carmineabbatiello
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I'm a fan of Northeastern in the Colonial and went to see them at Hofstra twice and the crowd was light both times.
Hofstra (UBS), Sat., Dec. 30, 12p, FS-1
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IMO Hofstra is pretty much a commuter school. Yes they have dorms but I think most of the folks that go there are local. I think they have the same issues SJU does with their fan base and even worse b/c of their conference. However, Speedy has turned out to be a great player and now a coach.
Think its just being in a lower tier conference and still relatively small school.
Hofstra : 6K under grad
34% out of state / 57% 1st year live on campus
St John's:10K undergrad.. 18% out of state / 40% 1st year live on campus
It’s a shame really . College BB back in the day ,,was a big deal here in NYC . All the local schools had good programs .
And , the doubleheaders at the Garden drew well . St John ‘s needs to be the fire starter to get that winning tradition back in NYC .
Pitino.can do it ..He wants to do it .
carmineabbatiello
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Yeah, me too! Luis 3 assists and 2 turnovers in 29 minutes. Taylor 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 18 minutes. Combined 4 assists and 4 turnovers in 47 minutes. Jenkins 8 assists and 0 turnovers in 33 minutes. "I like the way the game moves when he and Taylor are in together." Please keep the comic relief coming in 24!
Well, they all can’t be Reggie Miller like Jenkins.
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Astoria STH
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Again, UBS is a beautiful hockey arena. Yesterdays crowd was marketed towards Long Island families, the lack of intensity and awareness showed it for 2 hours. The boxes sectioned for standing room only behind the baskets to make up for floor seating was embarrassing as was the UBS center court logo, not the interlocking STJ, for a home game. There should be a overhaul in our athletic department administration, you have to know time and place, I’ll get off my soapbox here.
I'm not sure it was really marketed at all.
If you weren't an alumn or current fan, where would you see ads for this game other than at the arena?
It was the quietest 7,500 arena ever. You could almost have had a conversation directly w/ Pitino for half of game from your seats. There was zero energy in building. Just some golf claps after a basket.
Yes..the tiny standing area was very odd. and agree too that better for STJ logo in center vs. UBS Arena
carmineabbatiello
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A simple Thank you to him for single handidly saving the out of conference portion of our schedule would suffice.
Heck the title of this thread says USB
Just to be clear, if Soriano only hit 7 of his next 46 three point attempts, he’d still be shooting a higher % than Jenkins
carmineabbatiello
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A simple thank you.Just to be clear, if Soriano only hit 7 of his next 46 three point attempts, he’d still be shooting a higher % than Jenkins
I think a lot has to do with race and environment. I was born in 1948 and started playing organized sports when I was 10 years old for the Jamaica Youth Organization in Queens. Our teams consisted of White, Black, Puerto Rican, and Chinese players. We were all just neighborhood kids just looking to play sports and have fun.
Unfortunately, my athletic career ended when I graduated from high school in 1965. During the 1960's, 70's, and 80's basketball was truly the "city game". No matter where you lived, you could always find a park to play in with good competition. I even used to travel to Rockville Center to watch the tournament legendary St Agnes coach Frank Morris ran. Two of my good friends still rave about how happy they were to play with Frank Alagia, since he was a true point guard and when it was just them in the backcourt the ball didn't get shared as much, lol. Rick Marsh played at Manhattan then with the Warriors and Calvin Bruton played at Wichita St and then in Australia, where he still lives and is a member of the NBL Hall of Fame.
I have had many conversations with Frank, Brian Mahoney, and Billy Schaeffer about the lack of Caucasian ballplayers in New York City and Long Island. It was pointed out to me that Lacrosse was now the popular sport on Long Island.
Paultzman and I belong to a Facebook group, The Bronx basketball Hall of Fame. In our era there were many great Caucasian ballplayers at various high schools throughout NYC and Long Island. This caused their friends to attend their games and support them, while developing a love for the game. The younger generation does not appear to have this connection with their classmates who play basketball, therefore, they are not fans. Also, inner city youth view basketball as a way to get to college and improve their situation in life. Kids growing up on Long Island, are not as reliant on a sports scholarship to attend college.
I believe that the apathy a lot of kids have towards college basketball is that they haven't grown up with the game. However, as you stated, things will improve for St Johns with Pitino.
