Dick Vitale Says Auriemma Took 'Real Cheap Shot' By Ripping Men's Game

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma turned tons of heads on Wednesday when he called the men's college game a "joke" and "so far behind the times."

"I think the game is a joke," the Hall of Famer told SI.com. "It really is. I don't coach it. I don't play it, so I don't understand all the ins and outs of it. But as a spectator, forget that I'm a coach; as a spectator, watching it, it's a joke.

"There's only like 10 teams, you know, out of 25 that actually play the kind of game of basketball that you'd like to watch. Every coach will tell you that there's 90 million reasons for it."

He said much, much more that was disparaging.

The comments didn't sit well with legendary broadcaster Dick Vitale.

"The bottom line is that nobody can score, and they'll tell you it's because of great defense, great scouting, a lot of teamwork," Auriemma told the website. "Nonsense, nonsense.men's basketball is so far behind the times, it's unbelievable. I mean women's basketball is behind the times.

"Men's basketball is even further behind the times. Every other major sport in the world has taken steps to help people be better on the offensive end of the floor … This is entertainment we're talking about. People have to decide, 'Do I want to pay 25 bucks, 30 bucks to go see a college scrum where everybody misses six out of every 10 shots they take, or do I want to go to a movie?'"