The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(11-17-2022 08:57 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  DD - what did you think about the game last night overall? Improvement? Still doing sloppy stuff that's going to get us beat by better teams?

I really liked the improvement from Gaines last night. He is still sloppy and undisciplined, but he was all over the court last night and gave great effort for the most part. He was much less selfish and made some beautiful plays for his teammates. With the way he drives to the basket he really sucks the defense in on him hard, and he is able to find cutters or shooters that are wide open when he wants to. It seemed like he had 6 or more blocks last night, but was only credited with 3. His talent jumps off the screen at you, but unfortunately, so does his sloppiness. But if he can play more like he did last night on a consistent basis, that could go along way in unlocking this team's potential. And he missed THREE dunks last night..

I really like what I've seen from Davis, Buffen, and Jemison. They have to stay out of foul trouble. T. Brewer is giving some good minutes in relief too - he has a nice fadeaway/low point to midrange jumper.

L. Brewer needs to get it going. He is our 2nd/3rd scoring option, like Ertel or Jackson last year. We really need to work on getting him more integrated into the offense.

Lots of good stuff but lots on breakdowns and inconsistencies. Decision-making needs to improve. Defensive rotations are really spotty. On the whole the defense is pretty darn good but then we have a possession where we get so lost they need to call for a search. Lot of that will be cleaned up with game experience together.

Gotta have a 2nd shooter step up. It can’t be all Jelly all the time, and Jelly will be more dangerous if everything doesn’t have to run through him. Did like that Gaines popped a couple of threes but boy when he misses, it’s bad.

We still miss Ertel and Quan. They did so much intangible dirty work. A lot of the things we are inconsistent with are the things you could count on them to do. Not only doing so themselves but getting people in the right place. They were coaches on the floor. We will get better and I think fairly quickly, thought. Just need more court time to gel.


I really like Davis. Butta did a really nice job filling in for Tavin. Both to me have shown they deserve their minutes.

As to the talk about attendance, let’s be real: chiding the “UAB Fans” is really missing the mark. There aren’t many “UAB fans.” Most of us show up. Finger wagging the vocal few is dumb.

The questions to be answered:
1) what is being done to attract more fans to UAB
2) what will it take for bham to support its local team?

Twitter shaming the people who care is dimwitted. And doing it that way actually turns people off. You don’t get people to support your point of view by telling them how stupid they are. Rather you show them what they are missing and how to get involved.

Gaines highlights

https://twitter.com/happypistonfan/statu...NE7BJhnTOA

(11-17-2022 11:31 AM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  As to the talk about attendance, let’s be real: chiding the “UAB Fans” is really missing the mark. There aren’t many “UAB fans.” Most of us show up. Finger wagging the vocal few is dumb.

The questions to be answered:
1) what is being done to attract more fans to UAB
2) what will it take for bham to support its local team?

Twitter shaming the people who care is dimwitted. And doing it that way actually turns people off. You don’t get people to support your point of view by telling them how stupid they are. Rather you show them what they are missing and how to get involved.

Agree 100%

(11-17-2022 11:31 AM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  As to the talk about attendance, let’s be real: chiding the “UAB Fans” is really missing the mark. There aren’t many “UAB fans.” Most of us show up. Finger wagging the vocal few is dumb.

The questions to be answered:
1) what is being done to attract more fans to UAB
2) what will it take for bham to support its local team?

Twitter shaming the people who care is dimwitted. And doing it that way actually turns people off. You don’t get people to support your point of view by telling them how stupid they are. Rather you show them what they are missing and how to get involved.

Yes to all of this.

On another note, I was disappointed that the Blue Hose did not actually wear blue hose.

At this point is he just being a troll and taking offense to being called out for it.

UAB fans are not the issue. UAB band isn’t the issue (although I agree I would enjoy it even more if they were a little more creative, I am not going to bash them because they are consistently the most animated part of the crowd).

The issue is what needs to be done to get the greater birmingham area to jump on the bandwagon for an exciting team with potential.

If you want to dig into it deeper, how did Auburn do it? That place is rocking where if used to be a morgue. How do other successful mid majors do it? Why hasn’t Alabama been able to do what Auburn is doing, something the coach at Alabama called out recently?

The issues facing support of UAB basketball are not limited to UAB, they are universal for every Birmingham sports team and most basketball programs in D1, including some power 5 programs.

It is just silly to point the finger and wag it at the generic “UAB fan” when most of those rare breeds are as invested as can be.

(11-17-2022 11:54 AM)Blazing Saddles Wrote:  Gaines highlights

https://twitter.com/happypistonfan/statu...NE7BJhnTOA

Very impressive highlights. He made almost a complete 180 last night from the game against Toledo.

