Demolish the XL center

[aburks41]

Not dismissing your point, but no one wants the kids having to drive to Hartford either. I'm sure there are still plenty of partiers but those are the last folks who should be driving to Hartford. Make no mistake, being a top 25 public flagship is far better than the UCONN of 30 years ago. Puke doesn't seem to have a problem with nerds showing up to games.

Maybe that's because Cameron Indoor is....on campus. Wouldn't it be amazing if we had an on campus arena to play in?

 

[Chelo]

The XL in the 90's was a totally different beast. Sold out games, 15k in the arena, the place was rocking! The reason? We had a product that was just starting to gain momentum. The excitement was in the air that UConn may compete for a national championship. Something that CT has never experienced. It was that hot ticket at the time. Now after all of our championships and a lull in our program for the last 7 years, has the UConn fan become complacent with the program? Is the excitement of UConn basketball gone? Have we become used to being mediocre?

 

[UconnU]

We probably had what, 10/30 rows filled up there for the #17 team in the country??

On a 5 game win streak….

 

[aburks41]

The XL in the 90's was a totally different beast. Sold out games, 15k in the arena, the place was rocking! The reason? We had a product that was just starting to gain momentum. The excitement was in the air that UConn may compete for a national championship. Something that CT has never experienced. It was that hot ticket at the time. Now after all of our championships and a lull in our program for the last 7 years, has the UConn fan become complacent with the program? Is the excitement of UConn basketball gone? Have we become used to being mediocre?

The excitement for students is gone because every fun thing they used to do (or try to do) ends up with the administration shutting it down. Remember when the storm chasers came to Gampel a few years back? Every other college embraced them and what does UConn do? Arrests them. Literally. They arrested them. For trying to have fun at a UConn game.

 

[Tenspro2002]

It’s amazing to me how many are not getting this. UConn doesn’t have a home court advantage with Hartford unless it’s sold out. Teams are not uncomfortable coming into a place that has a 5,000 empty seats. If you don’t get that then you don’t get college basketball.


They are only playing 3 games this year at Wells Fargo Center. All being on the weekend. They would never play Creighton on a Tuesday night in downtown.

Hartford is only a home-court advantage for the biggest games when it's sold out and fans are amped up. Otherwise it's a mausoleum.

We should have maybe 2-3 games there all year (vs. Nova, a big OOC game, maybe one more), plus during winter break. That's it.

 

[Kolumbo]

Maybe that's because Cameron Indoor is....on campus. Wouldn't it be amazing if we had an on campus arena to play in?

 

[Kiddddddd34]

Aside from the students theres no difference in fans from XL to Gampel, Ive been at most home games this year and St Johns & Gtown were pretty sad performances as well from our fans. If our coach as to implore and beg the fans to get up and make noise mid game that's pretty pathetic. The band being MIA and game times/dates have really changed the environment as well.

 

[freshler40]

I agree. I was in the 200’s and even with 5 minutes to go and the game was tied, the fans were mostly sitting in their seats and barely cheering. It seems like the only thing that gets these casual fans riled up is when we dunk the ball or have a flashy play. Instead, we need the crowd the most when Uconn is on defense. Seems like half the crowd is more interested in being on their phone or talking with the people they came with rather than cheer on the team and give the guys a 6th man on the court.

Why do hockey team have an organist as the Whalers did? It was a great atmosphere during those games. Another plus was the announcer Chuck K.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Meanwhile Texas Tech who barely even had a basketball program 5 years ago has sellout crowds every single game, and I'm pretty sure their entire student body shows up. When was the last time students at UConn ever had to camp out for a game? I know it sure as hell didn't happen when I was there. Probably the last time was 10 years ago when Cuse came to Gampel for College Gameday.

Hell, they don't even do the ticket lottery anymore. The tickets are completely free and we still cannot even get more than 100 students to get to the XL Center. How is anyone okay with that?!?

Cue the "what else is there to do in Lubbock on a Tuesday night?" talking point. As if Hartford and CT on a Tuesday in February are entertainment meccas.

 

[UConnDad]

Take away 2 of the luckiest 3 pointers of the year and they shot 29% from 3. They shot under 40% in the game from the floor, well below their season average of 46%.

Are you really saying if this game was in Gampel the script would have been exactly the same?

Who knows? You’re blaming the loss on the court? On the venue? Not on the poor play?

 

[UConnDad]

You guys are insufferable. We should just play our home games in the Bahamas since that’s the last time Polley had a great shooting game.

The team needs to show up on any court. I don’t care about shooting percentages here or there - just win the ****ing game.

Now you’re talking!

 

[McLovin]

Who knows? You’re blaming the loss on the court? On the venue? Not on the poor play?

The poor shooting was (in part) due to the venue. 100% yes. There are data points to back up that we shoot worse at XL vs Gampel.

Does playing that at Gampel mean we win? No. But it removes a negative factor from the equation. A “home court” shouldn’t have a negative factor like the XL does.

