Providence Game Thread

[drbluejay]

That place sounds so sleepy. Are there a lot of grumpy 70+ there?

I'm a grumpy 70+ and loud as hell. I wish the 20+ youngsters were just as loud instead of being on their phone or thinking about what to do after the game.

[drbluejay]

Both Kalk and Trey stood out to me but Kalk's overall game earns him my standout player of the game.
Our bench has been pathetic so it's hard for Mac to give them more minutes. When Mac was at Wayne State, he played his bench more minutes because they contributed to the team but don't ever expect more than a 8 man rotation. Tired starters are almost always better than the 9th and 10th man.

[Venturajay]

Nice game yesterday. Kalk and Trey looked great. Go Jays.

[Ethanfor3]

My guess to the crowd, other than we are quickly aging (I’m 60, do yell a lot, but nothing like 20 years ago), is expectations and basketball knowledge.

When we start to fall short of expectations, the fans grumble and don’t appreciate the excellence we’re actually seeing. Yes, the team is imperfect and has holes, but fan atmosphere / noise can give them a little boost instead of some people sitting on their hands wondering where our #8 ranking went.

The other thing is that I don’t think this is really a basketball savvy crowd. Some obviously are, but many are just here for a show. They catch up with their neighbors and long lost friends over a cocktail rather than really watching the game. The crowd comically only appreciates 3 balls and dunks, I’ve watched tremendous game changing blocks happen and the crowd barely notices. When we are struggling on offense and need a stop, we should be giving them everything we can if we want to win as well.

I have a clown in my section, who thinks Kalkbrenner sucks, calls him Sheldon and wants him out of the game because his hands aren’t great securing rebounds. I agree Kalk is not the strongest rebounder (far from it) however he has more impact on the game than any other player on the floor…we’ll miss him when he’s gone.

The crowd does tend to pick up for marquise games UConn Marquette (Villanova was a head scratcher though, as it seems like some fans forget they were the best program in the country a few years ago ).

Ultimately it’s going to take everyone that thinks the crowd sucks to get up and yell to hopefully inspire a few more to do the same.

[KenoshaJay]

My standout player of the game - SA. Hardly ever picked up his dribble, reasonable defense (what do I know) and made some shots. Played most of the game, especially at the end of the game.

[REALITY]

A massive win today. Take whatever you can get in this league, because it seems like there will be no nights off and anyone can beat anyone, probably excluding DePaul and GT. Providence will still be a dangerous team even without Hopkins, really impressed with English.

- Trey seems to be rounding back into form. Had a great game today, minus the free throw shooting. Not worried about that.

-One of Kalks better games of the year. My one complaint on him (for today) is the 3 point shot. I think that experiment needs to end. He's way too efficient in the paint to be taking those, and I feel like it bails the opposing defense out. Besides the game he went bananas against Loyola, he's like 3-18.

-You can tell how badly Ashworth needed that shot to go down. The reaction from him and his teammates was awesome. He really needed that, and I hope it can be a turning point for him the rest of the way.

- Our bench was non-existent. We've never been a team under Mac with a really deep bench, or that brings guys off the bench that provide a consistent spark scoring the ball. Maybe my memory is short but the best bench player I can remember us having is Mahoney when he came off the bench for his first year. I'd really like to see that be improved in the future, but it's hard to be super talented 1-10, so I get it.

