Sorry can't fire Marlin

[ULvictory]

Not to discount Jay's point totally. Leave the Cajuns out of this for a minute. He is right in that little attention is paid to basketball on the huge majority of southern mid major campuses these days. That is the case even if you have a good team. Georgia State is an example of that. They announced about 1200 when we played there earlier this year. I wonder what Stephen F. Austin is drawing this year after the big win at Duke. I would have to check. This situation is one reason I miss having WKU and MT in the league. Those are not "deep south" schools however. Fans there do pay attention to the game and I think that impacts interest elsewhere in the league. Now having a quality product here and the fact that few pay attention to basketball elsewhere are two different issues. Of course we should strive to put an entertaining team on the court.

Sure, that may be possibly true. And attendance may be a little affected by that. We have seen it in football. But if "basketball is dead in the south," that shouldn't be justification for us underachieving. Now, I have never heard Jay say that to anyone in this regard outside of attendance. But there are fans who have used that exact quote when talking about not making the postseason or coming up short in recruiting. That's what I meant when I was referring the "woe is me" mantra in my previous post.

[RedTails]

I feel like there was some energy around the program during the JJ Thomas era (RIP). Not sure if basketball in the south is completely dead. Anecdotally, I find my circle of friends becoming more and more interested in basketball (NBA and college basketball). I'm as casual of a basketball fan there is, but I made a bunch of games over the last few years. But I've not had the desire to go at all this year, and neither has my circle of friends. Why is it that MBB is the only sport I see constant excuses for? Scheduling is hard, basketball in the south is dead, we get everyone's best shot. Coach Soy Boy across the basin is reviving a dead program that was surrounded by apathy. Granted, I know that's not apples to apples due to the resources available to them.

I don't have the answers, and I respect Coach Marlin...but hopefully there is a buzz next year around a healthy squad.

[cajuns80]

Not to discount Jay's point totally. Leave the Cajuns out of this for a minute. He is right in that little attention is paid to basketball on the huge majority of southern mid major campuses these days. That is the case even if you have a good team. Georgia State is an example of that. They announced about 1200 when we played there earlier this year. I wonder what Stephen F. Austin is drawing this year after the big win at Duke. I would have to check. This situation is one reason I miss having WKU and MT in the league. Those are not "deep south" schools however. Fans there do pay attention to the game and I think that impacts interest elsewhere in the league. Now having a quality product here and the fact that few pay attention to basketball elsewhere are two different issues. Of course we should strive to put an entertaining team on the court.

They don't care and yet they kick our ___ LOL. And have been to the tournament 3 of 4 years.

[CrazyCajun]

Basketball in general overall is trending downward, it’s dying. College baseball and softball are growing and more people are moving to those spring sports.

[ZoomZoom]

Hate to, but look to the west. McNeese built a new arena that hold right at 4K. They just got on a 7-8 game roll and sold it out against Lamar. Of course they soiled the sheets, am sure the crowd will be back down to the usual 1k. When Dumars, the Lawrence brothers, etc, they drew more than 4 k. We’re stuck in a cavern built to serve other purposes. And don’t expect a stand alone basketball arena.

[CajunEXPRESS]

It was just two years ago we had this. And, we won 27 games. And, attendance was maybe a couple hundred better. Hence my comment on college basketball being dead in the deep south among mid majors which I've been saying for at least five years. Look at attendance in the deep south among mid majors...not just here. You'll see I'm right.

Then by your standards football is also dead or dying. Our football attendance sucked while creating multiple gold stars.

That team,MBB, had zero signature wins. Takes more than a season to regain a lost fan base.

To answer Cajun Mike? So if he had 2017/18 again that’s pretty good. Does he also win regular season championship, or the tournament? I’d definitely not be in favor of a contract extension or renewal. After next year he’s still got time on his contract. I’d be more inclined to let it play out.

Bob isn’t the answer. I’d never hire a guy with his career resume. So why would I add more time to his time here. Yeah I get the recruiting issues, but without an open ended letter of resignation I’d ignore that issue.

[talktomewillis]

Announced attendance was slightly better. However, actual people in the Dome was much better than now. It will be again if what I describe as quality play happens for two consecutive seasons.