The XL neutralizes our home court advantage because while it is a hard floor for our opponents to shoot on, it’s a harder (than Gampel) floor for us to shoot on too.

Why in the world do we want to play games in a stadium that makes it harder for us to score at?

We practice at Gampel. That’s where the players are most comfortable. That’s where they know the sight lines. That’s where they have an advantage.

How do people not see this as a problem?

 

[UconnU]

Remember when the storm chasers came to Gampel a few years back? Every other college embraced them and what does UConn do? Arrests them. Literally. They arrested them. For trying to have fun at a UConn game.

Are we positive that wasn’t like a staged event?

 

[aburks41]

Are we positive that wasn’t like a staged event?

UConn makes you get prior permission from an RA just to have a guest over on Spring Weekend (If it can even be called that anymore). It was not staged, our university admins hates everything and anything that is considered fun. They have an "academic reputation" to uphold now..

 

[ASweet3781]

The poor shooting was (in part) due to the venue. 100% yes. There are data points to back up that we shoot worse at XL vs Gampel.

Does playing that at Gampel mean we win? No. But it removes a negative factor from the equation. A “home court” shouldn’t have a negative factor like the XL does.

The XL neutralizes our home court advantage because while it is a hard floor for our opponents to shoot on, it’s a harder (than Gampel) floor for us to shoot on too.

Why in the world do we want to play games in a stadium that makes it harder for us to score at?

We practice at Gampel. That’s where the players are most comfortable. That’s where they know the sight lines. That’s where they have an advantage.

How do people not see this as a problem?

“We practice at Gampel”. “It’s where they are most comfortable”.

Is the goal not to take the players out of their “comfort” zone so they don’t spit the bit on a neutral court in March?

 

[gsmooth]

You two are clearly missing the point

I am not missing any point. It's a tired excuse for failure. If they can find a way to play all their games at Gampel fine. But blaming the poor performance on the Hartford XL Center, or whatever it's called now, is just a cheap excuse for failure. The visiting teams only play once in that building while UConn plays several times there, but yet UConn's performance is affected more adversely than the visitors?

 

[McLovin]

“We practice at Gampel”. “It’s where they are most comfortable”.

Is the goal not to take the players out of their “comfort” zone so they don’t spit the bit on a neutral court in March?

Lmfao sure why don’t we play all our games on the road then! Sure to be nice and battle tested!

 

[McLovin]

“We practice at Gampel”. “It’s where they are most comfortable”.

Is the goal not to take the players out of their “comfort” zone so they don’t spit the bit on a neutral court in March?

When we play at some big hockey arena in March, both teams may have trouble scoring, hence the “neutral” court.

But you’re advocating to neutralize our home court advantage in scheduled “home” games is lunacy.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Duke fan say “hey let’s play at the Hurricanes arena downtown Raleigh vs UVA to prepare for March Madness!”

 

[ASweet3781]

Lmfao sure why don’t we play all our games on the road then! Sure to be nice and battle tested!

Well maybe we can move the ncaa tournament to storrs or a Hurley apologista approved arena.

When UConn gave away the game to creighton last year the game was at…Gampel.

 

[McLovin]

I am not missing any point. It's a tired excuse for failure. If they can find a way to play all their games at Gampel fine. But blaming the poor performance on the Hartford XL Center, or whatever it's called now, is just a cheap excuse for failure. The visiting teams only play once in that building while UConn plays several times there, but yet UConn's performance is affected more adversely than the visitors?

The point isn’t that the visitors aren’t also affected. It’s the fact that we are neutralizing our own home court advantage that’s the problem.

Why are we purposely advocating to play at a “home” arena that makes it tougher and not easier for our guys? No other fan base in the country echos that sentiment. That’s crazy to think that way.

That’s what you want? Then fine. But don’t be mad when we continue to drop games at the XL and finish middle of the pack year after year because we are making it tougher on the team to win home games.

 

[McLovin]

Well maybe we can move the ncaa tournament to storrs or a Hurley apologista approved arena.

When UConn gave away the game to creighton last year the game was at…Gampel.

You continue to miss the point. I’m not claiming we win last night if it’s at Gampel.

Just that we lose a huge advantage by not playing there.

That’s the point.

Do you admit we have a better advantage in Storrs vs Hartford? If so, you agree with me. If not, then we disagree.

But I’m done circling the wagon if you refuse to believe in the data that backs it up (plus the difference in play between the two stadiums for anyone who actually watches the game).

 

[CL82]

You guys are insufferable. We should just play our home games in the Bahamas since that’s the last time Polley had a great shooting game.

The team needs to show up on any court. I don’t care about shooting percentages here or there - just win the ****ing game.

We should just play all our games away, since venue doesn’t matter and away games have higher quadrant rankings.

 

[HuskyBoi]

You continue to miss the point. I’m not claiming we win last night if it’s at Gampel.

Just that we lose a huge advantage by not playing there.

