Lieberman: Seton Hall fires coach after early exit from NIT

There are some things that belong in Big East basketball.

For instance, this isn’t… There are some things that belong in Big East basketball.

For instance, this isn’t the NBA, so college players should be allowed to play the game hard, without every drive to the basket resulting in a defensive foul (cough, ACC, cough).

I’m all for eliminating the double-bye from the Big East championship. Or how about keeping the Big East championship at Madison Square Garden? All in favor? I am.

But what say you about two suckerpunch groin shots thrown during play in a 15-second span? Nay, nay and nay.

Many Pitt fans had nightmares of Seton Hall’s Herb Pope’s televised figure dominating Pitt back on Jan. 24 of this year. In many ways, that was the high point of Pope’s season.

Then these cheap shots happened. Now it’s Texas Tech’s Darko Cohadarevic that will have nightmares. These, however, will certainly be different than those of Pitt fans.

Pope took two blatant cheap shots at Cohadarevic during the Pirates’ 87-69 loss to the Red Raiders during the National Invitation Tournament on Tuesday during successive possessions. Pope, in a rather obvious low-jab manner, caught Cohadarevic in the groin while attempting to box out on a Seton Hall shot.

Then, when Cohadarevic ran down the floor to play offense, Pope waited for him to get close enough to pop him again in the groin. Pope hasn’t commented on the incident yet, but after the game teammate John Garcia told NJ.com, “Herb’s got to keep his cool. At the end of the day, it ended up hurting our team, but I could never fault Herb. He’s been that one guy all season when it comes to effort and heart on the court.”

Talk about going completely nuts.

It’s antics like this, as well as others off the court, that got Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez officially fired on Wednesday.

Gonzalez was 66-59 in four seasons at Seton Hall, and his teams did not make an NCAA Tournament.

Seton Hall is officially a mess. After some reshuffling of leadership, the dean of Seton Hall’s law school, Patrick E. Hobbs, has somehow been overseeing the athletic department since July.

Hobbs explained to The New York Times that Gonzalez’s firing was not based on game results.

“Performance and success are not measured solely by wins and losses, but also in the conduct of those associated with the program,” Hobbs said in a statement released by the university. “We have expectations as to how our coaches and players will conduct themselves.”

The surprising thing is not the firing itself but that the firing could take place. Gonzalez had just finished year one of a five-year contract he signed before this season.

But Gonzalez had it coming to him.

He consistently took risks, allowing second-chance players, such as Pope, to start over at Seton Hall. Wednesday night, Robert Mitchell, one of Gonzalez’s senior guards, awaited arraignment on charges of “kidnapping, robbery, burglary and possession of a weapon,” according to The New York Times.

Mitchell was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly robbed eight people at gunpoint, mere hours before his team took on Texas Tech. Mitchell was suspended.

In Nov. 2009, Seton Hall’s Keon Lawrence was suspended indefinitely after police said he was under the influence while driving the wrong way on the Garden State Parkway and collided with another car.

Then, as if the irony were planned, Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti announced on the same day that basketball coach Fred Hill will not be let go.

That’s the same Fred Hill that guided Rutgers to a 15-17 record this year, including a 5-13 mark in the Big East. The 5-13 record is the best Rutgers has ever had in the Big East.

It’s the same Fred Hill that pushed his overall record at Rutgers to 47-77 this season.

But it’s also the same Fred Hill who coaches in the same state as Gonzalez and hasn’t had one player suspended this year.

Sometimes, success really does extend beyond the court.