But that's my point. We win 27 games and we can't average 4,000 butts in the seats. And, that's happening everywhere in college basketball in the deep South.

[CrazyCajun]

NBA ratings are plummeting and first time ever in any major league the salary cap is expected to go backwards. NBA Warned teams salary cap will drop due to decreased revenue.

[CajunVic]

NBA ratings are plummeting and first time ever in any major league the salary cap is expected to go backwards. NBA Warned teams salary cap will drop due to decreased revenue.

Not sure that is correct: https://www.si.com/nba/2018/04/12/nb...-straight-year

[zephyr]

Basketball in general overall is trending downward, it’s dying. College baseball and softball are growing and more people are moving to those spring sports.

Basketball is not dying. TV contracts, exposure and of course the NCAA tournament are reasons why basketball will not be touched by baseball or softball. If people want to say that attendance is down, so be it as attendance in all sports is down from what it was a few years ago but to say basketball is dying is foolish.

[zephyr]

NBA ratings are plummeting and first time ever in any major league the salary cap is expected to go backwards. NBA Warned teams salary cap will drop due to decreased revenue.

NBA ratings are not plummeting. The last two years saw a slight decline but the previous ten years were an upward trend from the mid 2000's. The salary cap comment is also wrong. It's not going down. The salary cap is actually going up but not to the level they were predicting it would which is what made the news. You can see below from an article I'll be happy to share:

"It should be noted that the lowered projections do not mean that the cap itself will be lowered. This year's cap is just above $109 million. The league is still expected to generate more revenue this season than it did last season, but the increase is lower than had been projected. The cap rose from $101 million during the 2018-19 season to $109 million this season, but raises are hardly fixed. The new national television deal led to a $24 million jump in the summer of 2016, for instance, but the cap rose only $2 million between the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. "

Also, context is needed. Any money that was lost was due to the China comments and lost sponsorships rather than the decay of the game.

[cajun4life]

But that's my point. We win 27 games and we can't average 4,000 butts in the seats. And, that's happening everywhere in college basketball in the deep South.

Louisiana is a basketball school who has suffered through 15 years of bad basketball. Two great years since 2005 and one incredible SBC tourney run. This base has quit on Marlin because he can’t get us to an SBC title consistently enough and is a snake oil salesman.

[CrazyCajun]

For every article y’all are posting there are articles saying otherwise. I bet we are at the top or near it in “basketball attendance” this year. There are several ways to skew the numbers in attendance. There are articles from the commissioner discussing decline in revenue. The political BS, the super teams, the one and dones, aau, lack of mid majors getting in are hurting the sport. Also particularly in the south the growth of baseball and softball has an impact. All of those things are driving fans away

[Cajunsmike]

Sure, that may be possibly true. And attendance may be a little affected by that. We have seen it in football. But if "basketball is dead in the south," that shouldn't be justification for us underachieving. Now, I have never heard Jay say that to anyone in this regard outside of attendance. But there are fans who have used that exact quote when talking about not making the postseason or coming up short in recruiting. That's what I meant when I was referring the "woe is me" mantra in my previous post.

Again support other places or lack thereof and us having a quality team are two different issues. Now some may extrapolate the situation to say since no one in the area draws well even when they are good indicates we won’t draw either even with a team consistently challenging for the top in our league. I am sure everyone would agree we should attempt to find out.

[Cajunsmike]

I feel like there was some energy around the program during the JJ Thomas era (RIP). Not sure if basketball in the south is completely dead. Anecdotally, I find my circle of friends becoming more and more interested in basketball (NBA and college basketball). I'm as casual of a basketball fan there is, but I made a bunch of games over the last few years. But I've not had the desire to go at all this year, and neither has my circle of friends. Why is it that MBB is the only sport I see constant excuses for? Scheduling is hard, basketball in the south is dead, we get everyone's best shot. Coach Soy Boy across the basin is reviving a dead program that was surrounded by apathy. Granted, I know that's not apples to apples due to the resources available to them.

I don't have the answers, and I respect Coach Marlin...but hopefully there is a buzz next year around a healthy squad.

We all hope that. Someone said they are not going this year because of the product. I described a better product. I wonder if people will go see a product like that. Jay says no, others say yes, while I say you need to do that two years in a row and people will go in Year 2.