That’s the point.

Do you admit we have a better advantage in Storrs vs Hartford? If so, you agree with me. If not, then we disagree.

But I’m done circling the wagon if you refuse to believe in the data that backs it up (plus the difference in play between the two stadiums for anyone who actually watches the game).

Ignore him mclovin, he says last year that we gave the game away at an EMPTY COVID GAMPEL..

 

[CL82]

They want to keep the XL to keep Hartford alive....It will take more than UConn basketball to do that.

Not according to this thread. Posters want play in the XL Center, because it shortens their commute and there’s easier access to bars.

 

[Deepster]

I can't believe I got sucked into this argument.

My two questions are:

1) How much of the current XL environment is the further decline (COVID and generally speaking) of Hartford and people just not being in the city nearly as much for anything?

2) How much of it is a fan base that is made up of a) older fans that saw 4 titles and are a little less "enthused" than they were 20 years ago and b) younger fans that just aren't as rabid a fan or been used to the consistent excellence of the program and Big East?

 

[CL82]

“We practice at Gampel”. “It’s where they are most comfortable”.

Is the goal not to take the players out of their “comfort” zone so they don’t spit the bit on a neutral court in March?

Agree 100%. We should play all our games on the road so that we will be ready for March madness, of course we won’t be playing in it, but by God will be ready for it!

 

[CTBasketball]

The poor shooting was (in part) due to the venue. 100% yes. There are data points to back up that we shoot worse at XL vs Gampel.

Does playing that at Gampel mean we win? No. But it removes a negative factor from the equation. A “home court” shouldn’t have a negative factor like the XL does.

The XL neutralizes our home court advantage because while it is a hard floor for our opponents to shoot on, it’s a harder (than Gampel) floor for us to shoot on too.

Why in the world do we want to play games in a stadium that makes it harder for us to score at?

We practice at Gampel. That’s where the players are most comfortable. That’s where they know the sight lines. That’s where they have an advantage.

How do people not see this as a problem?

McLovin - I like you. Good guy, great avatar, classic movie.


But the shooting is not due to the venue. The fact of the matter is we missed more layups last night than we did in the Maryland game last year.

On top of that, Polley is not a good shooter. Martin is not a great shooter. Hawkins is a deer in the headlights. Jackson has severe deficiencies, his shooting % is fools gold. The team is what it is - we lack shooting. It is our Achilles heel.

When Cole does not shoot well we likely will lose.

 

[McLovin]

McLovin - I like you. Good guy, great avatar, classic movie.


But the shooting is not due to the venue. The fact of the matter is we missed more layups last night than we did in the Maryland game last year.

On top of that, Polley is not a good shooter. Martin is not a great shooter. Hawkins is a deer in the headlights. Jackson has severe deficiencies, his shooting % is fools gold. The team is what it is - we lack shooting. It is our Achilles heel.

When Cole does not shoot well we likely will lose.

Agree to disagree on the venue (that’s okay) but you’re spot on about the rest.

Hawkins missed shots worse than I would have yesterday.

Polley is always going to be streaky, venue or not, it is just what it is at this point.

I wish Martin looked for a few more 3s last night. He tried to do most of his damage in the pain surrounded by 3 defenders.

Cole passed up way too many jump shots IMO.

 

[Chelo]

“We practice at Gampel”. “It’s where they are most comfortable”.

Is the goal not to take the players out of their “comfort” zone so they don’t spit the bit on a neutral court in March?

we play half off our scheduled games on a uncomfortable opponents court. If we dont take advantage of all the advantages we could get, we wont be playing in March.

 

[McLovin]

I can't believe I got sucked into this argument.

My two questions are:

1) How much of the current XL environment is the further decline (COVID and generally speaking) of Hartford and people just not being in the city nearly as much for anything?

2) How much of it is a fan base that is made up of a) older fans that saw 4 titles and are a little less "enthused" than they were 20 years ago and b) younger fans that just aren't as rabid a fan or been used to the consistent excellence of the program and Big East?

Less about Covid IMO (PC sold out and Gampel has been full this season) and Hartford is probably more conveniently located in the state for most fans is assume.

Your second question is the root of the problem IMO. An older fan base that was spoiled with 25 insane years of top level basketball that included 4 championships. The general enthusiasm isn’t there for the average CT resident, but that doesn’t give the students a pass.

Although I will give them a slight pass for not wanting to bus to Hartford on a cold Tuesday night. Been there, done that. Would have much preferred to just walk from my dorm to Gampel. Although I always showed up at XL.

But let’s make it easier, not hard for the students to get enthused.

The UConn fan base is kind of like the Yankees fan base now IMO. Older fans who have become less enthused after the dynasty in the 90s. That attitude has seeped all the way to the ownership who seems just content “making the playoffs” every year.

It’s made it frustrating to be a Yankee fan. I really hope the administration stops that from happening to the UConn huskies too (although that ship may have sailed).