Final score- Bradley 68 IUPUI 53

[houstonbrave]

My first home game in 7 years lthough I saw many over the internet. The team looks much better than it has in quite some time. Much better shooting, better D, more depth.

A few points

1) The crowd was horrible in size (remember it has been a long time since I have been to Carver).

2) DB was more balanced an not simply looking to score. Still needs to watch driving too deep in the lane without a plan. He is just too small and gets trapped.

3) I like Koch but he needs to quickly learn not to bring the ball below his shoulders and to make a move quickly vs holding it too long.

4) Was surprised Pittman and Lundy got zero playing time. Not so surprised with Barker.


5) The freshmen look good and will be good additions to the program.

6) Nate can just plain shoot. If only he was quicker....


This team will be fun and we could do damage in the valley.

[Braves2006]

I??™m also in agreement: the team looks much improved and confidence is a big part of it. Should have a lot more fun watching this team. I agree with houstonbrave, one of the worst attended games ever. I??™m not sure any amount of winning will ever bring back the numbers we once had. But here??™s to hoping.

[tornado]

Among the fans who filled the seats the past few decades were literally hundreds of BRADLEY GRADUATES - who started attending games as students and who have been lifelong fans ever since...I'm one of them and the people who sit in every seat to my left, right and in front & behind me are as well.

Many are BU grads who stayed in the community, went on to great careers in business and other professions and have been big time supporters and donors as well...
Guys like Ray Lahood, Joe Napoli, Jay Janssen, Frank Bussone, "superfan"...etc..are examples...

Obviously those guys are all getting older and are NOT being replaced with a "next-generation" of such fans who were passionate about Bradley basketball and who DEVELOPED that passion right from the start as STUDENTS because there are no student coming to the games any more.

The stretch over the past decade or so has all but killed student interest...and the students who became lifelong fans used to be a huge hunk of our attendance.

[YATittle]

Tornado, that was an excellent observation. I don't necessarily want to attribute the lack of student interest to apathy, but it might be close. You are even seeing it at the high school level. Go to a Pekin game as an example.

[Da Coach]

...
because there are no student coming to the games any more.

I am not an advertising or marketing expert, and Bradley used to employ real marketing people, but I don't think they do that any more.
And I know they have tried lot's of gimmicks to get students to come to games (visiting dorms, holding rallys, free snacks and drinks, free tickets and rides, contests and prizes, tables at courtside so they can eat their free food and drinks, T-shirts, and much more), they need to try more things. They need to make it "cool" again for students to come to the games.

There has to be a way to get students interested in coming to games. Bradley pays a lot of money to advertise and promote the games to the public, so use some of that promotional money to reward students to attend! Give ever student who comes and stays for the whole game a $5 or $10 voucher at the Bookstore or for merchandise, or a free Avanti's Gondola or Jimmy Johns sandwich. Maybe they could get some company to sponsor the project, and give them free advertising or name the student section after them such as "the Avanti's Gondola section". Just a thought. There have to be other ideas that could work better than what they are doing now.

I went to the women's game Friday night. I did not see a single student there, despite the ticket being free, and it is right on campus! They could try the same thing there- offer students a free Avanti's Gondola or something that will attract them to the game.

[Buesch N Chips]

I realize it's not a popular topic, but if the people aren't going to come, is it time to possibly consider moving to Renaissance? There are certainly issues to address there I would think, and we will see how attendance goes this year, but man.

[Da Coach]

I realize it's not a popular topic, but if the people aren't going to come, is it time to possibly consider moving to Renaissance? There are certainly issues to address there I would think, and we will see how attendance goes this year, but man.

You are right. This has always been an extremely unpopular idea. Now it might seem like an idea worth considering more, especially if the Renaissance Coliseum could be enlarged (a feasibility study done a few years ago by Joanne Glasser concluded it could be enlarged to seat about 6,500 with upper decks on both sides for a reasonable cost), and other improvements made to accommodate parking and larger crowds. And, it would not go over well unless they improved concessions and sold beer. But campus arenas do work well for most of the Valley schools. 8 other MVC schools play in on-campus arenas (as did Wichita State). The only other school that plays off campus in a city-owned arena is Evansville.
For the record, I am still against such a move, and I do not believe it would increase student attendance very much.

[Chibearsfan10125]

Honestly, the only way to get people (and students) back is to win. If this team makes the NCAA Tournament or maybe even the NIT, or gets ranked in the top 25, people will come. Look when Bradley brought in Michigan a few years ago. The place was packed. People want to see good teams, and while I will support the team regardless, many others don’t have that kind of loyalty. I bet if this team does well this season, you’ll see an uptick in attendance next year.

