4075

[bac2therac]

I believe that number was inflated...crowd was actually less than the Iowa game to my eye...less students as well and enthusiasm there seems to have really waned

Crowd was quite but a few rumbles late in the game. Everyone there seemed to be willing to cheer for this team in the last few possession

overall though I am still sticking to that its a pretty disappointing turnout yet again for a home conference game where we were getting higher numbers in the non conference schedule

 

[ColonelRutgers]

I believe that number was inflated...crowd was actually less than the Iowa game to my eye...less students as well and enthusiasm there seems to have really waned

Crowd was quite but a few rumbles late in the game. Everyone there seemed to be willing to cheer for this team in the last few possession

overall though I am still sticking to that its a pretty disappointing turnout yet again for a home conference game where we were getting higher numbers in the non conference schedule

Can’t blame the weather this time. To my eye significantly less than Iowa. If you told me there were 3,000 in the building I wouldn’t dispute it. Forget the Purdue sellout. I’d rather have a boisterous 6,000 for each game where the crowd might give us a possession or two swing in a game like this rather than a probable lost cause against Purdue where people head for the exits after the under 8 timeout.

 

[RUsojo]

Oh my god this again. It’s a 2-7 team in conference and played one of the worst if not the worst OOC with home losses to stony brook and Hartford. The crowd that was here was loud. And they sold out a game that’s three games away. Why do you continue to harp on this? We all know there are many positives to take away from Pike and the program has potential to grow under him. But no let’s harp on the attendance for weeknight home games against teams from states that 99% of the fan base has never been to and that are not big basketball brands. Would a bigger crowd have made a difference? Sure it may have. But it wasn’t the reason they lost. Yet here we go again with choosing to broadcast disappointment for attendance. Rutgers basketball is lucky to have every single fan that walks into the RAC. Eventually it has to happen on the floor. Any player and any coach will tell you that.

 

[bac2therac]

Can’t blame the weather this time. To my eye significantly less than Iowa. If you told me there were 3,000 in the building I wouldn’t dispute it. Forget the Purdue sellout. I’d rather have a boisterous 6,000 for each game where the crowd might give us a possession or two swing in a game like this rather than a probable lost cause against Purdue where people head for the exits after the under 8 timeout.

true...I thought it was in the 3600-3700 range..thats bad, not matter how bad the program is, to get such a poor amount for a home conference game especially after the last conference game was a win was poor. Did Hobbs think after the SHU game that the team would sell itself? But even more concerned why the students have gone AWOL. Sure they will be there for Purdue and the place will have 8K but so what...RU is likely to lose ugly..if they can keep to 20 they would be lucky. Will we see the same 3500 for Northwestern...4500 for Indiana? Its bad no matter what the reasons are

 

[JimmyJack39]

true...I thought it was in the 3600-3700 range..thats bad, not matter how bad the program is, to get such a poor amount for a home conference game especially after the last conference game was a win was poor. Did Hobbs think after the SHU game that the team would sell itself? But even more concerned why the students have gone AWOL. Sure they will be there for Purdue and the place will have 8K but so what...RU is likely to lose ugly..if they can keep to 20 they would be lucky. Will we see the same 3500 for Northwestern...4500 for Indiana? Its bad no matter what the reasons are

Although this team is better than last year, it's just not good enough to bring people in. Remember, this program has been a doormat almost every year for the last 25 years. You shouldn't be surprised at the low attendance numbers. As the losses mount, interest wanes. That's how it goes. It's a shame Purdue is sold out because that will be another massacre that will drain fan morale. I hope we pull out at least 1 win against Illinois because without Williams, that's most likely our only shot at another conference win the rest of the year. Future is bright for sure, but we're still a long way away from consistent quality fan support

 

[HeavenUniv.]

At least that many.I would say it looked like a bit more actually. That being said,New Jersey has NINE million people.We should be able to fill our Indiana high school gym,despite not going to the tournament in 27 years. I never ever thought in 1976 I would ever see what we have seen the past three decades. Coach Pike will get it done.I am sure of it.

 

[FrankZ_RU93]

Team stinks. Most don’t care.

 

[78CollegeAve]

One of the worst offenses in D-1 and you wonder why no one wants to spend a few hours getting to the RAC and watching the ineptitude? Most of us have pins at home that we can stick in our eyes. Much cheaper.

