Boring games

[vtcwbuff]

There are a handful of competitive teams in WCBB. There are a dozen or so "also ran" teams and the other 300 teams are terrible - at least when compared to the top teams.

My problem with UConn's success (and it's not UConn's problem, it's everyone else) is that so many of the games are boring. They have played 5 games this year and for the most part they have been snooze fests. Yeah, it's neat to watch UConn's execution, to cheer individual performance and it's nice to be able to crow about scoring margins and percentages of this and that, but mostly it's an athletic competition and that should be competitive.

I wonder how many would have watched the 3 Paradise Jam games if it had been 40-50 point blowouts by a team that didn't have UConn on their Jerseys. I also wonder if UConn's unbelievable success has played a part in the attendance decline.

 

[semper]

I think it's not going to be so boring in the the next few years. There are going to be about 10 teams whose recruitment has been spectacular, and this year will be something of a snooze in the Beast, but not when we play Stanford and Baylor. And we are going to have some interesting match ups, not only with these two teams in the immediate future, but also with UNC, Duke, ND, and maybe Tenn., and Maryland. If we could get into the ACC, we'd have a regular season that would be much more interesting that what we are looking at this year. And our recruitment from the 2013 class was nearly nil, so that will mean that our depth won't be what it is this year. If Geno makes a haul in the 2014 class, we'll be up to par for sure, as we have incredible talent. But there are some amazing other teams starting to gel beginning next year. It won't all be a snooze.

 

[msf22b]

Not boring to me...
And I rant about cupcakes.
Interested in the evolution of beautiful basketball.

 

[doggydaddy]

I've been watching UConn women play for a lot of years.

Never bored watching them.

 

[wes33]

DUKE game now. http://www.goxavier.com/allaccess/?media=346865

 

[UConnFan23]

I've also have been watching Uconn WBB for years. Not bored watching UConn because I love the execution and, typically, really admire the players as people. I stopped watching the NBA a few years ago because I got tired of the one-on-one power game and the enchantment with dunking because so much of the game is played above the rim (I would love to see a 12' basket tried).

However, to one of your questions, I would not have watched the P Jam games had UConn not been involved. But, I do think the UConn success increases the attendance/watching because people enjoy well executed basketball. It will be interesting to see if SNY viewership shows this to be true. I am hopeful that the competitiveness does increase (and recruiting would seem to support that it will) so that the depth and quality of WCBB improves overall.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I've been watching UConn women play for a lot of years. Never bored watching them.

I reread my OP and I think bored was probably a poor choice of words. I think "unexcited" is probably a better description. But just like "boring" it leads to the question of how much time, money and effort am I (or any other fans) willing to put forth to be "unexcited?"

 

[HuskyBandDad]

I think decline in attendance is because of economy and every game is on TV. Not many want to go see a game when you know before it starts it will be a 40 point blowout. You can stay home and watch on your big screen HD TV.

 

[cohenzone]

Every year it seems that a few programs have, on paper, very good recruiting years depth-wise, but never quite perform. The men's game has far fewer true blow-out problems. Which leads to a few conclusions. First, that the overall talent among women players, while improving, is nowhere near reaching the point where the talent is deep enough to provide for more competitive games at the upper levels and where there are more than just a handful of teams that can compete at that level. Second, and a little harder to measure, are differences in coaching. The one thing we know about GA is, win an NC or not, his teams never are far from the top while some programs that seem to have recruited well never approach UConn's level even for one season let alone over several years. In the men's game, it is exceedingly rare to see a team from a "major" conference, Wake Forest for example, get trampled even by 30 points against the very best men's team. While a program like UConn that often gets the very top recruits might seem to have a crazy competitive advantage over, say a Seton Hall, it is much crazier than it should be were the overall talent depth and coaching better. It seems like a situation that needs a pretty long time to resolve itself. If one wants to see a competitive game, two bad teams can put on a nice show against each other.

 

[EricLA]

Good thread and comments. FWIW, I too have never been bored watching a UCONN game. I'll admit my blood pressure and adrenaline goes way up in close games or games they lose (not nearly as stressful watching them pound Purdue or aTm), but I'm not sure that more "compelling" games really matter for anyone else in WCBB.

It's not like UCONN can schedule every top 25 team every year. there are teams who, for whatever reason, just don't want to play UCONN. But these first 5 games have really given us a chance to see all the freshmen, and the terrific improvements Brianna and Kiah have made.

It remains to be seen if they can duplicate their efforts against teams like ND, Duke, Baylor, or Stanford, but to me it's been the perfect start to the season (Marist has been good in the past, Wake is from a power conference and aTm and Purdue are top 20'ish teams)...

 

[Wonkster]

... I also wonder if UConn's unbelievable success has played a part in the attendance decline.

Let me put your inquiring mind to rest. The answer is, not much.

Live sports attendance in many areas of competition is slipping, especially for games that are covered on television. Some counterexamples include teams that have recently found their mojo, such as the Louisville Cardinals and the Notre Dame wbb team.

Blame Sony, Samsung, Toshiba, Vizio, LG and their infernal 50" HDTV sets. For people living over 20 miles from the venue, it's very tempting to not walk past a set you've just bought, put your feet up and munch on homemade snacks, while you enjoy sensuous visual detail brought to you over a network who's just automatically deducted its monthly payment from your bank account.

I see a day when live fans are restricted to a small section of Gampel, and the rest of the seats are filled with talking, blue-painted robots.

 

[RadyLady]

I've been watching UConn women play for a lot of years.

Never bored watching them.

Me neither

 

[easttexastrash]

Unfortunately, with outcomes hardly ever in doubt, we end up watching the reserves as much as we do the marquee players. Some people don't want to go to a game when players like BG and Stewart only get 15 to 20 minutes of court time. Right now Sims is cleared to play but Mulkey wants to see the young players develop and therefore is just leaving Sims on the bench. It's sad when you don't need to play one of your best players because the competition is so weak.

 

[phil sampieri]

There are a handful of competitive teams in WCBB. There are a dozen or so "also ran" teams and the other 300 teams are terrible - at least when compared to the top teams.

My problem with UConn's success (and it's not UConn's problem, it's everyone else) is that so many of the games are boring. They have played 5 games this year and for the most part they have been snooze fests. Yeah, it's neat to watch UConn's execution, to cheer individual performance and it's nice to be able to crow about scoring margins and percentages of this and that, but mostly it's an athletic competition and that should be competitive.

I wonder how many would have watched the 3 Paradise Jam games if it had been 40-50 point blowouts by a team that didn't have UConn on their Jerseys. I also wonder if UConn's unbelievable success has played a part in the attendance decline.

kentucky-100-34
tenn 90-37
dayton 105-42
unc 101-42
it's that time of the year but what's scary is what we did against Duke- UNC-Kentucky-TAM-etc.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Okay, if you don't want to be bored, three years from now, who do you have on the schedule?

Too hard? I'll make it easy for you -- two years.

I loved every second of the games at the Jam. Not because they were blow outs, but because of the ebb and flow of emotions on the court, because of the excellence and amazing focus and intensity of the team.

I'm sure others were bored with the Steelers, the Yankees, the Bulls, the '49ers, the Celtics, UCLA, UNC Soccer, Navratilova..... and the list goes on.