with Howard in Madison, Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon.
And I don’t want to hear people say “this is why we should get rid of handshake lines.” If you can’t handle a handshake line, you shouldn’t be in college athletics.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) February 20, 2022
The time has come to eliminate the line after games of shaking hands . Too many incidents taking places with the action in the @BadgerMBB vs @umichbball being SICKENING . Punches thrown behavior was out of control & UGLY ! The @B1GMBBall Commish must act on what happened .
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) February 20, 2022
Instead of debating handshake lines, why don’t we just ask coaches to be adults and lead by some semblance of example.
— Chris Spatola (@Chris_Spatola) February 20, 2022
There were multiple opportunities for Juwan Howard to apologize or admit he erred during his postgame press conference. He instead doubled down, calling Greg Gard’s timeout “not necessary” and insisting that Gard touching him in the handshake line was what “escalated it.”
— Jeff Eisenberg (@JeffEisenberg) February 20, 2022
Abolish the handshake line. It’s played out. https://t.co/Y3ffOaTlmG
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) February 20, 2022
Juwan Howard had a STARTER in the game down 19 with 32.4 seconds left. It was over the subs were in for Wisconsin and now he wants to cry over a timeout and throw hands in the handshake line. Take your loss and go home or just coach better. Classless and pathetic.
— Ben Brust (@BenBrust) February 20, 2022
Perhaps the postgame handshake line should be eliminated – we don’t really see it in the NBA, though players do often greet each other following games – but that doesn’t excuse what Howard did on Sunday afternoon.
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