Basketball Thoughts...


MikeBigg

MikeBigg

Well-Known Member
I was giving thought to our status as a basketball conference. I've noticed some impressive outings by PVU and TxSU against U of H and Lamar. Taking nothing from PVU and TxSU because these two wins are huge! But this is the type of scheduling that all of us should be doing.

We have no need to be getting our azzes kicked by major conference teams just for the dollar. These shellackings are hurting our league ratings. If we are to ever make some money in basketball, we need to focus on improving our conferences ranking in relations to other mid-major to lower seeded conferences. Instead we act as independent entities out to cut our own individual deals.

Hopefully Commissioner Vowels will take an active role in steering our basketball teams in a new direction. Our AD's need to meet and formulate a strategy to play mid-major conferences and similar seeded conferences on a home and home basis. It makes sense to me on many fronts.

1. We need to compete with these teams for the players who are not being recruited by major conference teams. There are plenty of quality players who compete for mid-major and below conferences. Let's compete against these teams and recruit against these teams for players. Home and Home against these teams help build our programs and helps our attendance. Let's be real, basketball fans are more racially intergrated than football fans.

2. Mid major basketball conferences are more willing to schedule games against HBCU's especially since it usually means reduced travel costs. Consequently, it means reduced travel costs to our schools as well.

3. Our schools reside in a region with many mid-major opponents to schedule against. The Southland, SunBelt, TransAmerican, Ohio Valley, and even Conference USA offer quality opponents who's talent level we can compete with. I admit that most of them have a talent edge, however that can be overcome with a couple of good recruiting years.

4. If two or more of our teams have some quality wins against these conference members quality teams our overall ranking will improve. We need to focus on improving our ranking so that we get at least two teams into the Big Dance. Over time we will see our coffers fill due to making this change in philosophy!

Kudos to PVU and TxSU for showing the way!
 
Good thread MB! :tup:

This is our non-conference schedule:


NOVEMBER
24 @ Texas A&M University
29 Southwest Texas State University

DECEMBER
3 Lamar University
7 Stephen F. Austin University
21 @ Univ. Wisconsin at Madison
23 @ Chicago State University
27-28 @ Texas A&M Corpus Christi Tourney


As you will notice, Coach Ronnie Courtney has tailored our schedule to where it compliments our team. What I mean by this is our non-conference opponents are on our level of play (with the exception of the Wisconsin game). He did not want to go after a schedule of "high profile" and "financially profitable" games where we'd loose by a 45 point deficit but fly back to Third Ward with a $40,000 check. We've done that in the past but what did that do for us besides an 0 - 10 record to start conference play and $250,000 made payable to our General Fund Account?

I like and commend Coach Courtney's philosophy.
 

Originally posted by C-LeB28
Good thread MB! :tup:

This is our non-conference schedule:


NOVEMBER
24 @ Texas A&M University
29 Southwest Texas State University

DECEMBER
3 Lamar University
7 Stephen F. Austin University
21 @ Univ. Wisconsin at Madison
23 @ Chicago State University
27-28 @ Texas A&M Corpus Christi Tourney


As you will notice, Coach Ronnie Courtney has tailored our schedule to where it compliments our team. What I mean by this is our non-conference opponents are on our level of play (with the exception of the Wisconsin game). He did not want to go after a schedule of "high profile" and "financially profitable" games where we'd loose by a 45 point deficit but fly back to Third Ward with a $40,000 check. We've done that in the past but what did that do for us besides an 0 - 10 schedule to start conference play and $250,000 made payable to our General Fund Account?

I like and commend Coach Courtney's philosophy.
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Coach Pett did the same thing at AAMU....

we have 3 definite loses... Vandy, Miss State, and UAB.... the rest of the non conference schedule is S.C. State, Savannah St, Morris Brown, FAMU
 
How I wish Stoglin and JSU would do like you guys. We have already lost to Arkansas, USM, U. of New Orleans, Iowa State and Miss. State. Remaining non-conference games are:

Utah State (at home)
Stephen F. Austin
La. Tech
Tulane

I would have figured the UNO game was winnable, but they are a scoring machine this year. I guess SFA is winnable.

We need to schedule more competitive games.
 
