points of concern

[BradleyBrave]

GOOD FANS DONT BOO, pretty simple

Wrong. Good fans are passionate. They're booing because they care and want the team to succeed, not because they're hoping or cheering for failure. One could argue silence means losing is acceptable.

[bu fan 9]

Never Boo college kids. Pro players is a different story.

[real fan]

I disagree on the 'fan enthusiasm' part. BU had a tremendous following out in Vegas, a large number of which were season ticket holders making the trek from Central Illinois. I think the home enthusiasm was first tempered by a pretty poor non-conference schedule (name-wise), poor scheduling date-wise (too much time in between games), and most importantly, dreadful performance on the home court. I would say perhaps enthusiasm has done its biggest nosedive in years, as we were at an all-time high after beating the Illini, and are nearing the lows of end of the Molinari era with 3 straight home losses in embarrassing fashion. Last night's crowd was announced at 8,618, but I think 6,500 was a more accurate number of people in the building. Sure, the weather wasn't ideal, but this is Central Illinois and it does snow from time to time. A product worth watching would have brought people out.

Not talking about out of town games as the people that travel are the good fans, it is based on the home crowd this season and it has been the worst atmosphere I have ever witnessed at a BU game.

[Out of Balance]

When I played sports and it came game time, I would look at the crowd, was glad to see them and was glad they cared enough to come out to see us play! Once the game started, as I was playing "me personally" I didn't know they were there, as my thoughts were on what I was doing or going to do. I think that is true for almost all players. If not there would be a lot lower free throw shooting % for most players/teams when they have to look at the basket while shooting, while hundreds of screaming, with object waving, fans behind the basket do their best to make you miss I am not saying during time outs or being on the bench you can't hear the fans but if you are playing you should have your concentration on nothing but the game and not on if the old white hairs in Red in the stands are standing or not, or if your girlfriend is jumping up and down and your best friend is looking at her underwear
Just go out, play to win, and leave it on on the court Everything else will take care of itself
Come on Man

[wily coyote]

McCain and Singh needs to stay on the bench

I'm going to disagree with you on this one. McCain, even with his shortcomings on the offensive end of the floor,can really guard you and rebounds better then some of our bigs. He has really been a big help the last three games and I'm glad to see him making improvements. SS, I love him but wish he could give us more on both ends of the floor and on the boards. Liked what I saw again in the first half. Don't know why we play so bad in the 2nd halves. Need to correct this in a hurry. Next two games will be a challenge even if we play good for 40 minutes.

[wily coyote]

GOOD FANS DONT BOO, pretty simple

Amen

[longtimelistener]

GOOD FANS DONT BOO, pretty simple

And all basketball and football players are dumb jocks, I suppose?

[Out of Balance]

I actually liked giving it to DSE in that case. I think everyone in the stadium, including Indiana St., expected the ball to go to SM since he is one of our best free throw shooters but by giving it to DSE, it caught them a bit off guard. Then before they fouled DSE, you could see SM heading towards the other side of the court that was wide open. So if DSE didn't get fouled, he would've had SM wide open on the opposite side to avoid a double team and get fouled to go to the line.

I guess I didn't look to see what you pointed out here, as I said all I could think about I guess, is wrong guy. Anyway he made one for the tie. Thanks

[squirrelgotdead]

I disagree on the 'fan enthusiasm' part. BU had a tremendous following out in Vegas, a large number of which were season ticket holders making the trek from Central Illinois. I think the home enthusiasm was first tempered by a pretty poor non-conference schedule (name-wise), poor scheduling date-wise (too much time in between games), and most importantly, dreadful performance on the home court. I would say perhaps enthusiasm has done its biggest nosedive in years, as we were at an all-time high after beating the Illini, and are nearing the lows of end of the Molinari era with 3 straight home losses in embarrassing fashion. Last night's crowd was announced at 8,618, but I think 6,500 was a more accurate number of people in the building. Sure, the weather wasn't ideal, but this is Central Illinois and it does snow from time to time. A product worth watching would have brought people out.

Good thoughts. . .there are a variety of problems with the crowds at Carver.

First, many of the best seats are held by people who hold on to the seats for the prestige of it. . .not necessarily to attend every game. The games those people do attend, they just sit through. If it's a bigger name opponent, then they might be more actively involved.

Second, related point, is that there is still a culture of just going to socialize, not watch prime DI college basketball. Again, they might be more involved if its a bigger name opponent.

While there has been a great influx of younger Braves fans as alums from the 80's and 90's have started families and remained in the area, let's face it, our fan base still isn't any younger than it was 10 or even 15 years ago. Every year we get further removed from success those voices get a little weaker and their legs a little more tired. They have witnessed tremendous Bradley history firsthand and I have trouble calling them out. . .

