oruvoice Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 League leaders South Dakota (Wednesday at 7pm) and South Dakota State (Saturday at 12:30pm) come to the Mabee Center this week. Not only are they the presumptive "teams to beat", but they sit at 58 and 55 respectively in the RPI. We are currently at 80. Win these two and we are 12-6 (4-1 in conference). Top of the league standings. And, likely a top 60 or so RPI. I urge everyone to get out and support the ladies' this week! Biggest home games of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeirdAlORU Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 I wish the Athletic Department would jump on board more to support the ladies. Should be, buy a women's ticket and get a men's for free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 You mean fans have to pay SEPARATE ADMISSIONS for the womens' and mens games when they are back to back on the same day?.....SHEESH!!!!....that stinks! ...is that an ORU decision or the Summit League???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUJason Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 The women's game is on Wednesday night while the men's game is on Thursday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 I understand....but like on Saturday when they both play in the afternoon...it's only one admission charge, right??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGold Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Our huge week just got even more huge thanks to the thrashing we took from USD last night. An absolutely pathetic performance in needless to say, a significant game. Not sure how you can come out and stink as bad as we stunk for pretty much an entire game, and especially in the first quarter in a game like this? And to come out and stink in your own house makes it even worse. At the 6:59 mark we led 4-3 and didn't score again until there were 54 seconds left in the quarter. At that point we were down 17-4. We had twice as many turnovers (6) as made baskets (3) in the first quarter, we shot 25%, allowed them to shoot 66.7%, were outrebounded 8-3, and were down 20-6 going into the second quarter, and with the way we were playing the game was basically over. We made a mini-run to start the second, which cut the lead to 8, but then we gave up 12 straight points to them and when all was said and done we were down 18 at the half, and the game was effectively over. I don't think we got any closer than 12 points in the second half, and we were down by as much as 26 in the 4th quarter, and it was just embarrassing. I remember watching the OSU women play at Texas a couple of nights ago, and I was shaking my head and laughing at the TV as I watched OSU play about as bad as I've seen a team play in a long time. They scored just 12 points in the first half, and did just about everything wrong. And I laughed and shook my head while watching it. I wasn't laughing or shaking my head while watching our game last night. I was more stunned than anything I guess, but also mad and frustrated at how poorly we were playing, and I almost turned off the stream of the game at least 10 times, and that was just before halftime. Probably wanted to turn it off twice as much as that in the second half but I guess I'm a glutton for punishment or something. Finally did with about a minute and a half left, I couldn't stand the thought of having to watch us walk through the high-five line knowing that stupid South Dakota had just destroyed us in our gym. I hope somebody on the team is angry, or at least a coach or two are angry. I know we're better than this, and I hope that everyone involved with the program knows we're better than this. Can't let anyone come onto your home court and dictate play. It's as bad a game that I've seen us play since we lost at home last season to Lyon College, or maybe ever. No one stepped up. KayKay let the refs get to her, and then she did just enough to foul out with more than 3 minutes to go. They were way more physical than us. And smarter than us. And more patient than we were. For a large part of the game it looked like we were playing playground, we seemed out of system, and we seemed to be suffering from a lack of focus, or maybe it was mostly frustration with the fact that we were getting our rear ends handed to us. Don't understand why we're playing Jordan Gilbert and Ashley Beatty as many minutes as we are. I thought that after Hillary Hurst had the best game of her career so far at Western Illinois that we might start her, especially considering that USD came into the game averaging 75 points a game. Thought having her in the game for offense might help, and if she got more minutes than she usually does, like she did at Western, that she might be able to help us offensively. I have to say that, at least so far I was wrong in my prediction of Ashley becoming a star. Our bench, which includes Lakota Beatty, our leading scorer, gave us a grand total of 5 points (all from Lakota) in 55 minutes. Everyone on the bench not named Lakota Beatty gave us all of 3 fouls and one steal while going 0-2 from the field in 25 minutes. Everyone named Lakota Beatty only scored 5 points in 30 minutes. Yuck. SDSU next, on Saturday. Another chance to defend our home court. I'm not optimistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGold Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 And to anyone that will listen, PLEASE START LAKOTA BEATTY! Or at least have her be one of our starters at the beginning of the game, and maybe then, if you still want to do whatever it is that you're doing by not starting her in every quarter, at least base the decision whether to start her at the beginning of every quarter, or not, on where we are in the game (score, who has or most recently had the momentum, has she been hot or do you have a feeling that she could get hot, etc, etc.). Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 69-47 loss at home....brutal.....I hope the ORU men fare better tonight....but not counting on it....Mabee is no longer much of a home advantage...not sure it ever was after about 1984....too big, empty and never was a noisy intimidating place....TheEagleman says tear it down and build a smaller 4-5000 seat venue with seats right on top of the court....could also be used for volleyball..