Courtney is a smart man. I wish our commissioner would have a serious talk with the AD's and head coaches to let them know that we are hurting our league by scheduling these games. We need to boost our rankings in order to secure an automatic bid and a possible at large bid. Once our administrators wake up and realize that we are not competing against major conferences for bids (they are gonna get 5-6 each year) but against other smaller conferences then maybe they will schedule more games against these teams.

Plus our fans are tired of opening the season at 0-10 and/or seeing your school come across the tickler showing a 98-41 score and isht like that. How can you recruit players when they know they are gonna have a guaranteed losing season and no possible post season berth. It won't happen overnight, but by banding together to make more intelligent scheduling, we can improve our rankings and perhaps get additional teams in the tourney. If not that at least our representative won't always have to go in as a 16th seed.
 
Alcorn

I happy about the schedule that Alcorn has. Right now were 1-4 and have been in every game except the South Florida game. With our current schedule we should be .500 when the SWAC season start.

Also, keep a eye on the game with Kentucky. This is a down season for them. Hopefully the BRAVES can pull off a upset. Lee Cook will be the SWAC MVP this year. He's got a serious game.
 
it's happening in Texas because the staffs see that winning brings respect across the board. Winning a sport besides football reaises fan interest and expectations. Plus you insure that your fans will stay with you after football.

majority of SWAC schools have fans that dissappear after the last classic.
 
Woww Mikebigg, what a novel idea. You mean stop the god awful travel keeping the kids out of school before the end of the semester, just to have them go take a big headded fiddy point beating @ the hands of some school for 35-40K. You say play somebody more in your league that gives you a winnable chance, thereby giving your team a winning record, thus strengthening the conference RPI rating and also generating interest in your team on the home front. You say show these these kids that you won't have to go get embareassed by Duke or Kansas, but you can come and ball out against the likes of WKU or Murray State. You say make our programs competitive instead of laughing stock play-in alwaybees. What a novel idea.....

SHAME WON'T NOBODY LISTEN TO IT!!!!

That's exactly what we should have been doing!!!
 
Re: Alcorn

Originally posted by Ice Man
I happy about the schedule that Alcorn has. Right now were 1-4 and have been in every game except the South Florida game. With our current schedule we should be .500 when the SWAC season start.

Also, keep a eye on the game with Kentucky. This is a down season for them. Hopefully the BRAVES can pull off a upset. Lee Cook will be the SWAC MVP this year. He's got a serious game.
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I did not know that Alcorn was playing South Florida. I live about 20 miles from the Sun Dome. I would have loved to watch the Braves.

Yes, they are still talking about Mr. Cook on local radio here, so he must have game.
 
I know the SWAC is getting it's ass kicked playing these established d1 schools, but I think patience is needed for our basketball programs.

Sooner or later playing these big schools will pay off come tournament time.


I remember in '94 Texas Southern almost upset Arkansas in the first round who eventually became national champion. Did Texas Southern play some bigtime schools early that year?

Evidently learning how to play with intensity a full forty minutes with the big boys paid off.

Look at what Hampton University did a couple of years ago.

Having a 10 -0 record against rinka-dinks in the early season don't mean squat when you have to go up against a number 1 seed during tournament time.

What is needed though is that those same 7000 to 10,000 fans that support our football teams should come out and support the basketball games with those same attendance records.
 
Originally posted by pbla
Having a 10 -0 record against rinka-dinks in the early season don't mean squat when you have to go up against a number 1 seed during tournament time.
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I disagree. What it does is give your team confidence. When you go up against these guys night in and night out and get slaughtered, massacred, ripped out the frame or whatever your choice phrase is, you become disheartened. You kill casual fan support and have a defeatist attitude. I mean if you're playing UNC in the first round and they just beat Duke by 20 in the ACC championship and Duke beat you by 55 in the Maui Classic then you figure...wait what am I saying? You don't get to the first round because you lose the playin game because you got tapped by an avg of 35 pts in OOC like a majority of other schools in your conference. Look @ ASU's win over Georgia State last night. It was a tremendous win, a great confidence booster for them, and will look good to outsiders. That will will go along way in them learning adversity and believing in themselves if they go back to NCAA's this year. Does it mean they win this time? I don't know. But I just feel this is much better than a 25pt thrashing by UGA where they would have played just as hard.

What is needed though is that those same 7000 to 10,000 fans that support our football teams should come out and support the basketball games with those same attendance records.
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On this I truly agree. Those folks are just as rabid in bball as in football. Sometimes more...if we were the same..WOW!!!!
 