Also, I think having this be a Saturday afternoon game hurt attendance. A lot people don’t have normal Monday-Friday jobs. I had to miss this game because of work. Had it been a night game, I’d have been there. I’m sure there’s others that also would’ve gone had it been a night game, but couldn’t make it during the afternoon, especially with 2 high school playoff football games going on locally that same afternoon.

[Dub]

Winning is all we need.

[Da Coach]

...
Also, I think having this be a Saturday afternoon game hurt attendance....

No doubt Saturday night games are the most desirable. But the Rivermen had a game that night, and the Civic Center seems to give them priority over those choice dates and times. Maybe it's because they have their schedule earlier and submit their requests before Bradley knows their schedule. That is a problem with a shared civic arena.
But there are a lot of people who like the Saturday afternoon games because they can bring their kids, or because they don't conflict with other Saturday night plans.

[Chico]

I am not an advertising or marketing expert, and Bradley used to employ real marketing people, but I don't think they do that any more.
And I know they have tried lot's of gimmicks to get students to come to games (visiting dorms, holding rallys, free snacks and drinks, free tickets and rides, contests and prizes, tables at courtside so they can eat their free food and drinks, T-shirts, and much more), they need to try more things. They need to make it "cool" again for students to come to the games.

There has to be a way to get students interested in coming to games. Bradley pays a lot of money to advertise and promote the games to the public, so use some of that promotional money to reward students to attend! Give ever student who comes and stays for the whole game a $5 or $10 voucher at the Bookstore or for merchandise, or a free Avanti's Gondola or Jimmy Johns sandwich. Maybe they could get some company to sponsor the project, and give them free advertising or name the student section after them such as "the Avanti's Gondola section". Just a thought. There have to be other ideas that could work better than what they are doing now.

I went to the women's game Friday night. I did not see a single student there, despite the ticket being free, and it is right on campus! They could try the same thing there- offer students a free Avanti's Gondola or something that will attract them to the game.

Offer them nothing to come to the games. If they don't want to support their team, that's up to them.

[FortyTwo]

A few things to consider as it relates to attendance, and in defense of the athletic dept. marketing team:

-With the ESPN3 package, it's become very convenient to see all the games from anywhere (home, mobile, etc.). I watched yesterday's game via my ipad while out of town and the HD picture/broadcast was great. And it was free! I'd bet the streaming viewership numbers are pretty solid.

-Let's not fool ourselves, students haven't been coming to games consistently since the Molinari era (and select parts of the Les era). It's virtually non-existant now, but it wasn't great even in the Les era. For whatever reason, students just don't feel a connection with the athletic teams like they do at other schools.

-There are so many more things to divide our attention these days. I've tried to take my kids to games and there is literally no way to get them to watch a 2 hour game. If I do bring them, I'll actually see about 10 minutes of action and a bunch of face-painting, bouncy houses, ipads, etc.

-Greater Peoria has lost their connection with Bradley through the last decade of losing. The diehards are still strong but a new generation of fans hasn't developed the loyalty and passion to make attending games a priority. I know lots of "passive" fans, but few that would actually make attending a game a priority event.

[MacabreMob]

Winning helps... but be realistic.

Take a moment to think about the younger generation. These people are buried in their phones. They are buried in texting and scrolling apps. They are addicted to fast news and updating news and updating scores and apps, etc. They can't keep their attention to ONE thing longer than a couple minutes... to ANYTHING. And so to ask them to come to a game and watch and support a team for 2 hours???? Forget it!

I don't care what gimmick or marketing scam anyone dreams up. Attending sporting events is DYING! The young generation prefers a sterile attachment to sports. Be there only if trendy and take selfies and post on social media.

[YATittle]

Both of the last two posts were spot on. Does anybody remember the Pekin vs Manual regular season game that sold out the Civic Center when Matt Taphorn was a senior? I think it was 1984. This area was such a hotbed for local basketball.

[zessito]

Still talking about students?

I am baffled the topic of getting BU students to basketball games is still a thing. It seems fairly obvious to me winning games improves attendance; students too. Correct me if I'm wrong, because I have not conducted a study and am wrong a lot. I attended my first game in 79' when I was 6 years old. I was one of those kids running around at the top rows of the field house. Pure observation, but whenever the Braves are good, attendance is good. When the Braves an not good, attendance is not good. Student attendance at games is something to talk about during a stretch when the team is not successful, but never a topic when the team is winning. Just win. Problem solved.
Go Braves.