Evansville vs Mercer, Ford Center

[Bball Junkie]

This Aces team is much more exciting to watch than in years past. There is much more athleticism at every position. There are a lot more scoring options on the floor, and there are more plays set up for points in the paint. There may be some growing pains at times, but this program is definitely on the rise.

[sixth ace]

Freshman PG Gibson is improving game by game. Looking forward to seeing the Aces play.

strong contender for freshman of the year

[sixth ace]

This Aces team is much more exciting to watch than in years past. There is much more athleticism at every position. There are a lot more scoring options on the floor, and there are more plays set up for points in the paint. There may be some growing pains at times, but this program is definitely on the rise.

what is real nice about this team is they can sub and not lose much. They are full at every position and BBI and ability is apparent. Colt Ryan record may only last a couple of years. Colt scoring as compare to DJ,Boo,Adam Blake or Sawvell able and capable makes them a dangerous team to play. It opens up DJ and if you cover him the other guys will get their double digits .... Boo Gibson 23 points ... waiting on box scores but 17 assist to 11 turnover and I think four of them were due to full court pressure late in the game. Evansville is impressive Mercer fouled out their Big Guy and 2 others another 80% free throw %.for the Aces

Evansville has been in the 80's point range and winning. I think if UE continues their point production they'll be tough to beat anywhere

Just
Sayin

Our Town Our team

[Play Angry]

Officially it was 3600 and change. Actually a few less than the Martin Methodist opener (on a Saturday). That was one of my first comments when I got to my seat: this place is empty.

Holy crap, I didn't realize attendance had dipped that hard at UE. Has it been consistently under 5,000 for a while or is this relatively new?

I remember when you guys used to pack it in and the barn would get pretty loud under Crews.

[pafan]

Holy crap, I didn't realize attendance had dipped that hard at UE. Has it been consistently under 5,000 for a while or is this relatively new?

Not very new. Attendance has been slowly declining for 15-20 years.

[sixth ace]

Officially it was 3600 and change. Actually a few less than the Martin Methodist opener (on a Saturday). That was one of my first comments when I got to my seat: this place is empty.

Holy crap, I didn't realize attendance had dipped that hard at UE. Has it been consistently under 5,000 for a while or is this relatively new?

I remember when you guys used to pack it in and the barn would get pretty loud under Crews.

It's a long story

[sixth ace]

Holy crap, I didn't realize attendance had dipped that hard at UE. Has it been consistently under 5,000 for a while or is this relatively new?

Not very new. Attendance has been slowly declining for 15-20 years.

Hopefully this is about to change Valpo attendance Wednesday at 8 may give a better idea of what attendance will be during conference. plus UE has quite a few Sat afternoon games this year that may help attendance especially with this team

[sixth ace]

Box Scores http://www.gopurpleaces.com/documents/2 ... df?id=1994

[Play Angry]

Thanks for the polite responses. Yikes, I knew crowds were down but not that far...

Hopefully the new rules and the athleticism of the young guys can generate some excitement over the next few years. Looks like you have a solid foundation in place.

[purple&orange]

A solid home win, I'm good with penning 29 each night for DJ. Impressed with his all around game after being more of a shooter last season. Heard on the radio that he has more FT attempts in the first 3 games this season then he did all of last season. Adam Wing also has looked better this year, more aggressive, looking for his shot more often. Freshman Boo Gibson appears to be a Troy Taylor type, rebounding well for his size and filling a number of columns on the stat sheet.

This team is different in that it has no Colt Ryan, who often was looked to by his teammates to create and bail them out of a lot of late clock situations. This group appears to be like a great pickup game team, sharing the ball and getting looks through the run of play and not deferring to one player as much. It's a young group that can continue to grow and it's still early but it is a group that shows promise.

Crowds have declined for a while now, from the D-III scare to it just being an older fanbase that has continued to get smaller and smaller each season. The 2000s were not kind to the Aces in the win column and there is a percentage of the city/fanbase that is skeptical that an early win or two will lead to good results come conference play. The "Martyball" of a slower pace in recent years, although it appears not as much this season, is cited as well or the fact you could stay home and watch games, etc. To be fair, I think the athletic department is doing a better job as a whole in trying to promote the team than it did years ago.

It's always easier to say why not instead of heading to a really nice, new facility and watch some quality college basketball. The crowds have historically been better on weekends and during conference play and I think the product on the floor is worthy of coming out and enjoying.