PhoenixRising2 wrote:

applecorps wrote:

NapaDuke wrote:

I just looked this up, but Dayton, with all the home court advantage and the top recruits that come with it have only won the A-10 tourney once in 23 plus years, just in 2003?  And that one win was the only time since 1977 that they won? Away from that home court, they struggle just a bit. 

Dayton certainly has a huge home court advantage. Dedicated fan base that jams their home court, and that makes borderline calls tend to go in one direction. But the fan base alone is inspiring for the players. With the 2/3 empty seats at the Coop, it's no wonder there's no advantage to playing at home. Again, why are the resident students not walking down the hill?
 

Because they have to walk back up the hill??? 
With McGinley Hall, they don't have to walk up or down any hills.  

Too funny. Maybe the admin. needs to provide them a bus to get them up and down the hill. LOL.

StillatShales wrote:

I'm sorry. But now I've seen this mentioned a couple times, and I truly don't understand the groundswell for Van Bussel. He has baby deer legs, and is a human ball return machine. The only reason he should be in is if the other bigs are in foul trouble. And even then, only 3-5 mins max, otherwise he's completely exposed. I'm not defending Big John's play, but if everyone knew what the kid was going through during his absence, you might change your tune. Granted... he did not look like he followed his "wellness" plan that he was given, and he's just getting back into somewhat game shape. But... earlier in the year, he seemed like a pretty big part of this offense, and we will be better if he finds that game sooner than later. Giving his minutes to VB does not help us now, or down the road. Heck... I'd rather see Milosevic get some burn, he has more upside. This is almost akin to the folks who wanted Savrasov to play more. Look what happened after we figured out he shouldn't be getting significant minutes... we got better. Not an exact and apples to apples comparison, but VB isn't Mahorcic. Regroup. Beat Davidson.

I see your point and well taken. Van Bussell needs some big time coaching or some Euro league development or both. He isn't Hugley, but Hugley hasn't helped himself. I want Hugley  to step up and go into a game like Dayton and surprise everyone including the coaches and take over a game. Hugley has been around and should and can dominate the paint. As far as Mahorcic, he both want and is developing.  Just watching the few minutes he plays, he has the stuff. I hope he stays and plays next year along with Necas, and Van Bussell.  Bigs are hard to find,

NapaDuke wrote:

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

applecorps wrote:

Dayton certainly has a huge home court advantage. Dedicated fan base that jams their home court, and that makes borderline calls tend to go in one direction. But the fan base alone is inspiring for the players. With the 2/3 empty seats at the Coop, it's no wonder there's no advantage to playing at home. Again, why are the resident students not walking down the hill?
 

Because they have to walk back up the hill??? 
With McGinley Hall, they don't have to walk up or down any hills.  

Too funny. Maybe the admin. needs to provide them a bus to get them up and down the hill. LOL.

It has been cold outside too.   Maybe a heated walkway from the dorms to the doors of the Coop?   :-)
But really, I think its time to give up on the student body, those who do go to the games, appreciate them, those that dont, IDK what to say, missing out on some fun.   DU has always had people who study all the time or didnt care about hoops, and yet games used to have good student sections, it was fun getting on Chaney and Calipari back in my day.

Also… walking down the hill can’t even be used as an excuse. As far as I know, the student entrance is only at the upper doorway by Mccloskey Field. So the Mcginley Hall residents would actually have to walk further, and uphill, than those who are in Saint Anne’s or Towers. Those in the traditional dorms really just have to walk down a single small staircase and be in the cold for maybe two minutes. They just don’t want to come. Why? I don’t know… because like all of us, when I was a student I couldn’t miss a game. Maybe we can create a thread about fan attendance as this is a reoccurring topic in game threads.

I think that more students would come to the games if they had renovated the student section as they did the rest of Palumbo.  Take a look at the same old lights and bleachers and compare it to the lighting and ambiance of the rest of the Coop.  With all the money spent, they could have at least gotten rid of the old florescent tube lighting. 

The pep band is excellent though.  

