Attendance only at 8,500 tonight at the Bud.

[HognotinMemphis]

I was so bored with this game in the 1st half.  I thought well maybe it was because I had a long weekend in Atlanta followed up by a couple of longer days at work, about 10 hours a piece.  I got home right at 7 and was hungry and just tried to blame it on those circumstances.  Finally, when they pressed a little and Hill got that dunk did they perk my interest.  I was thinking the same thing.  The fans apparently don't care.  I don't blame them.  Except for a few stretches, we were. 

How apathetic am I about the Hog basketball program? Here's how much: I didn't know they played last night until I saw a blurb article this morning in the Commercial Appeal.

I've never heard of Central Michigan but glad to know they have a basketball team. What city are they in in Michigan?

[HognotinMemphis]

A snoozer of epic proportions.

I suppose I could break it down, but that would require more thought process than it deserves (especially at this hour).

this is a proverbial cliche... but i honestly, seriously, really did fall asleep watching it. 

frank used to be hardcore...ruthless...and always had fan interest at heart.  football and basketball both.  almost unfathomable that he has slipped this far.  part of me thinks he just doesnt want to rock the boat and make his last year or two (until he gets his 50th anniv) any more difficult than it has to be.  i dunno what else it could be. 

Frank also used to be in his 50's. He's now 82. 82 yr old people don't function, mentally or physically, like 50 yr old people. He's incompetent but apparently no one who matters cares that he's incompetent. When the attendence drops to 7500 per game on average in BWA, and/or when Frank dies, there will be some attention given to the basketball program and to who the head coach is.

[HognotinMemphis]

!!

I love it,

You jerks can't bash heath for losing (he isn't anymore), can't bash us fo missing FTs (we make them now), can't say our team lacks chemistry (we have it), can't cut down townes/hill's lack of p[roduction (they are good now), realize we sold like 15K tickets but it was a TUESDAY weeknight so people didn't go so you attack the ACTUAL attendance (even though the BUYING of tickets is what frank careas about, not the using of them in a nonconference weeknight).

You jerks make me laugh sometime   ha.... let's bash ATTENDANCE figures!  LOL !!!!!!!!!

Easy, Stan. It's just a game for God's sake!

[chillinhoggie]

They used 8,000 in the UMKC game. I've never seen so few people in a Bud Walton men's basketball game in my life. I laughed out loud when I heard attendance was 8,000. 2,500 was more like it.

It was weird to see that place so dead.. I've seen more people at practice.

[pokeydaman]

does anyone know how long Gillespie has been at Texas A&M?  about as long as Heath has been at Arkansas, Im guessing. Last time i saw,(last night)they were ranked #6, producing one heck of a product on the court(i know LSU beat em last night, but they still looked good). Just wondering how a small basketball school like A&M can be a top 10 program in just a few short years....is it coaching? makes u wonder.....

[dhornjr1]

They used 8,000 in the UMKC game. I've never seen so few people in a Bud Walton men's basketball game in my life. I laughed out loud when I heard attendance was 8,000. 2,500 was more like it.

Is that true?

Wow! I remember in the early and mid-nineties when it was SRO against teams like Montevallo. So sad to see the decline of a once-proud program.

[hogball33]

We should play all non conference in the barn, and SEC games in Bud.

[hogman64]

I used to really look forward to the weekday hog games on 7, even if itwas against a pitiful team..........last night I was going to dvr a tv show and watch the show  after the hog game.......near the end of the first half i decided to just start watching the show........for some reason it is hard for me to feel a connection to Stan's coaching staffs and his teams.........its almost like they are another college team that just borrowed our uniforms.......and he could probably change all assisstant coaches from one game to the next and i would never notice the difference.............

[dhornjr1]

I used to really look forward to the weekday hog games on 7, even if itwas against a pitiful team..........last night I was going to dvr a tv show and watch the show  after the hog game.......near the end of the first half i decided to just start watching the show........for some reason it is hard for me to feel a connection to Stan's coaching staffs and his teams.........its almost like they are another college team that just borrowed our uniforms.......and he could probably change all assisstant coaches from one game to the next and i would never notice the difference.............

I've had the same feeling hogman64. It's almost like another team stole our uniforms and is playing with them. It's just not the same as it used to be.

Good point also about the assistant coaches. I rememeber when we all knew Andy Stoglin, Mike Anderson, Scott Edgar, etc.