Good luck to Pikiell and Hobbs when they pad the OOC with the worst of the worst again next year to make the program look like .500 is a possibility. Upgrade from the EJ years? You bet. But based on its recruiting so far, and inability to teach offensive skills, the staff is still 3-4 years from sniffing .500 in B1G.

 

[shields]

northwestern game is 9. Sorry for my job that is just too late.

 

[kcg88]

The team is not good, and they're not particularly fun to watch either.

 

[G- RUnit]

Just win... It's a 7:00 game on a January winter night v Nebraska. Can't get upset over attendance.

 

[Local Shill]

I defy anyone to find a Power 5 school who draws worse.
Then again, I also defy you to find a Power 5 school that hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since Bill Clinton was the governor of Arkansas.

Still, 6K or so for a conference game when we've been relatively competitive all year shouldn't be too much to ask. It's a pretty low bar but we can't even come close to it.

 

[wheezer]

The team is not good, and they're not particularly fun to watch either.

----
the team is good defensively.... we have kept most good teams well below their average, and when you do that you have a shot if we shoot well....which we did not again..

 

[rufeelinit]

I watched the entire game last night on TV. I have to admit while the effort is there, its not a fun watch at times. Parts of that first half was downright bad basketball from both teams and in the second half the turnovers and empty possessions were frustrating as hell. Had me thinking I need a break from this team rather than I wish I was there. They have become a very predictable team and that is good and bad. Most games they are going to need several guys to exceed their average performance to have a shot of winning. Could they have won last night? Yes. Should they have? No. Nebraska was the better team and played better particularly in the second half.

 

[kcg88]

I defy anyone to find a Power 5 school who draws worse.
Then again, I also defy you to find a Power 5 school that hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since Bill Clinton was the governor of Arkansas.

Still, 6K or so for a conference game when we've been relatively competitive all year shouldn't be too much to ask. It's a pretty low bar but we can't even come close to it.

There are three power-5 schools ranked below us on KenPom:

California - Ranked #222. Their last two weeknight home games drew 7721 and 6915. Last made the NCAA tournament in 2016.

Washington State - Ranked #149. They've only played one conference weeknight home game and they drew 2540 for it. Last made the NCAA tournament in 2008 when Tony Bennett coached them.

Pittsburgh - Ranked #211. Drew 2566 last night against NC State, 9180 for a weeknight game against Duke, 3544 for a weekend game against Georgia Tech. Last made the NCAA tournament in 2016.

So there you go. At least we draw better than Washington State and Pittsburgh.

It's pretty simple: Start winning games and people will show up. During Washington State's 2008 season, they got 8810 on a Thursday night against unranked Cal and 9547 on a weeknight against ranked UCLA. In no other industry are consumers expected to pay money before quality products are put out.

 

[RUJMM78]

I defy anyone to find a Power 5 school who draws worse.
Then again, I also defy you to find a Power 5 school that hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since Bill Clinton was the governor of Arkansas.

Still, 6K or so for a conference game when we've been relatively competitive all year shouldn't be too much to ask. It's a pretty low bar but we can't even come close to it.

There continues to be low expectations for attendance and success on the court.Decades have passed and the lame excuses continue .Nobody cares gains resonance as successive losing seasons keeps on trucking.

 

[RUJMM78]

I watched the entire game last night on TV. I have to admit while the effort is there, its not a fun watch at times. Parts of that first half was downright bad basketball from both teams and in the second half the turnovers and empty possessions were frustrating as hell. Had me thinking I need a break from this team rather than I wish I was there. They have become a very predictable team and that is good and bad. Most games they are going to need several guys to exceed their average performance to have a shot of winning. Could they have won last night? Yes. Should they have? No. Nebraska was the better team and played better particularly in the second half.

Spot on viewpoint which is shared by many long suffering fans.

 

[G- RUnit]

I watched the entire game last night on TV. I have to admit while the effort is there, its not a fun watch at times. Parts of that first half was downright bad basketball from both teams and in the second half the turnovers and empty possessions were frustrating as hell. Had me thinking I need a break from this team rather than I wish I was there. They have become a very predictable team and that is good and bad. Most games they are going to need several guys to exceed their average performance to have a shot of winning. Could they have won last night? Yes. Should they have? No. Nebraska was the better team and played better particularly in the second half.

It’s very good defensive basketball not bad basketball. If you can’t get the horses it’s also smart basketball.

 

[S_Janowski]

It's simple.....We play a blue collar ugly style of basketball, haven't made the tourny since 1991 and play a lot of teams that aren't really draws in the North East.

