SIU Coach Barry Hinson to Razorback fans: "Get your butts back in this gym"

[Adam Stokes]

https://twitter.com/AustinKellerman/status/798488685842989056

[Hawgndaaz]

Winning cures this.

source - Cpt. Obvious, circa 1432.

[Corkscrew Johnson]

Amen!   Loved that clip.   And I agree. 

[Arazorbackguy1]

That's what I'm talking about!

[King Kong]

He is correct

[mhuff]

https://twitter.com/AustinKellerman/status/798488685842989056

Y'all come back now. Based off our first game this coach prepared his team to stop inside scoring and we blew them away outside.  Come back next year with a Plan "B".

[phadedhawg]

WOW!  Maybe my new favorite opposing coach ever?  Awesome!!!

[Arazorbackguy1]

Wasn't he the coach of Missouri State when they beat us at their place, in a brand new facility?

[Danny J]

It will happen...going to take a really good nccat run to fill the arena up for early season monday night games against a bad midmajor team. Make an elite 8 run while winning just about all our home games plus some big road games and the stands will be full

[phadedhawg]

It seems like in the good ole days there were more great teams or maybe that's just how the years have made it seem.  Everywhere we went we played to a full house but maybe we were like Kentucky is now.  Other schools only filled their gym when they played us. 

It just seems like there is a lot less passion for the regular season these days.  Again, maybe it's just because we've been down for so long that it seems like that. 

Thoughts?

[Biggus Piggus]

http://gridironnow.com/touring-the-facilities-at-arkansas-where-the-best-is-yet-to-come/16/

As originally posted by Wiz -- a reporter from Gridiron Now said:

"Future renovations will reduce capacity while improving amenities and premium-seating areas."

[FATHAWG08]

 I agree with moving all the football games to NWA because that's where they need to be. But NWA needs to step up the attendance in basketball no matter the reason. That was a sad crowd no excuses about week day game. You want a Top 10 program you got to support a Top 10 Program. Don't think Top recruits didn't see last night.

[jesterzzn]

You know the UT-Arlington coach had to be like, "STFU!!!"

[Biggus Piggus]

Move all the basketball games to Little Rock!

[thirtythree]

He is right!

[hogwood]

I already have tickets to the Houston game but when I saw the crowd last night only reached around 4,000 I decided I will go to the UT-Arlington game as well. Driving a couple hours to get there. People in NWA need to get with it! Basketball is back!

[Hogwild]

https://twitter.com/AustinKellerman/status/798488685842989056

[Kevin McPherson]

I already have tickets to the Houston game but when I saw the crowd last night only reached around 4,000 I decided I will go to the UT-Arlington game as well. Driving a couple hours to get there. People in NWA need to get with it! Basketball is back!

I'm making most games this year from LR. My son is a freshman at UA and was in the student section last night ... of course, his dorm is next door to BWA and it was a slow Monday, but I told him he better get his "butt" over to BWA every chance he gets this year because he'll regret not being part of the rebirth of Hawgball.

[razorhead94]

I'll admit I didn't go last night as a season ticket holder but I also live in LR and it's hard to take off work to drive up for a Monday game.  I've had tickets every since BWA opened.  I try to make it to at least a few non-conference games and try to make a lot of conference games especially on the weekends. It would be interesting to know the numbers of where ticket holders reside.

I will say I try to sell tickets to every game I don't attend and it is getting harder and harder and sometimes even difficult to give away for free - even to people in NWA that are right there.

[Little Lady Back]

WOW!  Maybe my new favorite opposing coach ever?  Awesome!!!

Mine too!!

[Kevin]

I like it coach. call them out

[jm]

We will probably see a time when the arena is completely full on a regular basis again. There are numerous reasons including T.V. contracts and the one and done programs like Ky. People only have so much time, money, or enthusiasm and spending those precious resources on a team that has little to no chance of winning the conference title more less compete at a national level is just not a priority.