My biggest complain and something I've wanted to get off my chest all season-
The crowd was terrible. I feel like the crowd the last 2/3 years compared to the 10 years prior has been bad. I've always felt we had a bit of an overrated home court advantage, but there have been times in the last 10-15 years where it's been a real strength at times. I don't feel like it has been lately. I don't know if a majority of people are content, or what. But you'd think while being in the best stretch the program has ever had, the crowd would be better/more rowdy. It's been the opposite. There are too many sections in the lower bowl (where I sit) that do nothing. And not to offend anyone, but a heavy majority of these people are either 1.) old and not able or interested in being loud or rowdy. or 2.) clearly there to be seen, and view it as a social event more-so than a basketball game. The amount of people that stay seated during big runs, big plays, etc. is shocking. The amount of people who leave early period, but especially in close games, is embarrassing. I remember years when the crowd would seemingly single handedly bring the team back into games. Now, the team is begging the crowd to get into it. Whether it's players, coaches on the bench, or even the PA announcer begging the crowd to be loud. That should never have to happen. Based on games I've been to, or what you can hear/see on TV or social media, we have a bottom half crowd in terms of atmosphere and how loud it gets in the BE. I hate to say it, but the team down the road has their arena get twice as loud for their team who's been terrible for 25 years. I don't know what you can do to change it, the crowd and the fans are who they are, and we have a certain demographic and stereotype, and sadly a lot of it is true. Now, the game day "experience" that has nothing to do with how loud or involved the fans get, also isn't great. Something different needs to be done with the student section. When the rest of the arena hasn't been great the last few years, the student section has been. Move them closer to the court, put them somewhere else, I don't know. The courtside seats are stupid, IMO. Give them to people who are actually going to make a difference when sitting that close, instead of people who want to look good. Josh Jones, love him, but is terrible at whatever this emcee gig he's trying to do is. I applaud his effort in trying to get the crowd into it, but I can't tell you how many times over the last 2 seasons he's tried to start a "let's go Jays" chant while we're coming out of a TO to shoot freethrows. Do that when we're on defense, Josh. The DJ clearly isn't comfortable in this environment. He's good outside of Creighton games, but this just doesn't work. Have a preset list of songs to play at specific moments in the games, and just have someone click a button to play it. The two best things about our "gameday" experience are 1.) The video production of the opening videos and 2.) Jake Ryan. Normally I wouldn't be a fan of a PA announcer trying to get the crowd into it by flat out telling them to cheer, but it seems like the only thing that works. Rant over, for now.

RE: the bench, we also had Milliken coming off the bench his senior year in like 2015 and averaged 10 PPG. Mahoney is still better than James was, but Milli deserves a mention at least.

RE: the fans. Gameday production is a big part of this - it's up to that staff to keep the energy up. I second the recommendation to stop doing ads at the under 8 TO in the second half. They'll never do that, of course. Of course, the other big reason for the lack of energy is that the lower bowl is made up of corporate seats that either don't fill up or are filled by people who aren't exceptionally vocal and the otherside is older Jaybackers who also aren't super loud. The solution, though they'll never go for it, is to create young alumni section(s) and push some of the corporate tickets to the upper bowl. Or just do a whole new re-seating process to prioritize younger fans, something they're even less likely to do.

[SeattleJay]

The stat that stands out to me from this game is Odura going 4 for 17 on field goals. He normally hits 55% of his FG’s. Congratulations to Kalk for a great defensive effort. Kalk played 39 minutes.

[Sec121Jay]

A massive win today. Take whatever you can get in this league, because it seems like there will be no nights off and anyone can beat anyone, probably excluding DePaul and GT. Providence will still be a dangerous team even without Hopkins, really impressed with English.

- Trey seems to be rounding back into form. Had a great game today, minus the free throw shooting. Not worried about that.

-One of Kalks better games of the year. My one complaint on him (for today) is the 3 point shot. I think that experiment needs to end. He's way too efficient in the paint to be taking those, and I feel like it bails the opposing defense out. Besides the game he went bananas against Loyola, he's like 3-18.

-You can tell how badly Ashworth needed that shot to go down. The reaction from him and his teammates was awesome. He really needed that, and I hope it can be a turning point for him the rest of the way.

- Our bench was non-existent. We've never been a team under Mac with a really deep bench, or that brings guys off the bench that provide a consistent spark scoring the ball. Maybe my memory is short but the best bench player I can remember us having is Mahoney when he came off the bench for his first year. I'd really like to see that be improved in the future, but it's hard to be super talented 1-10, so I get it.