No surprise we're struggling to get the casual fan in the RAC other than the big games.

Make the NIT or sniff the NCAAs and things quickly change.

 

[RUonBrain]

I just bought tickets for the Illinois game.

1st home game since probably the 1990’s.
Can’t wait.

I live in VA, and did attend the RU - Northwestern B1G tourney game in DC last year.
Graduated in 90 and was in the RAC PAC.

Hang in there, guys.
Pike will get us there.
Next year we’ll finally have a nearly full roster from which Pike will have better (not great) but better options.

We have waited and suffered for far too long to give up now.

 

[OntheBanks]

We were given a schedule with only 3 Home games on weekends. Ohio St which had 7400 attendance,
Purdue which is already called a sell out and our last game against Illinois which should also have good
attendance. Week night games are not going to draw families because people have to get here after work,
they have to go to work the next day and the kids have to go to school. The B1G really put the screws to us
this year in that regard.

 

[JimmyJack39]

People just shouldn't complain about attendance. Once we are able to put good, deep teams on the floor, more people will show. Unless you are under 30 years old, you have no memory of Rutgers Basketball whatsoever. That's what nearly 30 years of futility will do to a fanbase.

 

[Sideline20]

It’s very good defensive basketball not bad basketball. If you can’t get the horses it’s also smart basketball.

Bingo - the coaching staff gets paid to win games - our identity is 40 minutes of defense and a strong emphasis on rebounding. This year the staff has added an emphasis on reducing turnovers. We play to our strengths. The only way to win games is to win ugly in a "rock fight." Until we bring in the right pieces you will not see the emphasis on shooting / offense.

People really need to start showing up to these games. These kids are really busting it out there for the full 40 minutes. They deserve the support of the students and fans. They are not just "going through the motions" like under certain coaches that Rutgers has had over the past years. The excuses are old - 7pm is too early- 9pm is too late - it's under 35 degrees outside. There are only 4 home games left - 3 with tickets available........just do it!

 

[Local Shill]

There are three power-5 schools ranked below us on KenPom:

California - Ranked #222. Their last two weeknight home games drew 7721 and 6915. Last made the NCAA tournament in 2016.

Washington State - Ranked #149. They've only played one conference weeknight home game and they drew 2540 for it. Last made the NCAA tournament in 2008 when Tony Bennett coached them.

Pittsburgh - Ranked #211. Drew 2566 last night against NC State, 9180 for a weeknight game against Duke, 3544 for a weekend game against Georgia Tech. Last made the NCAA tournament in 2016.

So there you go. At least we draw better than Washington State and Pittsburgh.

It's pretty simple: Start winning games and people will show up. During Washington State's 2008 season, they got 8810 on a Thursday night against unranked Cal and 9547 on a weeknight against ranked UCLA. In no other industry are consumers expected to pay money before quality products are put out.

Good research. No. 1 - it's amazing how far a once very good to great Pitt hoops program has fallen. No. 2- those Cal crowds are pretty darn good.

 

[PiscatawayMike]

Pittsburgh - Ranked #211. Drew 2566 last night against NC State, 9180 for a weeknight game against Duke, 3544 for a weekend game against Georgia Tech. Last made the NCAA tournament in 2016.

It's astonishing how bad the attendance is at Pitt now. It wasn't that many years ago when "The Pete" routinely sold out.

April 2010:
"Pitt enjoys outstanding fan support. Pitt has recorded 150 consecutive home sellouts, has a season-ticket waiting list of over 3,000 members and has set school records for attendance average and season attendance over the last nine seasons."

http://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/...e_Basketball_Programs_by_Forbes_Magazine.aspx

 

[bac2therac]

There continues to be low expectations for attendance and success on the court.Decades have passed and the lame excuses continue .Nobody cares gains resonance as successive losing seasons keeps on trucking.

you and Shill hit a key point....the bar is incredibly low right now..during Fred Hill or Mike Rice crowds of 4K would have laughed at by the entire board. Now its just accepted as fact until we are good..oh well. Student attendence was not good last night yet now that is accepted. Yet another losing season coming up is accepted as part of the process. When will the expectations be raised for any of our sports programs across the board.

 

[bac2therac]

It's astonishing how bad the attendance is at Pitt now. It was only a few years ago "The Pete" routinely sold out or was close to it.

they will rue the day that they couldnt smooth over the relationship with Dixon....plus they compounded the problem by bringing in Stallings who is just the wrong fit for what they needed. They needed energy and a younger hungrier guy.