[Pignominious]

I hadn't thought about the Minnesota job.  That would be interesting.  I really don't know what Heath thinks about it.  I don't know if he likes it here or not.  I know Romona doesn't.  Minnesota would have to be inticing.  Heath would have several years of peace to start over and correct some of the mistakes he made the first time around.  There would be lowered exspectations at Minnesota, plus he'd be back to his old stomping grounds.  If we do have to change coaches, keep an eye on Billy Gillipsie, Rick Barnes, and Mike Gotfried.

[fourthcrusade]

I hadn't thought about the Minnesota job.  That would be interesting.  I really don't know what Heath thinks about it.  I don't know if he likes it here or not.  I know Romona doesn't.  Minnesota would have to be inticing.  Heath would have several years of peace to start over and correct some of the mistakes he made the first time around.  There would be lowered exspectations at Minnesota, plus he'd be back to his old stomping grounds.  If we do have to change coaches, keep an eye on Billy Gillipsie, Rick Barnes, and Mike Gotfried.

I hadn't thought about that either.

Interesting choices for replacements, but Stan's a detroit guy, right?  I mean, sure Minnesota and Michigan seem similar to us, since they are both up north, but that's like saying Nutt would be intersted at a job in New Mexico because both NWA & New Mexico are in the south part of the country.

Though, i have to ask, was there truth to all the 'hicks' or 'rednecks' comments from his wife?   Where did that story come from?

Plus, why would he leave UA for Minnesota?  It's a step DOWN.  (unless you are assuming he is fired)

[DickSonstreetDFW]

I was there.  It was boring.

My first trip to BW in two years, and it looked like a women's game crowd.

The concourse displays look tired and faded.  There's one ATM in the joint and it wasn't working.

We need to spruce it up a bit in there, maybe start by removing three of the four NCAA championship banners since we only won once.

The team is boring to watch, too.

Looking forward to baseball season.

[Call Mr. Sow]

You jerks can't bash heath for losing (he isn't anymore), can't bash us for missing FTs (we make them now)...

I clipped your post at that point because everything else you bring up is more subjective whereas these two points are more substantive. 

I don't have a lot to say about the basketball team because the team lost my interest last season and haven't done anything to win it back yet (no, a win over Marist doesn't really hoist my sail), but you've posted about our improved free throw shooting twice now.  I went back and checked, and 8 games into the season last year (at this point last season, we'd played two top 25 teams) and, we were shooting 68.1% from the ft line (we finished 2005 shooting 69%).  This year, we're shooting 70.9%.  That means out of 189 attempts through this point in the season, we have made about six more free throws than last year.   It's improvement, but it's a little early to say we've completely turned the corner in this regard.   

Also, at this point last season, we were 6-2 (both losses to ranked teams) instead of 7-1 (no games against ranked teams yet).  Is this really sufficient evidence to suggest we've truly turned the corner? 

You may be convinced they've improved over last season, and I hope you're right, but I don't think the evidence to support this is as overwhelming as you seem to think it is. 

[Call Mr. Sow]

There would be lowered exspectations at Minnesota, plus he'd be back to his old stomping grounds.

I suspect with the growing apathy the last ten years have nurtured, the expectations for Stan Heath have been lowered considerably here.  It's been over a decade since we made the sweet sixteen...are there really a lot of folks out here who are going to be howling for his head if he wins only one NCAA tournament game this year? 

Considering the exceedingly mild amount of flack he's gotten for the teams he's fielded for the last five years here, is there really any evidence to support the notion that the Hog program has high expectations for their head basketball coach?  It seems like a program with our facilities and history would have fairly high standards for their coach, but I haven't seen any evidence (except for a particularly critical questionnaire he had to fill out a few years ago) that Heath is being held to higher expectations here than he'd see at any other major conference team anywhere else. 

It's like that Spanish Inquisition Monty Python skit where they try and torture someone by poking them with cushy pillows before bringing out the comfy chair.  Maybe our program should put some pressure on our coach to produce, but it ain't happening. 

[bricklayer]

You're only as strong as your leader.  Would you charge up a hill behind Stan Heath.  He's a nice guy, an articulater speaker, and seems to be a good Christian but has NO leadership qualities.  He's lifeless on the sideline, he can't seem to figure out how to adjust to what the other team is doing during a game, his players don't look like they have a clue what they're supposed to be doing on offense, and his teams can barely pull off wins against cupcake teams.

