The Bobcat Nation

The achievements of MSU bball over the past 7+ years. Keep in mind, the BSC is one of the worst D1 conferences in the country.

Overall W/L: 104/127 .452 (one season above .500)

Conference W/L: 60/65 .480 (one season above .500)

February W/L: 16/37 .302 (one season above .500)

Cat/Griz W/L: 4/12 .250 (1 season sweep, swept 4x...likely 5 after this year)

Average RPI Ranking: 265

Regular Season Titles: 0
Tournament Titles: 0
Trips to NCAA Tournament: 0

Is this acceptable? What needs to be done? What can we as fans do? Do we write letters/emails demanding change? Do we continue to support the team, or is that enabling mediocrity? I sure feel like the men's bball program is headed towards rock bottom and there needs to be some sort of intervention.

As many have noted over the past couple of years, it is not like the Cats are trending up. In fact it's getting worse. And, it's not like Fields doesn't know about the dissatisfaction amongst the fans. He just doesn't care. Pretty soon the Brick will be a mausoleum. It pretty much is now, but just wait for one more year of this ******. SUU will outdraw us.

It's totally unacceptable. Every time Fields opens his mouth I'm embarrassed. Yes it's an insult. Huse, Binford, Fields and Ash are the four most uninspiring people I've ever been around. I mean they. Are. Dull. Anyone that "fits" in with Fields is destined to lose. If it wasn't for McGhee the last four years of football would've sucked.

The good news is that by next year they could just play in Romney. Think of all the money they'd save not having to turn on the heat/lights in the fieldhouse.

You could look at MSU Athletics and come to the conclusion that these are good times for MSU because of what has happened with the football team over the past few years. But I would argue that there was a time not long ago where the basketball team was the #1 show in town. Now the basketball program is leading the charge of several other MSU teams down PAST mediocrity. 15 years ago, MSU basketball was in contention for BSC titles every year, as was the volleyball team. The rodeo team was something MSU students talked about and was one of the Nation's best. Now to say we're mired in mediocrity is being generous. Let's face it, a couple of these programs are below mediocre. I'm tired of it. A friend of mine is an assistant for the Griz basketball team, and he knows I'm a die-hard Bobcat fan. And when I was in college I was one of MSU basketball's biggest fans. But I told him the other day I just don't really care about the basketball program anymore, because I don't think MSU does. He was disappointed. I'm disappointed, and not because we're settling for mediocrity, but because we're hoping for mediocrity.

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kennethnoisewater wrote:The good news is that by next year they could just play in Romney. Think of all the money they'd save not having to turn on the heat/lights in the fieldhouse.

You could look at MSU Athletics and come to the conclusion that these are good times for MSU because of what has happened with the football team over the past few years. But I would argue that there was a time not long ago where the basketball team was the #1 show in town. Now the basketball program is leading the charge of several other MSU teams down PAST mediocrity. 15 years ago, MSU basketball was in contention for BSC titles every year, as was the volleyball team. The rodeo team was something MSU students talked about and was one of the Nation's best. Now to say we're mired in mediocrity is being generous. Let's face it, a couple of these programs are below mediocre. I'm tired of it. A friend of mine is an assistant for the Griz basketball team, and he knows I'm a die-hard Bobcat fan. And when I was in college I was one of MSU basketball's biggest fans. But I told him the other day I just don't really care about the basketball program anymore, because I don't think MSU does. He was disappointed. I'm disappointed, and not because we're settling for mediocrity, but because we're hoping for mediocrity.

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I'm pretty much in the same boat. I remember my freshman year of college I went to my first basketball game (not Cat/Griz) and got there about 5 minutes before tip off. I ended up having to go sit up in the nose bleed seats because the student section was completely full. It's really sad how far our basketball (and volleyball) programs have fallen.

I'm with you, in that, I used to be a die hard MSU hoops fan and now I don't even really pay attention except for cat/griz games.

Sad thing is there will be no changes until at least 2016 when Huse's contract ends.

wbtfg wrote:The achievements of MSU bball over the past 7+ years. Keep in mind, the BSC is one of the worst D1 conferences in the country.

Overall W/L: 104/127 .452 (one season above .500)

Conference W/L: 60/65 .480 (one season above .500)

February W/L: 16/37 .302 (one season above .500)

Cat/Griz W/L: 4/12 .250 (1 season sweep, swept 4x...likely 5 after this year)

Average RPI Ranking: 265

Regular Season Titles: 0
Tournament Titles: 0
Trips to NCAA Tournament: 0

Is this acceptable? What needs to be done? What can we as fans do? Do we write letters/emails demanding change? Do we continue to support the team, or is that enabling mediocrity? I sure feel like the men's bball program is headed towards rock bottom and there needs to be some sort of intervention.

BSC tourney wins: 2 - but both of those came in the same season, so that means zero wins in 6 out of 7 seasons...and this year we probably won't even make the tourney.

kennethnoisewater wrote:The good news is that by next year they could just play in Romney. Think of all the money they'd save not having to turn on the heat/lights in the fieldhouse.

Spot on! And the fieldhouse could be that indoor football practice facility we've always wanted!

That is the saddest part to me, is the apathy. I'm right there with you guys. I didn't even care we lost last night. I was expecting to leading up to the game, and just a few minutes into the game I knew it was over.