I would still hope that he quits flopping, drawing techs, and taking wild, out of rhythm shots, but overall very happy to see that he had a big turnaround type game. If he can keep playing like this he can be an absolute monster. He impacts the game on almost every level.

(11-17-2022 12:14 PM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  At this point is he just being a troll and taking offense to being called out for it.

UAB fans are not the issue. UAB band isn’t the issue (although I agree I would enjoy it even more if they were a little more creative, I am not going to bash them because they are consistently the most animated part of the crowd).

The issue is what needs to be done to get the greater birmingham area to jump on the bandwagon for an exciting team with potential.

If you want to dig into it deeper, how did Auburn do it? That place is rocking where if used to be a morgue. How do other successful mid majors do it? Why hasn’t Alabama been able to do what Auburn is doing, something the coach at Alabama called out recently?

The issues facing support of UAB basketball are not limited to UAB, they are universal for every Birmingham sports team and most basketball programs in D1, including some power 5 programs.

It is just silly to point the finger and wag it at the generic “UAB fan” when most of those rare breeds are as invested as can be.

Well it helps that Auburn has a passionate fanbase and football sucks haha. Basketball being good gives them an outlet. Hell even their gymnastics meets are selling out now because they have Suni Lee on the team.

Seriously though the answer to your question was that they opened a new arena. Students went from a similar seating arrangement to Bartow at BEMC, and now they're directly on the floor behind the TV guys. Even when I was there, during the Tony Barbee era, the section would fill up and get loud. I don't know if that's the answer for UAB though. It seems like students are kind of starting to show up, but they're not involved. If I were loaded I would, in all seriousness, reach out to them and offer to start paying 10 kids to go nuts during games & organize actual cheers. Excitement is contagious, but it can't only be coming from the band section because people won't follow them. I think I've said this before, but I have had basketball season tickets for 4 years now, and have gone to almost every game, and still have no idea what UAB's free throw celebration is.

The Gaines highlights show the potential even though they cut out the bad outcomes of a few of those moves.

I am hoping Gaines follows a similar progression as Jelly. Remember it took him a few games to find his comfort zone here. Gaines isn’t going to be a scorer like that but he can be just as impactful in his areas of strength.

I think some of us are tough on him because we know how good he can be. I imagine AK is the same way.

(11-17-2022 12:38 PM)Auburn_Blazer Wrote:  If I were loaded I would, in all seriousness, reach out to them and offer to start paying 10 kids to go nuts during games & organize actual cheers.

This was actually attempted, using the sports marketing interns, and it was a disaster leading to two of the greatest embarrassments in Bartow Arena history: a) the homoerotic, self-absorbed Pink Underpants Dance and b) the chest-painted letter A leaving early in a loss.

(11-17-2022 12:38 PM)Auburn_Blazer Wrote:  

(11-17-2022 12:14 PM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  At this point is he just being a troll and taking offense to being called out for it.

UAB fans are not the issue. UAB band isn’t the issue (although I agree I would enjoy it even more if they were a little more creative, I am not going to bash them because they are consistently the most animated part of the crowd).

The issue is what needs to be done to get the greater birmingham area to jump on the bandwagon for an exciting team with potential.

If you want to dig into it deeper, how did Auburn do it? That place is rocking where if used to be a morgue. How do other successful mid majors do it? Why hasn’t Alabama been able to do what Auburn is doing, something the coach at Alabama called out recently?

The issues facing support of UAB basketball are not limited to UAB, they are universal for every Birmingham sports team and most basketball programs in D1, including some power 5 programs.

It is just silly to point the finger and wag it at the generic “UAB fan” when most of those rare breeds are as invested as can be.

Well it helps that Auburn has a passionate fanbase and football sucks haha. Basketball being good gives them an outlet. Hell even their gymnastics meets are selling out now because they have Suni Lee on the team.

Seriously though the answer to your question was that they opened a new arena. Students went from a similar seating arrangement to Bartow at BEMC, and now they're directly on the floor behind the TV guys. Even when I was there, during the Tony Barbee era, the section would fill up and get loud. I don't know if that's the answer for UAB though. It seems like students are kind of starting to show up, but they're not involved. If I were loaded I would, in all seriousness, reach out to them and offer to start paying 10 kids to go nuts during games & organize actual cheers. Excitement is contagious, but it can't only be coming from the band section because people won't follow them. I think I've said this before, but I have had basketball season tickets for 4 years now, and have gone to almost every game, and still have no idea what UAB's free throw celebration is.

Auburn does have a passionate fan base and once were given a reason to care, they show up for sure. Pearl is a big part of that. He really got out into the community. AK does that too but I would agree it is a bit different at Auburn.

Went to a Samford game recently and thought their student section was very impressive.

(11-17-2022 12:14 PM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  If you want to dig into it deeper, how did Auburn do it? That place is rocking where if used to be a morgue.