 

[S.W.A.I.N]

There are three power-5 schools ranked below us on KenPom:

California - Ranked #222. Their last two weeknight home games drew 7721 and 6915. Last made the NCAA tournament in 2016.

Washington State - Ranked #149. They've only played one conference weeknight home game and they drew 2540 for it. Last made the NCAA tournament in 2008 when Tony Bennett coached them.

Pittsburgh - Ranked #211. Drew 2566 last night against NC State, 9180 for a weeknight game against Duke, 3544 for a weekend game against Georgia Tech. Last made the NCAA tournament in 2016.

So there you go. At least we draw better than Washington State and Pittsburgh.

It's pretty simple: Start winning games and people will show up. During Washington State's 2008 season, they got 8810 on a Thursday night against unranked Cal and 9547 on a weeknight against ranked UCLA. In no other industry are consumers expected to pay money before quality products are put out.

I was at both Cal games. Scanned attandance is at least 2k less...and they had a bobblehead give-away.

 

[kcg88]

you and Shill hit a key point....the bar is incredibly low right now..during Fred Hill or Mike Rice crowds of 4K would have laughed at by the entire board.

I think you've got rose-colored hindsight glasses on...

Wednesday 2/6/08 against St. John's: 4,159
Saturday 3/7/09, a Saturday against USF: 4,114 (on Senior Night)
Wednesday 1/4/12 against WVU, 2012: 4,815
Wednesday 1/25/12 against Depaul, 2012: 4,662
Wednesday 1/23/13 against St. John's: 4,742

Throw in the demoralizing Eddie Jordan era and there you go. Here's the average attendance by year:

1999 7526
2000 7118
2001 5563
2002 5802
2003 6527
2004 6202
2005 6808
2006 5886
2007 5453
2008 5176
2009 4667
2010 5236
2011 5602
2012 5362
2013 4922
2014 4425
2015 5770
2016 4653
2017 4679
2018 4516

2018 will go up a bit with the Purdue sellout but the garbage non-conference schedule (bad teams plus a million home games against those bad teams) is suppressing the number.

You can see that the numbers went down with the recession and the team backsliding in 2007-2009, picked back up a bit during the Rice era and then bottomed out as the scandals and Eddie Jordan hit, except for the first-year Big Ten bump.

The closest we've come to a .500 record in conference play since we were 7-9 in Waters' last season was a 6-12 year under Rice. That tells you all you need to know. When the team can start showing signs of being competitive then people will show up.

 

[Local Shill]

Just win... It's a 7:00 game on a January winter night v Nebraska. Can't get upset over attendance.

LOL. Most basketball games are played in the winter at night.

 

[bac2therac]

I think you've got rose-colored hindsight glasses on...

and if I could unearth threads from them I was probably calling it out too, yet all those numbers some of them during the worst of Fred Hill actually were higher

Wednesday 2/6/08 against St. John's: 4,159
Saturday 3/7/09, a Saturday against USF: 4,114 (on Senior Night)
Wednesday 1/4/12 against WVU, 2012: 4,815
Wednesday 1/25/12 against Depaul, 2012: 4,662
Wednesday 1/23/13 against St. John's: 4,742

Throw in the demoralizing Eddie Jordan era and there you go. Here's the average attendance by year:

1999 7526
2000 7118
2001 5563
2002 5802
2003 6527
2004 6202
2005 6808
2006 5886
2007 5453
2008 5176
2009 4667
2010 5236
2011 5602
2012 5362
2013 4922
2014 4425
2015 5770
2016 4653
2017 4679
2018 4516

2018 will go up a bit with the Purdue sellout but the garbage non-conference schedule (bad teams plus a million home games against those bad teams) is suppressing the number.

You can see that the numbers went down with the recession and the team backsliding in 2007-2009, picked back up a bit during the Rice era and then bottomed out as the scandals and Eddie Jordan hit, except for the first-year Big Ten bump.

i

The closest we've come to a .500 record in conference play since we were 7-9 in Waters' last season was a 6-12 year under Rice. That tells you all you need to know. When the team can start showing signs of being competitive then people will show up.

its bad numbers now matter how you slice it...excuses or not. To me what is stunning that no one can explain is that there were non conference games that outdrew conference games. I cringe when I come here and people say that 5K was a good crowd and it was loud. People really have set such a low bar. Fred Hill killed interests and it upticked a bit over Rice until the embarrassment and then the Jordan disaster. Fact is we have almost 9 million people to pick from and we are getting 4K

so people talk about what a great fanbase RU has in football and hoops but that clearly isnt the case...the arguments that they will show up when they win hold for any school that wins not just here

