Why we'll be better next year....

[zooropa]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

Oakland has the best home court in the Summit, they play in a smallish arena and have a very dedicated student body. NDSU, SDSU, and ORU might all be tied for second, all can have great atmopsheres for big games but can be a bit lacking for other games.

I'll tie this to the topic:

Frost fan support for the men's team will help make this year better.

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Here's my take on Oakland---an absolutely OBNOXIOUS practice (putting the band in the laps of the visiting team) that should be banned, and some extremely loud students do not make a venue great. It's like, 'you should try this cake--it's awesome--all frosting!!!!'

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IMO, if you're going to kvetch about any aspect of the typical SDSU fan, it's that he's a late starter. Early season games aren't particularly well attended, the WBB ends of doubleheaders can look pretty empty until halfway through the first half, and the fans aren't going to 'boost' the players. The players will have to give the fans something to cheer about.

OTOH, the place is definitely the 'friendly confines'--it's a compact and noisy venue, where AJ has a 91% home winning pct (116-12), and where Nagy had an 89% winning percentage in D-2 (125-15).

Heck, just compare last season's 0-9 vs. 7-2 road & home records for SDSU MBB..... Frost---it's a great place to watch a game. And, apparently, a pretty decent place to play a game. If you're SDSU.

[bison8xchamp]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

Is this the same Mabee Center I saw SDSU almost beat ORU on last year in front of several HUNDRED ho-hum fans?

ORU has experienced success, early and often. They've had great coaches, great players, have been to the Sweet 16 and won many conference titles. If darn near ANY team in the country had a perrenial confrence champion on the floor w/ a proud history they would get a nice crowd. We already know people will show up at Frost if a winner is on the floor.

WHEN State starts experiencing success again, starts competing for the conference title, competing for a shot at the Big Dance, continues to develop rivals in the Summit, people start becoming more knowledgable and comfortable with the Summit and we bring back old rivals like me-too-U and UND, Frost will fill up. I think it's going to start this year!

once sdsu has a 35 game conference home winning streak then you can talk about being the #1 home court adv

[filbert]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

My spider-sense is telling me we may be sliding towards smack.

Just Say No.

[zooropa]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

once sdsu has a 35 game conference home winning streak then you can talk about being the #1 home court adv

Yeah, but look at how iffy the Summit/Midcon was during that stretch....

ORU road records during the streak:

6-3 (2008/09)
7-2 (2007/08)
5-2 (2006/07)
5-3 (2005/06)

IMO, only the 8-0 vs. 5-3 campaign in '05-06 is a significant difference, and that just barely.

[TeaJackrabbit]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

once sdsu has a 35 game conference home winning streak then you can talk about being the #1 home court adv

That's my point. The fans show up b/c their team wins. You think they'd be great fans if they lost 35 straight? You saw the record for SDSU in D2...and that's why the people showed up, b/c the Jacks won. We'll never have a 125-15 stretch in D1, but we can once gain be a great home team, a competetive team. If that happens the fans will show up.

As sad as Summit attendance is, they did rank 22 out of 31 conferences, so it could be worse!

USD averaged 2,885 in 2008, above the 2,072 average for Summit league teams. UND averaged 1,865.

[TeaJackrabbit]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

2008 Summit attendance, team by team: (couldn't find 2009)

1.) ORU 5,830
2.) NDSU 3,034
3.) SUU 2,439
4.) SDSU 2,186
5.) Oakland 2,082
6.) UMKC 1,857
7.) IPFW 1,846
8.) IUPUI 957
9.) Centenary 870
10.) WIU 629

*USD 2,885 would be good for 3rd. Obviously SDSU had great attendance numbers before the move to D1, so it's safe to assume USD takes a hit too. One thing that will help them is that their fans can already see the light at the end of the tunnel, they know they have a conference. Again, you're welcome guys.

I can see NDSU attendance dropping off a bit next year. I can see Oakland and SDSU going up. SDSU could reach as high as 2nd, if not next year then in coming years, especially with Udot coming into the conference.

[bison8xchamp]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

2008 Summit attendance, team by team: (couldn't find 2009)

1.) ORU 5,830
2.) NDSU 3,034
3.) SUU 2,439
4.) SDSU 2,186
5.) Oakland 2,082
6.) UMKC 1,857
7.) IPFW 1,846
8.) IUPUI 957
9.) Centenary 870
10.) WIU 629

*USD 2,885 would be good for 3rd. Obviously SDSU had great attendance numbers before the move to D1, so it's safe to assume USD takes a hit too. One thing that will help them is that their fans can already see the light at the end of the tunnel, they know they have a conference. Again, you're welcome guys.

I can see NDSU attendance dropping off a bit next year. I can see Oakland and SDSU going up. SDSU could reach as high as 2nd, if not next year then in coming years, especially with Udot coming into the conference.

To be honest...NDSU will probably go up. There is more interest in basketball in fargo than there ever has been. Team Makers has already reported more season tickets being added.

