(02-05-2020 09:58 AM)Dukester Wrote:  If this administration goes into the new arena without a new head coach I will not go to the new arena for even a game next year.

If the administration continues to be that clueless from a financial and winning program standpoint I will continue to be out.

1) The made the worst hire for a JMU flagship program 4 years ago.
2) The best time to fix the situation heading into the new arena was last off season, and they did not make the move.
3) If they now take a sinking ship into the new arena it's the final nail in the coffin for this admin era in regards to Men's Basketball.

When they hired Lou they could of chosen a younger up and coming div II coach, but not at this point. They need pretty close to a sure thing that will bring immediate interest. If by the end of next year the new arena has less than 3,000 fans a game we will have screwed up a major opportunity. And to some extent we've already materially hurt attendance for next year. How much will that new arena cost us a year? Just paying for it with student fees in not the "right" answer.

We top the CAA in attendance for perhaps every sport except men's basketball. That is due to 2 decades without a top 100 team. There is no/zippo reason in the world with a new arena JMU should not have 1,000 more fans a game than the next best CAA attendance.

No more excuses - It's not the crappy convo. It's not because JMU & Harrisionburg will not support a major program.

There are easily more than 3,000 other fans that feel just as I do that will not be seeing much of the new arena next year if a change is not made. And it better be a good one (not an ex player or coach) that will bring back interest in the program. Nobody cares about Men's basketball right now, and apparently Charlie cannot quantify the loss in ticket sales and donations it has cost us the last 20 years.

It's not in our hands, it's in theirs.

(02-05-2020 11:51 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  

(02-05-2020 09:58 AM)Dukester Wrote:  If this administration goes into the new arena without a new head coach I will not go to the new arena for even a game next year.

If the administration continues to be that clueless from a financial and winning program standpoint I will continue to be out.

1) The made the worst hire for a JMU flagship program 4 years ago.
2) The best time to fix the situation heading into the new arena was last off season, and they did not make the move.
3) If they now take a sinking ship into the new arena it's the final nail in the coffin for this admin era in regards to Men's Basketball.

When they hired Lou they could of chosen a younger up and coming div II coach, but not at this point. They need pretty close to a sure thing that will bring immediate interest. If by the end of next year the new arena has less than 3,000 fans a game we will have screwed up a major opportunity. And to some extent we've already materially hurt attendance for next year. How much will that new arena cost us a year? Just paying for it with student fees in not the "right" answer.

We top the CAA in attendance for perhaps every sport except men's basketball. That is due to 2 decades without a top 100 team. There is no/zippo reason in the world with a new arena JMU should not have 1,000 more fans a game than the next best CAA attendance.

No more excuses - It's not the crappy convo. It's not because JMU & Harrisionburg will not support a major program.

There are easily more than 3,000 other fans that feel just as I do that will not be seeing much of the new arena next year if a change is not made. And it better be a good one (not an ex player or coach) that will bring back interest in the program. Nobody cares about Men's basketball right now, and apparently Charlie cannot quantify the loss in ticket sales and donations it has cost us the last 20 years.

It's not in our hands, it's in theirs.

It's easy to say "fire HCLR last year" except nobody was kicking in the extra 1.5 million to do that. I support JMU's choice to not fire a guy 60% of the way into his contract for the easy financial point, as well as the ethical side of honoring his contract. The choice to separate is far easier to swallow at the end of this season than last.

(02-05-2020 01:43 PM)RamDawg Wrote:  I don't want to see a coach hired from a losing program but Jeff Neubauer could be a great coach somewhere with the right support and resources. Being in the Bronx, that program will struggle with just about any new coach.

(02-05-2020 02:39 PM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  The financial argument is moot. Yeah, it's a risk, but bringing in a new coach that gets the players to play up to their potential could have easily paid for himself in ticket and concession sales. Our attendance and ticket sales are literally at an all time low, at least as far back as I could find, since we've been a D1 program. Even back in Godwin our attendance was better than it is this year. 1,000 extra fans, plus concessions, plus increased donations for fans who wouldn't donate to get better football seats/parking, but would pay for basketball, would have paid Rowe's salary each year. It's not like he makes a ton of money. Having even mediocre interest by fans would have evened out having to continue paying his salary. Yeah, there's the catch that then you're eating the new coach's salary while not being able to use the revenue from the increased attendance to pay for it, but I think that's expected.