Somebody mentioned that Huse just sucks the life out of his players. I couldn't agree more. They look inspired, fired up, energetic at the start and by midseason we have a bunch of zombies who can dribble pass and shoot. We don't necessarily always have the most talented group in the conference, but we usually have enough talent that we shouldn't be going down in flames year after year.

CelticCat wrote:That is the saddest part to me, is the apathy. I'm right there with you guys. I didn't even care we lost last night. I was expecting to leading up to the game, and just a few minutes into the game I knew it was over.

Somebody mentioned that Huse just sucks the life out of his players. I couldn't agree more. They look inspired, fired up, energetic at the start and by midseason we have a bunch of zombies who can't dribble pass or shoot. We don't necessarily always have the most talented group in the conference, but we usually have enough talent that we shouldn't be going down in flames year after year.

FIFY.

[cat_bracket] wrote:It's totally unacceptable. Every time Fields opens his mouth I'm embarrassed. Yes it's an insult. Huse, Binford, Fields and Ash are the four most uninspiring people I've ever been around. I mean they. Are. Dull. Anyone that "fits" in with Fields is destined to lose. If it wasn't for McGhee the last four years of football would've sucked.

So you want to get rid of Ash? That is probably the most glaring example of a "Be careful what you wish for" statement, ever. Kinda like all the Griz fans that wanted Bobby gone. Bet 99% of them would love him back right now.

Just want to start off by saying I don't mean any of this as smack. I'd like nothing better than to see both the Griz and the Cats battle for 1st and 2nd place in the Big Sky in basketball every year. I couldn't believe that Huse got a contract extension. He's probably a damn nice guy and all of that... but he has not produced as a HC for the Cats at all, and the attendance numbers and records show that.

Here's another disturbing trend:

AVG attendance over the past few years:
2009-2010: 3,389
2010-2011: 3,228
2011-2012: 2,922
2012-2013: 2,523
2013-2014: 2,312 (So far)

As for W/L records I always just like to look at D1 games (Since those are what counts for RPI). Huse has had 0 winning seasons against D1 opponents, and if "Realtimerpi.com" is correct, 0 finishes with an RPI better than 200. 2009-2010 was his best season at 13-14 overall and a 10-7 conference record.

2006-2007: 9-19 (8-9) RPI: 288, SOS: 261
2007-2008: 13-15 (7-10) RPI: 237, SOS: 294
2008-2009: 13-17 (8-11) RPI: 210, SOS: 234
2009-2010: 13-14 (10-7) RPI: 200, SOS: 232 (Best Season under Huse)
2010-2011: 11-18 (7-10) RPI: 265, SOS: 255
2011-2012: 10-17 (7-10) RPI: 276, SOS: 304
2012-2013: 11-17 (10-11) RPI: 317, SOS: 336
2013-2014: 8-11 (5-5) RPI: 277, SOS: 316

I don't see how with the above records and drastically declining attendance numbers over the past few years it wasn't obvious that a change needed to be made. Instead a contract extension was given...

Potomac Griz wrote:I couldn't believe that Huse got a contract extension. He's probably a damn nice guy and all of that...

Nice to whom? Because as an outsider looking in, it seems like he's kind of a jerk to his players.

CelticCat wrote:That is the saddest part to me, is the apathy. I'm right there with you guys. I didn't even care we lost last night.

+1

I was a big basketball fan when I went to MSU (late 90s early 2000s). During my time at MSU the guys were always expected to compete for the conference title, but now the expectations from the fans and MSU athletic department are virtually none.

What are you guys talking about? Did the Cats MBB team play this week? It has seriously gotten so bad that I didn't even bother to try and follow the game. I figured my phone would alert me via ESPN when the game was over and we had lost and sure enough, that's what I got on Monday night. Huse has turned what used to be a somewhat interesting program into an absolute joke.

During the interview with PF on Monday night, I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking as he looked around and saw a "crowd" of barely 3,000 for a Cat-Griz game. I hope his thoughts were something along the lines of "what the hell was I thinking when I gave this guy another 2-year contract?" Or is he perfectly content with the state of the MBB program? Or does he somehow still believe that Huse will eventually turn the program around...in year 9, or maybe in year 10, or year 11, or year 12...or maybe "lucky" year 13...

First, he seemed pleased with the attendance at the beginning before pivoting to the academics.

Second, I don't think he cares or was surprised. It's been progressively worsening and to be honest if it did matter he would have addressed it years ago.

Third, I think the lack of effort by the marketing staff doesn't help. I think more people would be apt to go if it was actually more going in. Having said that I think PF likely won't approve or go along with spending any money to promote or improve the off court portion just like he hasn't wanted to invest in the on court portion of the product.

BozoCatFan,
It seems that every season you wait for an opportune time to chime in and jump all over the MSU administration regarding how little they care about basketball, although if memory serves, you rarely attend games. I am not saying that you do not have the right to be disappointed in the product on the floor, but you do not seem to be in much of a position to accuse people (marketing, or otherwise) of not putting forth effort. Nonetheless, I understand this is "what you do" during this time of year. Chive on.

Oh! And please save me the "I would go to more games if they promoted the team better, or the games were more fun"...you would go to more games if the team was winning, plain and simple. And PLEASE, don't bring up the Ice Dogs comparisons...they are not relevant.

I went to almost every game this year. My son was sick with the flu and couldn't go Monday.

Do I gripe about admin yearly when I get fed up? Yes. Am I alone? No. Please note I didn't start or even immediately respond to these threads.

Did I mention anything here about hockey ? No.

Nice try at a personal attack.