So you have those things that can't really be changed because they largely support the thing.

Again, as I've always said, I empathize with the students and wish they were a more integral part of the atmosphere of Bradley games. But you can't just complain about the seating situation or not being included in games over breaks. . .you must force the change. That means organizing and going to every game, regardless of when it's played. You must be the change you wish to be. The attendance of students for games when school is in session is already drastically down from just two years ago.

In large part, a good product will do more to change the atmosphere at games than any drastic changes to the culture or seating.

[houstontxbrave]

I actually liked giving it to DSE in that case. I think everyone in the stadium, including Indiana St., expected the ball to go to SM since he is one of our best free throw shooters but by giving it to DSE, it caught them a bit off guard. Then before they fouled DSE, you could see SM heading towards the other side of the court that was wide open. So if DSE didn't get fouled, he would've had SM wide open on the opposite side to avoid a double team and get fouled to go to the line.

If SM was not coming to the ball then that is a HUGE coaching mistake at the end of a game that was going to require critical free throws to be made. Your top free throw shooter should not be running anywhere other then to the ball.

I will never want the ball in the hands of someone who is shooting fts at a 47.6% clip when the game is on the line, let alone someone who right now shoots it so poorly and has missed 3 weeks of action.

You put the ball in the hands of the only 3 on this team who can shoot free throws:

Warren 81%
Brown 82.5%
SM 82.6%

DSE should not be receiving an inbounds pass in that situation.

[ER3]

GOOD FANS DONT BOO, pretty simple

Disagree completely...
That may be your opinion, and that's fine...but this generalization isn't accurate.
Hardcore, passionate fans that care...some of them boo from time to time...it happens...I'd much rather have a house full of fans that care so much that they end up voicing their frustrations occasionally when things get bad than a house full of apathetic people that pack up and leave every home game with 10 minutes to go in order to beat the dreaded Peoria traffic...

[AZ BU Fan]

Good fans don't boo? Tell that to fans in NY and Philadelphia

[Chico]

Good thoughts. . .there are a variety of problems with the crowds at Carver.

First, many of the best seats are held by people who hold on to the seats for the prestige of it. . .not necessarily to attend every game. The games those people do attend, they just sit through. If it's a bigger name opponent, then they might be more actively involved.

Second, related point, is that there is still a culture of just going to socialize, not watch prime DI college basketball. Again, they might be more involved if its a bigger name opponent.

While there has been a great influx of younger Braves fans as alums from the 80's and 90's have started families and remained in the area, let's face it, our fan base still isn't any younger than it was 10 or even 15 years ago. Every year we get further removed from success those voices get a little weaker and their legs a little more tired. They have witnessed tremendous Bradley history firsthand and I have trouble calling them out. . .

So you have those things that can't really be changed because they largely support the thing.

Again, as I've always said, I empathize with the students and wish they were a more integral part of the atmosphere of Bradley games. But you can't just complain about the seating situation or not being included in games over breaks. . .you must force the change. That means organizing and going to every game, regardless of when it's played. You must be the change you wish to be. The attendance of students for games when school is in session is already drastically down from just two years ago.

In large part, a good product will do more to change the atmosphere at games than any drastic changes to the culture or seating.

Agree with you on most of this. One thing I disagree with is the student seating. I've been paying more attention to other games on the tube lately and practically every student section is behind the baskets. Guess what makes it so noticable is that there are actually students there.

[thefish7]

Agree with you on most of this. One thing I disagree with is the student seating. I've been paying more attention to other games on the tube lately and practically every student section is behind the baskets. Guess what makes it so noticable is that there are actually students there.

Good call, Chico. Students have been very weak this year... While they are on break it's fine, but the section was near empty all season.

[DUBrave5]

If SM was not coming to the ball then that is a HUGE coaching mistake at the end of a game that was going to require critical free throws to be made. Your top free throw shooter should not be running anywhere other then to the ball.

I will never want the ball in the hands of someone who is shooting fts at a 47.6% clip when the game is on the line, let alone someone who right now shoots it so poorly and has missed 3 weeks of action.

You put the ball in the hands of the only 3 on this team who can shoot free throws:

Warren 81%
Brown 82.5%
SM 82.6%

DSE should not be receiving an inbounds pass in that situation.

I never said that SM wasn't coming to the ball, he was probably no more than 10 feet from DSE when it was inbounded, but by giving it to DSE it allowed SM to slip to the other side of the court without anyone really on him because his defender left to go after DSE. I would imagine that if DSE wouldn't have been open to get the pass then SM would've leaned off the defender to create a space and receive the pass.

As far as the other comments about the students, what do you think we should do? Games are promoted, albeit not very strongly, but there are plenty of avenues for students to get to the games if they choose to.