My biggest complain and something I've wanted to get off my chest all season-
The crowd was terrible. I feel like the crowd the last 2/3 years compared to the 10 years prior has been bad. I've always felt we had a bit of an overrated home court advantage, but there have been times in the last 10-15 years where it's been a real strength at times. I don't feel like it has been lately. I don't know if a majority of people are content, or what. But you'd think while being in the best stretch the program has ever had, the crowd would be better/more rowdy. It's been the opposite. There are too many sections in the lower bowl (where I sit) that do nothing. And not to offend anyone, but a heavy majority of these people are either 1.) old and not able or interested in being loud or rowdy. or 2.) clearly there to be seen, and view it as a social event more-so than a basketball game. The amount of people that stay seated during big runs, big plays, etc. is shocking. The amount of people who leave early period, but especially in close games, is embarrassing. I remember years when the crowd would seemingly single handedly bring the team back into games. Now, the team is begging the crowd to get into it. Whether it's players, coaches on the bench, or even the PA announcer begging the crowd to be loud. That should never have to happen. Based on games I've been to, or what you can hear/see on TV or social media, we have a bottom half crowd in terms of atmosphere and how loud it gets in the BE. I hate to say it, but the team down the road has their arena get twice as loud for their team who's been terrible for 25 years. I don't know what you can do to change it, the crowd and the fans are who they are, and we have a certain demographic and stereotype, and sadly a lot of it is true. Now, the game day "experience" that has nothing to do with how loud or involved the fans get, also isn't great. Something different needs to be done with the student section. When the rest of the arena hasn't been great the last few years, the student section has been. Move them closer to the court, put them somewhere else, I don't know. The courtside seats are stupid, IMO. Give them to people who are actually going to make a difference when sitting that close, instead of people who want to look good. Josh Jones, love him, but is terrible at whatever this emcee gig he's trying to do is. I applaud his effort in trying to get the crowd into it, but I can't tell you how many times over the last 2 seasons he's tried to start a "let's go Jays" chant while we're coming out of a TO to shoot freethrows. Do that when we're on defense, Josh. The DJ clearly isn't comfortable in this environment. He's good outside of Creighton games, but this just doesn't work. Have a preset list of songs to play at specific moments in the games, and just have someone click a button to play it. The two best things about our "gameday" experience are 1.) The video production of the opening videos and 2.) Jake Ryan. Normally I wouldn't be a fan of a PA announcer trying to get the crowd into it by flat out telling them to cheer, but it seems like the only thing that works. Rant over, for now.

The crowd thing has been an issue for a long time. I remember the "Quiet Center" jokes from back in the day when it was the Qwest Center. It is what it is, and I am not sure what much can be done about it. I mean they could do the long rumored re-stack at some point, but the lower bowl seats are always going to demand a premium donation and price that is out of budget for a lot of folks. So it's still going to be a lot of high $ donors or corporate sponsors populating the best seats.

One idea I have had is we now have the tech to know who is at a particular game as every ticket must be scanned in. At the under 4 TO of the first half take any seats that are no shows in the lower bowl (and it would be easy to know since those tickets would be unscanned) and offer them to upper bowl season ticket holders. Just send a message through the Creighton app or a text inviting them to move down to their new seats for the second half. This would cost Creighton very little and could get the lower bowl full for the second half.

I do want to shout out the student section. I have been critical in the past but the past couple of season they have brought it most of the time. I really think the reason the past few games have felt dead is that the students have been on break. Hopefully when they return some juice will be back in the arena.

[Chicagojayfan]

The stat that stands out to me from this game is Odura going 4 for 17 on field goals. He normally hits 55% of his FG’s. Congratulations to Kalk for a great defensive effort. Kalk played 39 minutes.

Agree - he completely took him out of the game yesterday, and beyond just his scoring Kalk played him solo in the paint -- Providence runs a lot of their offense based on teams having to help play D on him in the post.