You guys are certainly entitled to your opinion but our program is NOT going in the right direction.  Yes, we've improved every year under Heath, but we have a stale brand of basketball, our players don't look motivated or like their having fun, and it appears that we'll only be at best a first or second round tournament team with him as our coach.  That may be fine for those of you who are not used to consistently competing for a conference and national championship, but it's unacceptable to have a mediocre team with the facilities we have here at the U of A.  We have one of the top 5 arenas in the nation and used to have one of the top basketball programs in the nation.  We should be competing and winning at a higher level than we're at now.

[Immensehog]

You're only as strong as your leader.  Would you charge up a hill behind Stan Heath.  He's a nice guy, an articulater speaker, and seems to be a good Christian but has NO leadership qualities.  He's lifeless on the sideline, he can't seem to figure out how to adjust to what the other team is doing during a game, his players don't look like they have a clue what they're supposed to be doing on offense, and his teams can barely pull off wins against cupcake teams.

You guys are certainly entitled to your opinion but our program is NOT going in the right direction.  Yes, we've improved every year under Heath, but we have a stale brand of basketball, our players don't look motivated or like their having fun, and it appears that we'll only be at best a first or second round tournament team with him as our coach.  That may be fine for those of you who are not used to consistently competing for a conference and national championship, but it's unacceptable to have a mediocre team with the facilities we have here at the U of A.  We have one of the top 5 arenas in the nation and used to have one of the top basketball programs in the nation.  We should be competing and winning at a higher level than we're at now.

I would'nt charge an ice cream stand with Heath.

[Razorod]

Heath may well be safe until we get a new AD. Also, we're in year five of the six year $500,000 a year buyout on Nolan. Plus, we're not far removed from Nolangate. I believe all of these are factors in why Heath has had it relatively easy here. I'm guessing that the PTB are willing to give Heath a sixth year if he gets twenty wins this season and gets back to the NCAA tournament. I really believe that is all he has to do to be back (if he wants to be back) next year. Plus, they may be dealing with Nutt right now and really don't want to deal with the BB coach.

A better possibility: Heath has a successful year, makes it to the Big Dance, gets a great draw and advances out of the first weekend and into the Sweet 16. His wife supposedly doesn't like it here and he gets an offer from a Big Ten school and goes.

[bricklayer]

I'm not saying Heath is a bad person, he's just not very effective as a head coach.  If he goes to Minnesota or any other Big 10 school, I believe he'll field the same lifeless, uninspired type team there.  He'd be a really good ASSISTANT coach just as he was under Izzo.  He doesn't have to lead, just help recruit and give his opinion to the head coach every once in a while.  He's in way over his head trying to be the head coach of a team.  He needs to be an assistant.

[razorquack]

There was a time when the crowd would get pumped up by the way the players were playing and the players would get pumped up by the crowd.

Pre Stan the team started taking the crowd out of the game with bonehead plays.  The crowd would be loud and rocking and then someone would put up a stupid shot and the crowd would sit down.

I also started seeing entire rows of seats that were empty during big games.  I always thought these must be corp. seats that they couldn't or didn't give away.

I lost interest two years ago, it just wasn't worth the drive up the hill.

[Pignominious]

There was a time when the crowd would get pumped up by the way the players were playing and the players would get pumped up by the crowd.

Pre Stan the team started taking the crowd out of the game with bonehead plays.  The crowd would be loud and rocking and then someone would put up a stupid shot and the crowd would sit down.

I also started seeing entire rows of seats that were empty during big games.  I always thought these must be corp. seats that they couldn't or didn't give away.

I lost interest two years ago, it just wasn't worth the drive up the hill.

See that there is the problem.  Unfortunatly the past 10 years of bad/mediocre basketball is finally taking effect.  We have had a few good moments, like Joe Johnson and the 2000 SEC championship run.  Ronnie Brewer was fun to watch to.  But it hasn't been enough.  It really has been amazing how long Hog fans have waited for the Hogs to turn that corner and give us a sign they were coming back to the national picture.  Heath was supposed to bring that, who knows maybe he will, But now 4 1/2 years later Hog fans are starting to see that we aren't really that close to turning the corner.  We still aren't dominating inferior foes.  We are still losing games to less talented teams.  Still making dumb plays.  Still not chalenging for SEC titles.  We are starting to develop a culture of losing aroung are bball program. This needs to be shaken up by Broyles.  It isn't acceptable for us to go ten years without an NCAA tournament victory, we deserve so much more.  Hell UK fans are screaming at the top of their lungs because they havn't been to a Final Four in 8 years!  At one time we were even with UK and we had a great rivalry.  I still like and support Stan but I have my doubts and I think he is not the man for the job.  He is a great guy and I want him to succeed here, I really do.  But we just aren't getting what we need out of him and our bball program is declining because of it.  We need someone new who can reenergize the fans and remind them that UA is a great hoops program and belongs close to the top.  I think some of us have forgetten that. 