NapaDuke wrote:

Great Ghost Alive wrote:

I think that more students would come to the games if they had renovated the student section as they did the rest of Palumbo.  Take a look at the same old lights and bleachers and compare it to the lighting and ambiance of the rest of the Coop.  With all the money spent, they could have at least gotten rid of the old florescent tube lighting. 

The pep band is excellent though.  

This isn't some rant. Just follow.  I was there and got to know RE. He was known for rebuilding dead programs and he did ( no more fake stats that he did not do that) Rebuilding a dead program is 90 percent  away from the game. JD and this admin doesn't  even know the basic concept of building fan base. RE did ( and again, don't give us that one side crap about his record, because he  went to dead, really dead programs and gave them life)  I met RE at the annual picnic that none of you even bothered? This coach and this admin thought that the fans will just show up for the fact that a new coach came in here with 20 times the talent of Ron and those kids in the dorms are going to be suddenly rabid fans? Heck  man, hire RE to come here and tell your blind folks, that a very good team on the court is a fraction of getting fans in the stands? OR?. Next game, have a post game party for all the students and alumni season ticket holders in the practice gym with the players and cheer leaders. Why, because RE had pregame parties for alum and season ticket holders in the practice gym before games with the cheer leaders and dancers every year. Are we doing that now?, I went to those pre game  parties with my  son to see the cheer leaders and dancers and hell yes, that added to the game experience. Want fans? then earn them.

That pre-season picnic was surely a raving success if only you showed up. Napa, how about you make a thread about Ron Everhart so every other afternoon you can comment in there instead of hijacking game threads about how Duquesne should simply copy everything our 3rd most recent coach before Dru did.

College basketball as a whole is less popular than it may have ever been. The NCAA does not help itself. Whether it be conference realignment, pro players getting eligibility, the transfer portal ruining seeing a player develop for 4 years, etc. It is very difficult to get people to want to take time out of their day for Duquesne basketball. People don’t even care about P*tt these days.

Want fans? Dollar beers work. Advertise Jake Dimichele, the 3rd highest scorer in WPIAL history. Advertise Dave Dixon, a four year player with multiple plays on SportsCenter top 10 with the most wins in Duquesne history. I do like the postgame mixer idea in the practice gym, especially if you can pair it with hosting a bunch of youth teams the same day. Do more community engagement in the Hill District and Uptown, get local residents with no affiliation with the university except living nearby to have a connection with the program. Robert Morris does this well with the clever #HoopsTownship strategy, showing the Moon community that they are part of the neighborhood. I disagree with what you previously said about non conference needing to be wins only for people to show up. I’d rather the team play proper opponents to learn and develop and eventually win when it matters in March.

How to get students to fill the end zone? Who knows. Maybe they really do care about their studies that much. Convince professors to offer extra credit for proof of attending important games??

I truly believe that attendance will grow substantially & remain high only with 4-5 consecutive years of consistent winning, complete with at least 3 postseason bids in the NIT or NCAA tournament.

2+ generations of students, alumni & local sports fans have not seen Duquesne's basketball have consistent success. It is going to take a long time to undo that.

Having been around for the 23-24 season, current juniors could be the start of a student section resurgence if the Dukes can finish this season with a flourish & win big next year. Some of them would then have a different perception of & attachment to the program after graduation.

It has been a very long time since Pittsburgh has been known as any kind of basketball town. The city has awesome fans, but only for football, hockey, & baseball. I can't imagine how long the Dukes would have to be good for there to be more than 100 average Pittsburgh sports fans at every game.

In the meantime, any gimmick, giveaway, halftime entertainer, community outreach, and/or bargain beer night that gets an extra couple of hundred butts in seats is fair game.

Now, you will have to excuse me, I have to get back to inventing fake stats for the 8th-most-successful coach by winning percentage in the program's history.

Appreciate it Napa, but again, this is not a Duquesne only issue. It is every team in the A10 except for Dayton. And…from what I have learned, this is not for lack of trying all on the administration.  Other schools have tried some things and when you see the Bonnie’s and George Mason have similar issues, it’s a difficult fix.  Maybe, and we don’t know, winning more may improve it at Duquesne.
Again, thanks for your passion. Go Dukes, beat Davidson.