The biggest shame tonight was...

[doug shank's crossover]

Say what you want about the loss...about choking away a large lead and playing scared down the stretch....the biggest shame tonight was the crowd. From the outset of the game Carver Arena was like a tomb. In fact, it was embarassing. Even when Bradley was playing well, you could hear a pin drop in the arena. Down the stretch when the team needed a pick-me-up, the crowd was abnormally quiet...almost like 9,000 people were drugged or something. You really, really have to work hard at keeping that many people so quiet. Wow.

[Tulsa Brave]

Say what you want about the loss...about choking away a large lead and playing scared down the stretch....the biggest shame tonight was the crowd. From the outset of the game Carver Arena was like a tomb. In fact, it was embarassing. Even when Bradley was playing well, you could hear a pin drop in the arena. Down the stretch when the team needed a pick-me-up, the crowd was abnormally quiet...almost like 9,000 people were drugged or something. You really, really have to work hard at keeping that many people so quiet. Wow.

After the first turnover when we were still up 4, the crowd, including me, knew what was about to happen. No reason to rejoice then, and the SIU fans behind us knew it too, as they were making all the noise.

[lefty]

It does seem that the crowds this year are less noisy than in the past. Not that we have been wild mind you but it seems this year has been down in regard to enthusiasm

[AZ BU Fan]

Kind of like the BU crowds were at the end of the Mo era...They are tired of getting excited for a program that keeps disappointing them.

[DUBrave5]

They are tired of getting excited for a program that keeps disappointing them.

I think that is the main reason. My friend texted me after the first half about how well we were playing and how come this team doesn't show up more often. But I couldn't help but think to myself that there is still 20 minutes to go and this year we can't seem to close out a game at home.

Also I find that the crowds during the winter do seem a little quieter than the ones during the school year because the students aren't there. I know we don't get a ton of students to the game and maybe we have been a little more quiet than usual, but the students still do make a decent amount of noise.

[unbekannt]

Say what you want about the loss...about choking away a large lead and playing scared down the stretch....the biggest shame tonight was the crowd. From the outset of the game Carver Arena was like a tomb. In fact, it was embarassing. Even when Bradley was playing well, you could hear a pin drop in the arena. Down the stretch when the team needed a pick-me-up, the crowd was abnormally quiet...almost like 9,000 people were drugged or something. You really, really have to work hard at keeping that many people so quiet. Wow.

I disagree. There's only so much to cheer about when you can't advance the ball past half court. Or when your "PG" picks up his dribble for no reason. Or why RP was playing so much.

The crowd was just fine in the first half, but there wasn't a lot of energy from the team in the second half. There's only so much to cheer about from an nonperforming team. And I'm not cheering for JL. I'm seriously about to jump ship on this team (and the Bears).

[doug shank's crossover]

I disagree. There's only so much to cheer about when you can't advance the ball past half court. Or when your "PG" picks up his dribble for no reason. Or why RP was playing so much.

The crowd was just fine in the first half, but there wasn't a lot of energy from the team in the second half. There's only so much to cheer about from an nonperforming team. And I'm not cheering for JL. I'm seriously about to jump ship on this team (and the Bears).

Not sure what your frame of reference is, unbekannt, but I've been coming to BU games since the mid 60's and have never been to a game when the crowd was so lethargic. Sometimes it's the crowd that gives energy to the team, not vice-versa.

You really thought the crowd was ok in the first half? Really? Oh my.

[Beninator]

Not sure what your frame of reference is, unbekannt, but I've been coming to BU games since the mid 60's and have never been to a game when the crowd was so lethargic. Sometimes it's the crowd that gives energy to the team, not vice-versa.

You really thought the crowd was ok in the first half? Really? Oh my.

I was thinking the same thing about the crowd tonight! Maybe everyone was too lethargic after the holiday season??? Who knows, but IMO, most of the crowds this year have seemed lethargic to me.