I agree there is certainly a point of honoring the contract of a guy that is homegrown, but when you consistently underperform by so much...at some point you have to get past that. He took a mediocre program and made it far worse. We play a pathetic schedule (OOC included) and are still clawing our way out of finishing with a single-digit win count. Massey rates us as the #504 best defense in the country (putting us below probably most of D2 and some D3). That's a whole new level of defensive futility. 14 teams in D1 with a worse defensive rating than us.

(02-05-2020 02:42 PM)JacksonHall Wrote:  

(02-05-2020 02:39 PM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  The financial argument is moot. Yeah, it's a risk, but bringing in a new coach that gets the players to play up to their potential could have easily paid for himself in ticket and concession sales. Our attendance and ticket sales are literally at an all time low, at least as far back as I could find, since we've been a D1 program. Even back in Godwin our attendance was better than it is this year. 1,000 extra fans, plus concessions, plus increased donations for fans who wouldn't donate to get better football seats/parking, but would pay for basketball, would have paid Rowe's salary each year. It's not like he makes a ton of money. Having even mediocre interest by fans would have evened out having to continue paying his salary. Yeah, there's the catch that then you're eating the new coach's salary while not being able to use the revenue from the increased attendance to pay for it, but I think that's expected.

I agree there is certainly a point of honoring the contract of a guy that is homegrown, but when you consistently underperform by so much...at some point you have to get past that. He took a mediocre program and made it far worse. We play a pathetic schedule (OOC included) and are still clawing our way out of finishing with a single-digit win count. Massey rates us as the #504 best defense in the country (putting us below probably most of D2 and some D3). That's a whole new level of defensive futility. 14 teams in D1 with a worse defensive rating than us.

Rowe is a "defensive minded coach", I'll have you know.

(02-05-2020 02:48 PM)Dukester Wrote:  Have we had a defensive minded coach since Campanelli? I know a lot "said" they emphasized defense.

(02-05-2020 02:39 PM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  The financial argument is moot. Yeah, it's a risk, but bringing in a new coach that gets the players to play up to their potential could have easily paid for himself in ticket and concession sales. Our attendance and ticket sales are literally at an all time low, at least as far back as I could find, since we've been a D1 program. Even back in Godwin our attendance was better than it is this year. 1,000 extra fans, plus concessions, plus increased donations for fans who wouldn't donate to get better football seats/parking, but would pay for basketball, would have paid Rowe's salary each year. It's not like he makes a ton of money. Having even mediocre interest by fans would have evened out having to continue paying his salary. Yeah, there's the catch that then you're eating the new coach's salary while not being able to use the revenue from the increased attendance to pay for it, but I think that's expected.

I agree there is certainly a point of honoring the contract of a guy that is homegrown, but when you consistently underperform by so much...at some point you have to get past that. He took a mediocre program and made it far worse. We play a pathetic schedule (OOC included) and are still clawing our way out of finishing with a single-digit win count. Massey rates us as the #504 best defense in the country (putting us below probably most of D2 and some D3). That's a whole new level of defensive futility. 14 teams in D1 with a worse defensive rating than us.

(02-05-2020 02:50 PM)Wear Purple Wrote:  

(02-05-2020 02:48 PM)Dukester Wrote:  Have we had a defensive minded coach since Campanelli? I know a lot "said" they emphasized defense.

Not sure about defensive, but many of their win-loss records have been very offensive.

(02-04-2020 03:24 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(02-04-2020 01:26 PM)Purplehazed Wrote:  

(02-04-2020 10:33 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(02-04-2020 09:24 AM)JMU_Newbill Wrote:  

(02-04-2020 09:14 AM)Dukester Wrote:  True - Hero not covering an obvious change at JMU? Hero is our second home paper next to the DNR. They are slipping up.