You start with about 10,000 more undergrad students than UAB, then you mix that with a brand new arena, an exciting coaching hire, a city/region without much competition in the realm of entertainment, and a terrible football product in a state that mainly cares about football and is desperate for a winning program of SOME SORT.

Then you add in that Auburn has about a 50/50 male to female ratio as opposed to about 36/64 at UAB. While that isn't an issue at all in my eyes, statistics show that basketball as a spectator sport is not as popular with women as with men (across college and professional) and the marketing towards this sport tends to be targeted to a male demographic.

Then you add that Auburn has an exponential multiplier on UAB when it comes to building an alumni base that both 1. Stays in the state. 2. Enrolls their kids in the same University....and you have a built-in fanbase just waiting in the shadows for a spark of success to be excited about.

If you were a student at UAB during the 80's run (81-87) and had kids say 4 years later.... let's say you graduate in 1985 and have your first child in 1989. That kid, if they chose to go to UAB, would have attended college from 2006-2009ish. If they were LUCKY, they got to see Aaron Johnson's senior team get knocked out of the 1st round...other than that...it was all NIT. Those kids aren't exactly primed to be long-term fans because they didn't get even a sliver of the experience of their parents. They got Mike Davis and Neil Callaway.

Here's the good news.

The kids that were at UAB during the Mike Anderson years...they outnumber the kids in the 80's by a lot, and while they are probably less likely to have as many kids, those kiddos are going to be attending UAB in just a few years. Institutions like Alabama, Auburn, and the Catholic Church don't think about things in a single year, season, or coach...they think about things in generations.

It's not going to be enough for us to get current students to the games, we will need to re-engage the parents who remember how exciting it was during the Mike Anderson years. Whether that's through marketing (the excellent revival commercial for example) or through direct engagement...we need that generation of parents to be excited for UAB Basketball again - because it will get their current high school kids into the Arena and maybe convince them to come here and share in that legacy too.

If we aren't planning RIGHT NOW a 2004 Sweet Sixteen team reunion WITH Mike Anderson, the former players, mid-2000s throwback jerseys, and a new bobble-head...then shame on us. 2000's nostalgia/retro (yes, the 2000s are retro now) is actually on the rise, and it's a perfect storm for us to celebrate our success during that time with the those that were there while sharing it with a new generation by showcasing our current success.

My opinion on how Auburn grew a basketball fan base and actual home court advantage:

1. They moved their students to the sidelines, something that UAB will never do. I believe that Alabama's student section is also behind the basket in Coleman.

2. They hired a coach that put them into the top 25 and kept them there, not just for a week but for season after season. They also make deep runs in the NCAA tournament. Pearl has made Auburn basketball nationally relevant by winning and winning big.

THAT is the only way to significantly grow attendance at UAB basketball and football games. Get ranked, stay ranked. Become relevant nationally. No amount of gimmicks will suffice. Either do it or quit complaining that the stands are empty.

(11-17-2022 01:18 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  1. They moved their students to the sidelines, something that UAB will never do. I believe that Alabama's student section is also behind the basket in Coleman.

FWIW, C-USA has specific rules about where the student section can be or not be born out of the Mem-piss game.

Next year when we move to the American, that restriction will disappear...not saying UAB will move the students...

(11-17-2022 12:56 PM)uabblazer2012 Wrote:  Went to a Samford game recently and thought their student section was very impressive.

It's because Bucky went to the fraternity and sorority houses to get them to come

I don't expect the Rhodes game (DIII team - should have been an exhibition game not a regular OOC) to have better attendance, but that Jacksonville and South Alabama game should be better attendance than the Presbyterian game. The South Carolina game should be incredible.

(11-17-2022 02:43 PM)UABrandon Wrote:  

(11-17-2022 12:56 PM)uabblazer2012 Wrote:  Went to a Samford game recently and thought their student section was very impressive.

It's because Bucky went to the fraternity and sorority houses to get them to come

We have those too.

(11-17-2022 01:42 PM)blazerjay Wrote:  

(11-17-2022 01:18 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  1. They moved their students to the sidelines, something that UAB will never do. I believe that Alabama's student section is also behind the basket in Coleman.

FWIW, C-USA has specific rules about where the student section can be or not be born out of the Mem-piss game.

Next year when we move to the American, that restriction will disappear...not saying UAB will move the students...

You can sit them across from the opposing bench. Move those G100 to a different G100 location and places a greater demand on the G100 seats. Create an atmosphere beginning with the students, win more games, draw more fans.

ECU and Tulane had games last night with similar type opponents and drew similar type crowds.

(11-17-2022 02:49 PM)blazerblazer Wrote:  The South Carolina game should be incredible.

Why?