Maybe that's just a passionate college kid from Venezuela expressing himself in a less-than-artful manner, but to students and parents who pay full tuition to the University of Maryland - and I'm one of them - it was pretty galling that a guy who goes there for free to prepare for the NBA is telling the paying students where to find the exit.
Williams also addressed that, sort of. He pointed out that times have changed and so have college athletes. Vasquez is a fiery player who wears his emotions on his sleeve, which - if you think about it - isn't easy to do in a basketball jersey.
"He's a different player than people are used to seeing," Williams said, "and especially how older people think a player should play. But the game is international now. You have different people from all parts of the world who react differently than we do maybe here in the United States when something happens."
Athletic director Debbie Yow met with Vasquez yesterday to discuss the incident and came away "impressed with his willingness to accept full responsibility for what he said, acknowledging to me that he was very sorry that he let his emotions get carried away when he was booed. He was concerned that our fans would think poorly of him for what he said and promised to not let that happen again."
Still, both Yow and Williams have to walk a fine line here. I'm sure there are some people who think Vasquez should sit out tonight's game for his little on-court tantrum. I know there's at least one. But Vasquez is the most dynamic player on a team that doesn't have a lot of margin for error this year, and don't think Williams didn't take that into account when he decided how to handle the situation.
Williams pointed out that Greivis has a chance to be the first player in Maryland history to lead the team in scoring, rebounding and assists. He thinks that ought to count for something, and it does. But Greivis didn't help himself with the scouts who were there Saturday to see that kind of behavior and wonder whether he's going to be the next NBA head case.
His coach said last night that a single emotional outburst should not change anyone's opinion of Vasquez, who has been a solid citizen and an asset to the College Park community and beyond.
"There is no nicer person than Greivis Vasquez," Williams said. "I've coached in five places and I've never had the student body boo their own player. That doesn't excuse what Greivis did, but I've just never seen that."