Or they know something we don't want to admit?

If Rowe comes back, I am officially done with JMU MBB. I don't care that there's a new arena.
It would show that the admin believes that the fans will blindly return next year because we have a pretty new building.
Here's what will happen: fans will show up for the first few games to check it out, realize the product is the same garbage and will not come back. The attendance will be even lower than it is now and good luck trying to entice fans to come back when you no longer can use the new arena as bait.

Prepare yourself, there is a good chance Rowe will be back for another coaching lame duck scenario.

Do we really think King is going to eat a year of a coaches salary and ante up for a pricey coach?

I don't need to prepare for anything. JMU needs to prepare for an empty arena if that's the case. They wouldn't have had to eat a year of a coaches salary if they had just invested in a good coach. In my opinion they need to admit the mistake and move on.
They have no option but to succeed next year. Rowe has done nothing to suggest that he can turn things around. He can't even win more than 3 Div I games in a row. What has Rowe done as a head coach to deserve another year????
How bad would it look to have the first year in a new arena and only 1k people show up. Fans will show up next year for a little while to check the new place out, but make no mistake that fans will not come back if the result is the same as it has been.
It took decades for the fan base to not care and not support this team. They have an opportunity to bring them back. If they waste that opportunity by saving money they deserve exactly what's coming to them.
As for me, I'll be just fine without JMU MBB. They don't deserve my support if they refuse to admit their mistakeS.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for the one that you love is to let them go.

(02-05-2020 04:55 PM)Purplehazed Wrote:  Shady, I will eat crow if wrong, will you?
You think the JMU admin will indirectly admit they fired Brady with no plan, will pay Rowe and will pay up for a new coach that is not a case of dumping gas on their program dumpstet fire? We need a clear win if we move on from coach Rowe.

You got that from this round of "read between the lines?"

(02-05-2020 05:18 PM)ShadyP Wrote:  I can also admit that all in all Jeff Bourne and Charlie King have been very good for JMU and responsible for driving huge amounts of growth and success in the athletic programs and university as a whole.

(02-05-2020 05:21 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  

(02-05-2020 05:18 PM)ShadyP Wrote:  I can also admit that all in all Jeff Bourne and Charlie King have been very good for JMU and responsible for driving huge amounts of growth and success in the athletic programs and university as a whole.

I agree with this too. They both deserve credit for our overall success. I still don't like King's holier-than-thou personality, but he deserves credit for all of the positives.

(02-05-2020 09:58 AM)Dukester Wrote:  If this administration goes into the new arena without a new head coach I will not go to the new arena for even a game next year.

If the administration continues to be that clueless from a financial and winning program standpoint I will continue to be out.

1) The made the worst hire for a JMU flagship program 4 years ago.
2) The best time to fix the situation heading into the new arena was last off season, and they did not make the move.
3) If they now take a sinking ship into the new arena it's the final nail in the coffin for this admin era in regards to Men's Basketball.

When they hired Lou they could of chosen a younger up and coming div II coach, but not at this point. They need pretty close to a sure thing that will bring immediate interest. If by the end of next year the new arena has less than 3,000 fans a game we will have screwed up a major opportunity. And to some extent we've already materially hurt attendance for next year. How much will that new arena cost us a year? Just paying for it with student fees in not the "right" answer.

We top the CAA in attendance for perhaps every sport except men's basketball. That is due to 2 decades without a top 100 team. There is no/zippo reason in the world with a new arena JMU should not have 1,000 more fans a game than the next best CAA attendance.

No more excuses - It's not the crappy convo. It's not because JMU & Harrisionburg will not support a major program.

There are easily more than 3,000 other fans that feel just as I do that will not be seeing much of the new arena next year if a change is not made. And it better be a good one (not an ex player or coach) that will bring back interest in the program. Nobody cares about Men's basketball right now, and apparently Charlie cannot quantify the loss in ticket sales and donations it has cost us the last 20 years.

It's not in our hands, it's in theirs.