Basketball Attendance

[wgwillis]

I have 4 season tickets in Sec 127 and I have missed games this season, but only due to other obligations that are work related. When I was a student I did not miss a single basketball game in 4 years. So you can question my fanship all you want, but you will be hard pressed to find a more hardcore fan than myself or the group I tailgate with for football.

The issue of attendance at a Cajun post season game has nothing to do with the business and personal schedules of loyal Cajun fans such as yourself and those on this board. Think about it, we averaged 7,500 for regular season games during the Paschall years and no telling how many during the Shipley years. We broke the fire marshal's code every game. I have a thought but you have to reach back a bit. Here goes:

We use to have a certain style once upon a time - We had a Center, a power forward, a shooting forward, a shooting guard and a point guard. Now if I had to I could name names but its unnecessary. We had a fast paced tempo and we use to get free french fries if the team scored over a 100 points. Our plan was to outscore our opponents and it made for exciting fun basketball. This was true for Shipley, Hatfield, Paschall and, Flechter and then came Evans and our style changed. Evans had good crowds because we won but our style changed. Lee and Marlin want to play defense which means no french fries which is OK if you win but if you don't - Well! Now to get crowds we need more excitement. We can play defense but not if we can not shoot the ball or make free throws - we are not Princeton! Personally I liked our old style - Its more fun. I really hope we make a statement this recruiting season. Actually, we need to really consider what we want in a team. More Fun, More Excitement a complete team and that's our real style. Where are our recruiters - time to step-up buds....

Geaux Cajuns

We need Alonzo Allen, etc.

PS - Name the individuals we had at the various position in the past that I mentioned previously and then compare those type players to our current team. I think you will find we now have a team dominated by guards. I want my old team back!

[Turbine]

Last year we went on a win streak, that would have ended much earlier if the team had not had 7000+ fans bringing them energy. Say what you want, we were not a good shooting team last year either. We won many games because of the crowd.

I agree 100%

I call them "adrenaline points" caoch Robe talkes about pitchers getting adrenalized.

In basketball players get adrenalized from the crowd more than just about any other sport.

jmo

[BayouBaller]

Sometimes you need to let the air out of the ball and call it a season. You do not earn a spot to an expanded NCAA field. The NIT looks the other way. Isn't that enough? What the hell is a CIT? Then we lose at home with an abbreviated roster. Had Josh Brown not shown up it would have been a blow out in front of our throw some popcorn in the stands and hit everyone in the head crowd.

The announced crowd of 2,037 was bogus.

After two seasons of "Bobby Ball" we are one game under .500. I am beginning to wonder if he will be able to build the kind of winner in the Cajun Dome that is happening across the street in Cajun Field. The team is not winning and they are not entertaining. After watching so many teams this weekend play with passion and love for one another (players and coaches), I am not feeling it under Marlin. 9,513 empty seats might agree.

[Turbine]

Sometimes you need to let the air out of the ball and call it a season. You do not earn a spot to an expanded NCAA field. The NIT looks the other way. Isn't that enough? What the hell is a CIT? Then we lose at home with an abbreviated roster. Had Josh Brown not shown up it would have been a blow out in front of our throw some popcorn in the stands and hit everyone in the head crowd.

The announced crowd of 2,037 was bogus.

After two seasons of "Bobby Ball" we are one game under .500. I am beginning to wonder if he will be able to build the kind of winner in the Cajun Dome that is happening across the street in Cajun Field. The team is not winning and they are not entertaining. After watching so many teams this weekend play with passion and love for one another (players and coaches), I am not feeling it under Marlin. 9,513 empty seats might agree.

You can't use 9,513 empty seasts against Marlin. Please!

Take the average of the last 10 years subtract his average attendance and count those as empty seats. Only fair!

The attendance was accurate.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Last year we went on a win streak, that would have ended much earlier if the team had not had 7000+ fans bringing them energy. Say what you want, we were not a good shooting team last year either. We won many games because of the crowd.

Look at Duke, they kill people in Cameron Indoor Center because of the crowd and hostile environment. They are also very well coached and get elite kids, but they get exposed come March Madness because they have to play on the road and they do not have great team speed or athleticism. But get down to the Dukies in Cameron and game is all but over due to the crowd.

The team last year had woeful attendance until the streak was very mature.