Back In The Day

Alcorn used to play schools like Illinois-Chicago Circle, Louisana College, FAMU, SC State and when tournament time came around, still had to play Kansas, Georgetown and other Top Programs.

It does not matter because the SWAC is looked down on as well as the MEAC. Hampton for the past two years had twenty-plus wins and still drew Iowa State (who the beat) and UConn (who they almost upset)

Now with this play-in crap, playing the Kentucky, Arkansas, Duke, etc.. will only help you get to Dayton to play Sienea or whoever.

???? Does it really matters who we play early in the season?
 
Re: Back In The Day

Originally posted by ALCORNITE 86
Alcorn used to play schools like Illinois-Chicago Circle, Louisana College, FAMU, SC State and when tournament time came around, still had to play Kansas, Georgetown and other Top Programs.

It does not matter because the SWAC is looked down on as well as the MEAC. Hampton for the past two years had twenty-plus wins and still drew Iowa State (who the beat) and UConn (who they almost upset)

Now with this play-in crap, playing the Kentucky, Arkansas, Duke, etc.. will only help you get to Dayton to play Sienea or whoever.

???? Does it really matters who we play early in the season?
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Man, where have you been?
 

What decent recruit wants to come play for a perennial loser? If we continue to start our seasons 0-10 or whatever, we are hurting our chances of getting good second tier players. Plus we are sending a signal that we "expect" to lose games but it's alright cuz these are big schools.

Our players do not improve by playing in the blowout games. After the first half, we are merely running up and down the court jacking up bad shots like some intramural league. Let our players have an opportunity to compete in a winnable game. Playing against teams of near or equal talent allows our players to learn how to play with intensity and sense of purpose down the stretch. It allows them a better setting to work on execution of plays.

I don't think our coaches are getting a chance to work on their skills as coaches by playing these games. They may continue to
walk the sidelines and yell out instructions, but that is not all that goes into coaching. He needs to go into battle with his players and make suggestions to pull out a win and our show his players that he knows strategies and schemes to lead them to victory. It is in the winning or losing of close games that a team (player and coaches jell).

Finally, we need to take a serious look at improving our conference rating and image. We are not gonna beat the upper echelon teams, not right now. But if we improve our records against teams near or at our level, then we stand a chance of leapfrogging them in the rankings. The SWAC needs to be concerned with how we rank against the Southland, Sun-Belt, Ohio Valley, MEAC, Southern, Colonial, Big Sky, etc. Eventually we might get to be a 12th or 13th seed. Please realize that it is among these seeds that the usual upsets occur. Getting into the second round gives the league more credibility and dollars. As our credibility increases, we might eventually get two teams in the league. Probably not right away, but we have to build toward the future. I don't like where we are now (in part due to our scheduling of games we get blown out in ) as opposed to where we can be after 10 years of more realistic scheduling and
the improvement of our winning percentages.
 
Man I hope this is the year for the SWAC though.

Some of the players like going up against those big schools because it gives them a chance to measure their skills.

Maybe it varies from player to player though on how they are affected when they get beat by a top 20 team.

But it only take one school from the SWAC, just one to go far in the tournament at least to the Elite 8, that will change our conference around, that's all... just one school.

I remember when the Big East and the Atlantic 10 were mediocre conferences. But in 1981 a little known school, I mean at that time no one knew about GEORGETOWN... And with a Black Coach also..shock the fugg out of everybody.

This was the year when ESPN televised all the round games 24-7 with tape delays up to the Sweet 16 and that's when the other MAJOR Network CBS took over.

Patrick Ewing, Sleepy Floyd made a name for Georgetown and the Big East.

The point here is that THE BEST PLAYERS ATTRACT OTHER GOOD PLAYERS. And that's what happen to Georgetown and the Big East.

And looking at the stats this year of all the SWAC schools up against top competition so far are pretty exceptional.

Prairie View beats Houston, then would have beaten Oklahoma

Jackson State plays Mississippi State real close!

Alcorn of course is playing well!

And my alma mater of all schools..UAPB, leads most of the first half against the #4 team in the country Pitt! and they shot 62 % from behind the arc against Georgia Tech!

The SWAC might surprise some folks this year.
 
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