[rsmit84]

As a cardinals fan I can relate this to Ryan Franklin coming in to close out games at the end of last season. You could almost hear everyone in the crowd thinking "here we go again". Its very hard to get behind a team when the same thing happens over and over again and youre holding your breath praying this time is different. While it doesnt explain the lethargic crowd at the beginning of the game, it definitely could explain the last few minutes. Regardless, I think there were much bigger problems than the crowd tonight.

[it's boogie time]

the crowd, including me, knew what was about to happen.

Bingo. The only question was when was Bradley going to give the game away.

The crowd was terrible, especially for a BU/SIU game.

[BU Hoops Transplant]

agree on crowd

I would agree on the general theme of this thread:the crowd didn't do their part tonight.

I'm not a Peoria native, nor am I a Bradley lifer...I am what I claim - a BU transplant, and I've grown to love the Braves. I've been all over the country and followed all types of basketball, and I can say this for sure - no matter what the level or what the team - when your team is up 2 and trying to get a stop to hold on to a lead down the stretch AND more importantly, when your team is tied and trying to get a stop for a chance to win the game, you get on your feet, you go crazy, you make all kinds of noise, and you try to help your team get a stop.

As those scenarios played themselves out tonight, I looked around Carver Arena to see 10,000 people sitting down and making no noise as the Salukis came down and ran their end of the game play like it was a pre-game walk through.

Part of the thrill of college basketball is the excitement of a home court and a chance to help your team win a home game even when they've disappointed you. That didn't happen tonight. Bradley fans gave up on this team tonight and although those fans didn't make any of the plays on the court in the last 2 minutes, they did fail to help the Braves get stops, rebounds, and disrupt free throws down that same stretch with their energy, noise, or excitement.

Shame on you Bradley fans - be careful who you criticize on this loss - the kids could always make better decisions down the stretch and the coaches can always be second guessed, but ask anyone who knows anything about college basketball and they'll all say that the #1 "X" factor in college basketball is the crowd.

[rsmit84]

Shame on you Bradley fans - be careful who you criticize on this loss - the kids could always make better decisions down the stretch and the coaches can always be second guessed, but ask anyone who knows anything about college basketball and they'll all say that the #1 "X" factor in college basketball is the crowd.

This is just laughable. The crowd did not leave a 47 percent three point shooter wide open. The crowd did not blow double digit leads at home three games in a row. As a crowd you respond to what youre shown time and time again. Did the Cameron Crazies make Duke a national powerhouse or was it the other way around?

[BuBraves55]

This is just laughable. The crowd did not leave a 47 percent three point shooter wide open. The crowd did not blow double digit leads at home three games in a row. As a crowd you respond to what youre shown time and time again. Did the Cameron Crazies make Duke a national powerhouse or was it the other way around?

true but I guarantee if one team had the continual crowd similar to the mich state game, their record would be much improved for as many games as the fans did it.

[dogsrus]

Kind of like the BU crowds were at the end of the Mo era...They are tired of getting excited for a program that keeps disappointing them.

Exactly....apathy is setting in. Thats not good.

[BU RICK]

Say what you want about the loss...about choking away a large lead and playing scared down the stretch....the biggest shame tonight was the crowd. From the outset of the game Carver Arena was like a tomb. In fact, it was embarassing. Even when Bradley was playing well, you could hear a pin drop in the arena. Down the stretch when the team needed a pick-me-up, the crowd was abnormally quiet...almost like 9,000 people were drugged or something. You really, really have to work hard at keeping that many people so quiet. Wow.

Agreed. I was watching the video stream, which was finally pretty good, and they show the crowd a lot during timeouts and I saw one guy that was asleep or maybe dead or maybe it was a pile of coats, but everyone that I saw, except the kids, were sitting on their hands doing nothing with blank looks on their faces, and this is when we were up big. I don't know if they are actually basketball fans or just needing something to go out and do for the night. Even when the cheerleaders are right in front of them cheering they just sit there with blank looks on their faces. Kind of reminds me of some movie I've seen. It was really fun to watch the double overtime loss to CU last year or the year before, every fan in the stands at CU was jumping up and having a good time. But this is the way it's always been at Bradley, I was there in the 60's and they had the chair seats across the court at Robertson and no one ever moved, they just sat there with blank looks on their faces. Waiting to go home.