[fourthcrusade]

There was a time when the crowd would get pumped up by the way the players were playing and the players would get pumped up by the crowd.

Pre Stan the team started taking the crowd out of the game with bonehead plays.  The crowd would be loud and rocking and then someone would put up a stupid shot and the crowd would sit down.

I also started seeing entire rows of seats that were empty during big games.  I always thought these must be corp. seats that they couldn't or didn't give away.

I lost interest two years ago, it just wasn't worth the drive up the hill.

See that there is the problem.  Unfortunatly the past 10 years of bad/mediocre basketball is finally taking effect.  We have had a few good moments, like Joe Johnson and the 2000 SEC championship run.  Ronnie Brewer was fun to watch to.  But it hasn't been enough.  It really has been amazing how long Hog fans have waited for the Hogs to turn that corner and give us a sign they were coming back to the national picture.  Heath was supposed to bring that, who knows maybe he will, But now 4 1/2 years later Hog fans are starting to see that we aren't really that close to turning the corner.  We still aren't dominating inferior foes.  We are still losing games to less talented teams.  Still making dumb plays.  Still not chalenging for SEC titles.  We are starting to develop a culture of losing aroung are bball program. This needs to be shaken up by Broyles.  It isn't acceptable for us to go ten years without an NCAA tournament victory, we deserve so much more.  Hell UK fans are screaming at the top of their lungs because they havn't been to a Final Four in 8 years!  At one time we were even with UK and we had a great rivalry.  I still like and support Stan but I have my doubts and I think he is not the man for the job.  He is a great guy and I want him to succeed here, I really do.  But we just aren't getting what we need out of him and our bball program is declining because of it.  We need someone new who can reenergize the fans and remind them that UA is a great hoops program and belongs close to the top.  I think some of us have forgetten that. 

didn't know the season was 1/2 over, sec play hasn't started yet, and we will play at least what, 30 games?

[LZH]

the attendance last night looked awful on tv. i am glad that it was only on ARSN. I was shocked.

Games are on the radio?

[Pignominious]

There was a time when the crowd would get pumped up by the way the players were playing and the players would get pumped up by the crowd.

Pre Stan the team started taking the crowd out of the game with bonehead plays.  The crowd would be loud and rocking and then someone would put up a stupid shot and the crowd would sit down.

I also started seeing entire rows of seats that were empty during big games.  I always thought these must be corp. seats that they couldn't or didn't give away.

I lost interest two years ago, it just wasn't worth the drive up the hill.

See that there is the problem.  Unfortunatly the past 10 years of bad/mediocre basketball is finally taking effect.  We have had a few good moments, like Joe Johnson and the 2000 SEC championship run.  Ronnie Brewer was fun to watch to.  But it hasn't been enough.  It really has been amazing how long Hog fans have waited for the Hogs to turn that corner and give us a sign they were coming back to the national picture.  Heath was supposed to bring that, who knows maybe he will, But now 4 1/2 years later Hog fans are starting to see that we aren't really that close to turning the corner.  We still aren't dominating inferior foes.  We are still losing games to less talented teams.  Still making dumb plays.  Still not chalenging for SEC titles.  We are starting to develop a culture of losing aroung are bball program. This needs to be shaken up by Broyles.  It isn't acceptable for us to go ten years without an NCAA tournament victory, we deserve so much more.  Hell UK fans are screaming at the top of their lungs because they havn't been to a Final Four in 8 years!  At one time we were even with UK and we had a great rivalry.  I still like and support Stan but I have my doubts and I think he is not the man for the job.  He is a great guy and I want him to succeed here, I really do.  But we just aren't getting what we need out of him and our bball program is declining because of it.  We need someone new who can reenergize the fans and remind them that UA is a great hoops program and belongs close to the top.  I think some of us have forgetten that. 

didn't know the season was 1/2 over, sec play hasn't started yet, and we will play at least what, 30 games?

Of course you are correct the season is still young and I am optomistic as I always am.  It is just the last three games have been very unimpressive and that brings a lot of concerns up.

[mustain4governor]

conference play will tell the tale for this season. I can understand low attendance just due to mid week nobody opponent after a crushing road loss against MA. SH can still redeem himself. He's got over half a season left. If he don't make it past the first round of the big dance he needs to be out b/c his coaching style is boring and he ,like Nutt, can't coach no where near up to the talent level of the players he gets to come in.