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Sorry Eagleman but I disagree. We don't need to tear down Mabee, we need to put a consistently good product on the floor. It may take some time to get fans back on board, but that is the way to go. Yes, the women are doing better overall than last year, but the men at this point are basically a joke. Win and people will start to come back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oruvoice Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 ORU82 has it right. And, while last night was disappointing...it's just one game. If we lay another egg on Saturday, then I might get a little concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Sorry boys but the glory days are long gone...the spectacular arena erected in 1972 is outdated....even when our men were winning from 2004 thru about 2012 and the ladies had Kevi Luper and made the tournament, ORU rarely attracted more than 5,000 fans....Mabee Center used to be state of the art; now I admit that I have not been back there but gosh, It's become a big empty barn when it comes to sports. Does the arena attract big concerts that attract near sellout crowds?...HS basketball or wrestling?....just doesn't seem like it's worth keeping a big place like that around...if you guys disagree and there are events held there that I am not aware of...well, then OK...keep Mabee...but if it's just basically for ORU basketball and a rare special event...then it's time to move on....from a basketball venue point, ORU would have a much better home advantage building a smaller venue like that one we used to play the Summit Tournament in at Union...a cozy 4-5000 seat building would be perfect for ORU and be louder and seats right up on the court...what we have now is ZERO home advantage....just sayin'..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oruvoice Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 Mabee Center still books a fair number of events. Also, lots of high school graduations and Tournament of Champions. The old lady still needs new/refurbished seats and some touching up. No question. But, it's still a wonderful arena. No need to make a change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I hear ya Voice but lets be honest....Mabee Center was built as a comfy theatre type setting for basketball when 80% of the gold seats were occupied by Oral's wealthy Tulsa supporters....he also wanted to attract the NCAA tournament....concerts and other special events....if you say its still in good shape then i take your word for it but does it help recruit good players and win basketball games??... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Yep, and much as a dump of a gym seating 4-5K would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I never said that it should be a dump....but I getcha....Mabee isn't going anywhere...just seems absurd to play games in front of 7500+ empty seats.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Sorry Eagleman, I came on a little too strong in my post. This subject about Mabee being too big has come up in other threads on other boards I follow at other institutions where I hold degrees. Usually it is if that team is down and there is a marked decrease in the fan attendance at games, someone is calling for the Athletic Department to teardown the stadium/arena and replace it with something smaller, Then when the team picks up, they reverse that call and want the Athletic Department to teardown the stadium/arena and build a larger facility. Bottom line at the end of the day is put a product on the floor that can play a competitive schedule against named teams the casual fan recognizes, aggressively market that team/schedule not only to the local area but also through media (ESPN3/TuneIn App) to your alumni around the world who do turn on or tune in to listen/watch the game, and win. Over time if you are successful doing this, your game attendance and following will increase, which will also lead to increased revenue through not only direct ticket sales, but also increased donations, broadcast revenues and merchandise sales. It is a snowball effect. As for building a new 6,000 seat arena, I looked quickly at two universities who have arenas with that capacity. The first is Gonzaga University who opened the McCarthey Athletic Center (MAC) in 2004. It seats 6,000 and cost $25,000,000 to build or would cost $32,000,000 to replicate today. The other is the University of Akron who opened the James A. Rhodes Arena (JAR) in 1983. It seats 5,500 and cost $12,500,000 to build or would cost $29,000,000 to replicate today. Both of these arenas are nice but are what I would call Buicks and not Mercedes or Rolls Royce. They get the job done with some amenities but are not complete state of the art wonders with all the whistles and bells. Further, the aforementioned costs do not include site acquisition or landscaping, parking lots or teardown costs for the old facilities. So, if we wanted to build a new 6,000 seat basketball arena I would say plan on at least $30,000,000 to $35,000,000 without the place having a lot of whistles and bells. Then you would have to locate this facility somewhere other than where Mabee sits because if you will recall, we just renovated Baby Mabee into the new Global Learning Center (GLC) to the tune of $$$$MM (my version of millions of dollars) and that place is attached to Mabee Center so you have a problem tearing down Mabee. Then you have to realize that a lot of D-I arenas do not have complete practice facilities, medical treatment centers or other intangibles in the same building, and Mabee does. Finally, you also have a large screen hanging down from the rafters where people can watch the jumbo screen at the same time they are watching the game in Mabee which a lot of D-I arenas do not have. This would be problematic in a 6,000 seat arena. I could go on, but I think a picture begins to develop. If we spent $15,000,000 in renovations to Mabee, that place becomes a palace again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 OK...you convinced me....Mabee Center stays....just wish the seats were closer to the court...I remember sitting down the end in the student sections and we seemed so far from the court and it's even worse in the middle....hard to believe that back in the glory days of Sam McCants that the students used to fill FOUR full sections of gold seats and sometimes spill over into the blue sections up top....of course, ORU was playing a big time independent schedule and we averaged about 8-9000+ per game back when TheEagleman was a student....those days will never return....EXPECT A MIRACLE?.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeirdAlORU Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 On 1/11/2017 at 8:22 AM, theeagleman5 said: I understand....but like on Saturday when they both play in the afternoon...it's only one admission charge, right??? TheEagleMan5, I contacted the ticket department, talked to Chris (nice guy), and he said if you buy a Women's ticket, you get a ticket to the Men's game as long as you move for a season ticket holder for the Men's game since the Women are GA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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