Fun facts: in high school, my favorite college player was our very own Kenny McIntyre. The peer whose game I liked was Jimmy Hayes of St Agnes who also graduated in 1965 , went to Prep School, then Boston University, and the ABA.
Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, and Blessed New Year.
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My response is long and not really a disagreement, more some additional thoughts.
I was heavily involved in CYO in Nassau County until recently. When my children played our parish was fielding 34 teams that travelled, Boys and Girls, for grades four through eight. That’s 340 kids in one neighborhood. There is a lot of youth basketball in Nassau and Suffolk County, kids are playing. There is also tons of additional youth leagues at places like Island Garden.
This shift, though, was to “organized” ball and no pickup at all. Helicopter parents abound, and suburban kids are not allowed out of their houses alone. The parks in my same neighborhood are always empty.
The emphasis on organized leagues creates conflicts with attending college games. I gave up my SJU tickets (the Norm hire helped) when my kids were heavily playing as their game schedules conflicted so much with the SJU schedule. And up until then I had four, but by the time I returned we only needed two as the years disconnected left my kids disinterested in the program.
I also think the incredible emphasis on a one and done tournament has lowered interest in the regular season. Dopey mock brackets start before a game is even played, and announcers constantly talk about March. Then the NCAA comes up with a crazy system where a team can come in seventh in a 20 game league schedule and make the tournament and the teams that come in fifth and sixth are left out. I hear many younger fans say they love college basketball but do not watch until March as “nothing else matters.”
And of course all the games are on TV now and that wasn’t close to the case.
In any event a ton of people live around here and if SJU starts winning they will draw just fine. I do think though, more of the fan base is not and will not be “ die hard” and that winning is a clear requirement.
One of the problems college basketball has experienced is the popularity of college and pro football. It is impossible to avoid playing at the same time but the NCAA in its usual stupidity moved the college basketball opening to early Nov from Thanksgiving years ago creating more of a competition for fan interest.
I think starting college basketball around Christmas when college football is ending and extending the season thru Apr leaving college basketball from mid Feb through Apr eliminating football as competition would increase interest. Competing with baseball is a lot better than going against football.
I realize this is a far out suggestion but college basketball needs some drastic changes if it is not going to sink further in fans interest.
I think starting college basketball around Christmas when college football is ending and extending the season thru Apr leaving college basketball from mid Feb through Apr eliminating football as competition would increase interest. Competing with baseball is a lot better than going against football.
I realize this is a far out suggestion but college basketball needs some drastic changes if it is not going to sink further in fans interest.
I agree, what you say about organized leagues is very true. We just used to spend all day in the park playing whatever sport was in season. Some summer mornings we would be in the park playing basketball then in the afternoon have a little league baseball games. "Helicopter Parents", our parents were too busy working to follow us around to games, lmao.
As I look back, some of the best times I had were getting on the buses and trains and traveling to different parts of the city with my teammates. Definitely can't forget a whole little league team piled into our coach's station wagon. Nowadays, if I go to a youth tournament in the summer, all the kids arrive with their parents or entourage, WTF, I mean 7th and 8th graders got hangers on. We actually enjoyed playing sports during our childhood and were supportive of each other. I don't believe that youth sports today is fun, too much emphasis on winning and whose kid is better. Damn Shame.
The attempt to gaslight a fanbase into thinking the ball only moves around when a player he doesn’t like is on the bench sure is something.
Especially when nothing backs it up when you know, watch the games.
Jenkins has shot selection issues without a doubt. He’s not a consistent shooter either. But again this notion that the ball doesn’t move when he’s in the game is so ludicrous I can’t believe it’s actually still getting peddled on here.
Yes, even though Jenkins isn’t perfect, it should be noted that we do NOT magically become the 2014 San Antonio Spurs when he sits for a few minutes. In fact the offense often looks worse
I just don’t see Wilcher as our pg next year. He is a step slow on defense especially laterally. He was in for two plays against Hofstra, was immediately targeted, and failed both tests. He has shown us no flashes of brilliance so far. He does not have an offensive game to overcome his defensive liabilities. I hope I am wrong on this one.
We have no one who can back up Jenkins without suffering a major drop in performance. When he picks up four fouls, we become rudderless. We have lost a few games already because he got four fouls. And he often reaches in to foul unnecessarily. I fear the Big East will target him to get him in foul trouble as the season progresses.
How do you market SJU as a pro team, maybe a notch below the Knicks? Any suggestions?
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