[azhog10]

Love Barry. I coached under one of his assistants when he was at Missouri State. Good man, and he's right. But I also understand SIU doesn't carry the name it used to, and we haven't been winning like we used to. Hopefully this team brings all that back. That said I don't buy the winning cures all. Football has had sellout crowds against okay teams. Obviously a Monday night doesn't help as well....

[azhog10]

Wasn't he the coach of Missouri State when they beat us at their place, in a brand new facility?

Yes

[Jb1219]

Why won't the fans of NWA get there butts in the stands

[razorhead94]

Why won't the fans of NWA get there butts in the stands

I hate the NWA vs the rest of the state argument but in basketball this is very very factual.

[hoglady]

Arkansas needs to do a better job of marketing their product.
When Sutton got here to build the program their was a concerted effort by the University to build it up.
Going to basketball games became the fun thing to do. Robken was a large part of that.
It's going to take more than just winning - got to make it the fun thing to do.
Got to figure out how to reach the students.

[PORKULATOR]

I love that. Barry Hinson is a helluva guy to be spouting that.
That's rock n roll, baby.

Woopigs

[poloprince]

Move all the basketball games to Little Rock!

10k+ every night

[micali]

If it's not even close to half full offer a cheaper price for upper deck.  I'd love to come but to much for our family to go.

[TebowHater]

If it's not even close to half full offer a cheaper price for upper deck.  I'd love to come but to much for our family to go.

This.

[sasnakrafan]

What killed it was I think in 2007.. prices went from $15 dollars to $25 and we were coming back from a losing season with pelphrey at the helm. Even prior to that we were averaging 14k fans per game. Sorry but terrible timing on the price hike when you had a poor product. Hasn't been the same since. If it went to 20..it would have been fine and a couple years ago they tried to course correct by charging the upper deck 20, but the damage had already been done.

[The Boar War]

As an Arkansas fan I like this.  If I were an SIU fan.......

[Pig in the Pokey]

I hate the NWA vs the rest of the state argument but in basketball this is very very factual.

why? why should we be the only ones responsible for filling up a 20,000 seat arena twice a week? I can't afford that darn, man. How about bring ya'lls asses up for a few games?

[BroyledNutts]

When mens' basketball was moved from Barnhill Arena to Bud Walton I worried that the expansion of seating would water down the average crowds.

It did.

Couple that with poor to marginal teams, erratic performance, the loss of Robken (this carries more weight than most know) and the milk-toasting of the band and in game fan interactions, jacking ticket prices and the RSVP system .... a perfect storm occurred of no thanks attendance.

It's only my opinion, but we only need half of the seats that are in BWA ... making tickets for matches harder to get actually fosters attendance, oddly enough. I can remember trying to get tickets for Barnhill and it was hard even for non-cons like SIU ... that made me only try harder to get them for the next game....but basketball back then was a much more exciting product than it is now - players seemed to play harder - hitting 100 caused pandemonium in the stands - devastating runs by the Hogs caused people to go out of their minds. Fan interactions with players and referees made it a miserable, yet fun, place to be.

It was loud. It was obnoxious. It was raucus. It was insanity for 40 minutes. The product on the court spurned it on, and the fans in turn spurned the players on.

That's what made Barnhill a hard place to play. While there was still the afterglow of a national title it was that way in BWA ... but the seeds were there for the watering down of the atmosphere from the very first foundation poured for BWA.

Bigger did not turn out to be better.

I was surprised by what the SIU coach had to say...but much like the hangers-on to the 64 National Title, he pines for an era long passed into history and lore.

[rzrbkman]

Yes

No, Cuonzo Martin was the Missouri State coach at that time. That night, Missouri St. dressed only 8 players, 2 of them were walkons. Toward the end of the 1st half, Pelphrey had the Hogs pressing and they were wearing out the Bears. In the 2nd half, he didn't have the Hogs press at all, they just stood around and took weak jump shots and lost the game. There were more of us Hog fans there that night than Bear fans, in a game that the Hogs should not have lost.