Illinois had a pretty good turnout last night and pretty involved student section for their game vs Indiana despite being on a 8 game Big 10 losing streak,

 

[kcg88]

its bad numbers now matter how you slice it...excuses or not. To me what is stunning that no one can explain is that there were non conference games that outdrew conference games. I cringe when I come here and people say that 5K was a good crowd and it was loud. People really have set such a low bar. Fred Hill killed interests and it upticked a bit over Rice until the embarrassment and then the Jordan disaster. Fact is we have almost 9 million people to pick from and we are getting 4K

so people talk about what a great fanbase RU has in football and hoops but that clearly isnt the case...the arguments that they will show up when they win hold for any school that wins not just here

Illinois had a pretty good turnout last night and pretty involved student section for their game vs Indiana despite being on a 8 game Big 10 losing streak,

Illinois has been to 16 tournaments including a championship game since Rutgers last qualified for the tournament.

Fans follow success, not the other way around. Everyone on this board sees the improvement from the Eddie era but going from 1 or 2 conference wins to 3 or 4 conference wins doesn't move the needle for the average fan. It's really, REALLY hard to cultivate dedicated fans without sustained success.

 

[RU-ROCS]

It's astonishing how bad the attendance is at Pitt now. It wasn't that many years ago when "The Pete" routinely sold out.

April 2010:
"Pitt enjoys outstanding fan support. Pitt has recorded 150 consecutive home sellouts, has a season-ticket waiting list of over 3,000 members and has set school records for attendance average and season attendance over the last nine seasons."

http://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/...e_Basketball_Programs_by_Forbes_Magazine.aspx

Where have you gone Jamie Dixon, Pitt nation turns its lonely eyes to you . . . .

 

[RU-ROCS]

RU wrestling is the best proof that if you win the fans will follow. The team could not draw flies when they were irrelevant. Now, after a couple of nationally ranked finishes, they sellout the RAC for big matches. It's that simple.

 

[PiscatawayMike]

RU wrestling is the best proof that if you win the fans will follow. The team could not draw flies when they were irrelevant. Now, after a couple of nationally ranked finishes, they sellout the RAC for big matches. It's that simple.

Joining the B1G has meant EVERYTHING to the wrestling program. NJ has long been a wrestling state. Top NJ wrestlers now do not have to leave the state to regularly wrestle the best and aim for national titles. Those in-the-know knew the wrestling program would immediately be the RU sport that would benefit most from joining the conference.

 

[G- RUnit]

LOL. Most basketball games are played in the winter at night.

Most campuses don’t have to deal with New Jersey RUsh hour at night pre 7:00. Try 287 South on any basketball night. It ain’t pretty. What days were our three best crowds this year? Why for literally decades did our night games start @7:30? Hmmmmm.

 

[RUPete]

I defy anyone to find a Power 5 school who draws worse.
Then again, I also defy you to find a Power 5 school that hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since Bill Clinton was the governor of Arkansas.

Still, 6K or so for a conference game when we've been relatively competitive all year shouldn't be too much to ask. It's a pretty low bar but we can't even come close to it.

And since the time Nolan Richardson was coach and could have been elected governor.

 

[RUPete]

Illinois has been to 16 tournaments including a championship game since Rutgers last qualified for the tournament.

Fans follow success, not the other way around. Everyone on this board sees the improvement from the Eddie era but going from 1 or 2 conference wins to 3 or 4 conference wins doesn't move the needle for the average fan. It's really, REALLY hard to cultivate dedicated fans without sustained success.

That's fair. And fans won't make the extra effort during the week until they feel confident there will be some success. It's not a surprise that all the best crowds (two sellouts) with the exception of MSU have been Friday-Sunday games.

 

[Local Shill]

Most campuses don’t have to deal with New Jersey RUsh hour at night pre 7:00. Try 287 South on any basketball night. It ain’t pretty. What days were our three best crowds this year? Why for literally decades did our night games start @7:30? Hmmmmm.

And if we in theory were 6-2 in conference instead of 2-6 going into last night and coming off back to back Sweet 16s the place would be packed. It’s a convenient excuse to explain away the lack of success.

 

[Jetsjets8897]

I went to both games! Iowa by far less people. Maybe more students.
I thought crowd was good last night. Win and Place will fill up!