If the NDSU is as bad as sdsu posters say they will be....then attendance may drop...but i wouldn't say to much

[TeaJackrabbit]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

FYI:

2003: SDSU averaged 3,491, good for second in the nation. NDSU 7th at 2,868 and USD 13th at 2,533.

2004: SDSU was number one in D2 attendance at 3,375. NDSU was 12th with 2,440.

2005: SDSU down to 1,617. NDSU slipped all the way down to 1,653.

2006: SDSU was at 2,070. NDSU at 2,488

2007: SDSU was at 1,850. NDSU at 2,625

2008: SDSU was at 2,186. NDSU at 3,034

2009: SDSU was at 2,487.

[TeaJackrabbit]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

If the NDSU is as bad as sdsu posters say they will be....then attendance may drop...but i wouldn't say to much

I think NDSU could be alright, but you guys lost an awful lot. How often does a guy come to Fargo who can score 60 in a game...or drop 37 on Kansas?

How do you think NDSU will do?

[TeaJackrabbit]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

I think SDSU can and will get back up to that 3,500 mark, and maybe more. If so, that would be great. That's a respectable number and a crowd that could be the 6th man.

What game was that this year where the home crowd was over 3k and the players seemed to feed off of it? Nagy even brought it up a couple times after the game (a win).

[bison8xchamp]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

I think NDSU could be alright, but you guys lost an awful lot. How often does a guy come to Fargo who can score 60 in a game...or drop 37 on Kansas?

How do you think NDSU will do?

i'm guessing NDSU will be somewhere around 4th place. 3rd at the most and 5th at the least. They do lose an awful lot and the irreplaceable woodside. But they should be alright.....especially later in the season

[Lakesbison]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

listen, NO ONE, not even me is going to tell you that NDSU will be #1 or #2 in the Summit next year. that belongs to Oakland and ORU.

Now, #3 is where you want to be for the tournament.

NDSU,IUPUI,Southern Utah will be fighting for that.

NDSU wont drop as much as you guys all hope.

[FargoBison]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

2009 attendance....

Team-Average-(+/- from 2008)
Oral Roberts 5625(-205)
Oakland 4156(+2074)
North Dakota State 3596(+562)
Southern Utah 2705(+266)
South Dakota State 2487(+301)
IPFW 2183(+337)
UMKC 1855(-2)
IUPUI 1358(+401)
Western Illinois 1059(+430)
Centenary 761(-109)

Just so you know ORU and Oakland have inflated attendance, ORU's inflation is common knowledge on their board and Oakland's numbers include games played at the Palace against Michigan State(10,000) and Michigan(15,000).

As for next year NDSU has a nice non-conference slate with games against Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Idaho. Last year we played NAU, Mayville, and Valley City. That should boost attendance, and after that it will depend largely on how the team does.

I would also be interested in seeing what Saturday doubleheaders would do for our attendance, and I'm sure our women's team would love to see what they would do for their attendance. At the end of last year they were begging for people to come to their games, it was sad to say the least, the university has put the program in a very tough spot.

[SDSUAlum08]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

2009 attendance....

Team-Average-(+/- from 2008)
Oral Roberts 5625(-205)
Oakland 4156(+2074)
North Dakota State 3596(+562)
Southern Utah 2705(+266)
South Dakota State 2487(+301)
IPFW 2183(+337)
UMKC 1855(-2)
IUPUI 1358(+401)
Western Illinois 1059(+430)
Centenary 761(-109)

Just so you know ORU and Oakland have inflated attendance, ORU's inflation is common knowledge on their board and Oakland's numbers include games played at the Palace against Michigan State(10,000) and Michigan(15,000).

As for next year NDSU has a nice non-conference slate with games against Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Idaho. Last year we played NAU, Mayville, and Valley City. That should boost attendance, and after that it will depend largely on how the team does.

I would also be interested in seeing what Saturday doubleheaders would do for our attendance, and I'm sure our women's team would love to see what they would do for their attendance. At the end of last year they were begging for people to come to their games, it was sad to say the least, the university has put the program in a very tough spot.

I think this really puts into perspectie of how bad the Summit League attendance is around the league. SDSU's attendance is awful compared to the normal standards and we're at #5!

[TeaJackrabbit]

Re: Why we'll be better next year....

If we do end up landing Wolters (and it sounds like there is a good chance of that happening) and he doesn't red shirt, you can add him to the depth chart....

Good call.

If Rader is truly working himself into a 4 and can handle that position it would be huge for us......could a rotation, sooner or later, look like this?

PG-Wolters (6'3 Fr)
SG-Callahan (6'2 Sr)
SF-Williams (6'6 Sr)
PF-Rader (6'8 rFr)
PF-Cordova (6'7 Jr)

Bench
PG-Moss (6'4 Jr) - Palarca (5'11 Jr)
SG-Sargent (6'4 Jr)
G/F-White (6'7 Fr) - Gr. Callahan (6'4 So)
PF-Fiegen (6'7 Fr) - Cassaday (6'6 So)
PF-Engen (6'11 Sr)

Sargent, White, Fiegen and Callahan all coming off the bench would make for a pretty solid bench/9 man rotation.