The overall question is not should you attend if you are a fan, but why is attendance so bad. In the shortest possible way I can say it, bad boring team with limited wins gets poor fan support. Some else pointed out how great the games, style of play, and players were. That is why those teams set record attendance.

You may as well face it, Marlin ball will bring no fans without very high level of wins. Not saying he is a bad coach, but if you expect fans he better win a lot more than say Marty did, who by the way always had fun teams even when they had a losing season.

[Cajunsmike]

The team last year had woeful attendance until the streak was very mature.

The overall question is not should you attend if you are a fan, but why is attendance so bad. In the shortest possible way I can say it, bad boring team with limited wins gets poor fan support. Some else pointed out how great the games, style of play, and players were. That is why those teams set record attendance.

You may as well face it, Marlin ball will bring no fans without very high level of wins. Not saying he is a bad coach, but if you expect fans he better win a lot more than say Marty did, who by the way always had fun teams even when they had a losing season.

Coach Marlin's last team at Sam Houston played at a fast pace. Reason was he had quality guard play. I don't think the style is the issue as much as personnel is. Hopefully that will improve in about 4 weeks. I also think the issue is 7 consecutive years without a winner. People lose interest when that occurs. Also, many teams score in the 50's and 60's now. Several of the good games over the weekend had those type scores. Finally, when we had the good attendance figures in the distant past, you did not have the multitude of TV games to choose from. Despite all that, our attendance will improve once we have a good season and turn around the following season with a strong start.

[CajunEXPRESS]

CM I could not dissagree more with you. Coaches always go where they are most comfortable. Marlin is most comfortable in a low scoring affair. Reminds me of Jim Mora vs Sean Payton.

As far as players? He needs to deliver this year, and so far it is scary. We shall see.

[Just1More]

Attendance is a result. If we are going to talk about what causes attendance to improve or not... that is fine. If we are going to bring up the useless point of how many fans "should" attend Cajun sports functions... this thread needs to go the way of a poorly attended Cajun function. Every program that can be cited with a great fanbase is a program that great basketball occurred... fans showed up in mass... and then the fan behavior formed around that program. If someone tells me that some school started out with a great student body backing at basketball... and THEN basketball got great... I'll call you FOS.

You DO NOT study the biology of fans to figure out how many fans should show up. Unless... of course... you aren't very bright. You look at the venue itself and how it's being managed. People go where they like to go. Period.

I can't tell at this point whether the "Marlin Experiment" is going to work. But, rest assured, if he gets things going and we win... attendance will improve. Otherwise, this is a lot of talk about nothing IMO.

[CajunEXPRESS]

You can't use 9,513 empty seasts against Marlin. Please!

Take the average of the last 10 years subtract his average attendance and count those as empty seats. Only fair!

The attendance was accurate.

I do believe you can count all the empty seats on any coach. This town has shown it will and can get crowds of over 10K provided the team is entertaining, and winning. None of those teams have won enough, long enough to build a long term fan base who are excited.

Make no mistake about it, Marlin, Hud, Jesse, Robe, all of them are here to win enough to fill the stands. There is a reason baseball is down in attendance, it has to do with lack of wins. Robe established the bar high early and has never come close to regaining the form he had with schlorship restrictions. Marlin gets two year pass, he is now heading into year three and I see no chance it will be a lot different that years one and two. This is basketball we are talking about, you can change a team with one great player, and totally with two. So far zero players of that level.

[BayouBaller]

You can't use 9,513 empty seasts against Marlin. Please!

Take the average of the last 10 years subtract his average attendance and count those as empty seats. Only fair!

The attendance was accurate.

Sure you can. Average home attendance this year was 3,566 and the Senior Night home finale was 5,075. Last season's average was 3,919 and the final three games drew 5,304, 7,071, and 8,066 if you are looking for a history lesson. 2,037 for a post-season home game is pathetic and there is some shared responsibility. If the university wants to be in the business of revenue sports, then they need to develop a full blown marketing plan with go-get goals that will reverse this trend. The Cajun Dome management team needs to be included. They are shepherds to a wonderful venue but the Ice Dogs only average 2,018. At the end of the day, you need to have a product that the people want to see. Coach Marlin and the Ragin' Cajuns need to be in control of this. We lost five of our last seven games - including three of our last four at home.

Try to sell that in 2012-2013.