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M: vs Dominican

SactoHornetAlum said:
The game against Dominican is not an exhibition.
Click to expand...
Technically speaking it isn’t, in reality it is. A second D2 opponent scheduled as a “regular season” game in Katz’ 5th year is a joke. The Dominican game has no benefit to our SOS or the BSC RPI and will only pad some player stats. I wouldn’t have an issue with a 2nd D2 game if it was earlier in Katz’ tenure and he was still rebuilding the program but IMO we are past that stage. :twocents:
 
SDHornet said:
SactoHornetAlum said:
The game against Dominican is not an exhibition.
Click to expand...
Technically speaking it isn’t, in reality it is. A second D2 opponent scheduled as a “regular season” game in Katz’ 5th year is a joke. The Dominican game has no benefit to our SOS or the BSC RPI and will only pad some player stats. I wouldn’t have an issue with a 2nd D2 game if it was earlier in Katz’ tenure and he was still rebuilding the program but IMO we are past that stage. :twocents:
Click to expand...

If we had a better arena then it's no problem. But you know how hard it is to draw D-I opponents into our place.
 
SactoHornetAlum said:
If we had a better arena then it's no problem. But you know how hard it is to draw D-I opponents into our place.
Click to expand...
We’ve had some home and home deals with regional opponents in the past. I see no reason why Wanless can’t land similar deals every year or two. Wanless needs to target other programs in similar positions as ours on a more consistent basis. I’m thinking bottom tier BW programs and bottom tier WCC programs. Since Wanless has been fine with scheduling programs in conferences like the Southland, why not continue to line some of those deals up. I’d much rather see a directional Louisiana school over some regional D2 school.

The WAC will need teams to help fill out a schedule. Along with Bako, why not pursue deals with Seattle (it’s been done in the past), Denver, and whoever else is stuck in that conference. That handful of programs will probably be open to a home and home deal as they will have a very small conference slate and they will also be hurting for home games as well.

The scary thing is I don’t see any programs on this season’s schedule that are the front end of a home and home deal. The UCA game is most probably the return trip of a home and home deal from last season. SJSU is the return end of a bracket buster game. How awful is next season’s schedule going to be?
 
SDHornet said:
SactoHornetAlum said:
The game against Dominican is not an exhibition.
Click to expand...
Technically speaking it isn’t, in reality it is. A second D2 opponent scheduled as a “regular season” game in Katz’ 5th year is a joke. The Dominican game has no benefit to our SOS or the BSC RPI and will only pad some player stats. I wouldn’t have an issue with a 2nd D2 game if it was earlier in Katz’ tenure and he was still rebuilding the program but IMO we are past that stage. :twocents:
Click to expand...

What's the benefit of a better SOS or RPI? I don't think we're getting an "at large berth" any time soon. Just asking; not sure what the reasoning is.

Also, I don't believe Wanless has anything to do with scheduling.
 
It’s more of a conference deal. The better the conference does in OOC play, the better seed the BSC gets and thus a better chance at more tourney money for everyone.

I'll also add the better opponents that can be scheduled, the more likely people will show up. Who wants to pay money to see a D2 program, and who wants to shovel out money for season tickets if the OOC slate is weak and unappealing.

Who sets the schedule then and why would Wanless not be involved?
 
SDHornet said:
It’s more of a conference deal. The better the conference does in OOC play, the better seed the BSC gets and thus a better chance at more tourney money for everyone.

I'll also add the better opponents that can be scheduled, the more likely people will show up. Who wants to pay money to see a D2 program, and who wants to shovel out money for season tickets if the OOC slate is weak and unappealing.

Who sets the schedule then and why would Wanless not be involved?
Click to expand...

Coaches do the scheduling. At this level especially, schedule can make a huge difference in wins/losses. I don't know of any Coaches that leave this up to an AD. With the conference expansion, there isn't much to scheduling anymore. You've got 20 league games, Davis, two guanantee games, two non-D1 games, a bracket buster game. It only leaves room for another 4 or 5 games.

As far as the Dominican game, we went over this last year and maybe the year(s) before. Every school schedules at least two cupcakes, (non D1). If you check schedules of other schools, you'll probably see some on the schedules that you've never heard of. I know I have.
 
I didn’t know coaches do the scheduling. I assumed it was a team effort between the coach and AD given the contractual and logistical obligations that are involved. I would just like to see a more regional approach to the scheduling. There is no regional feel to the BSC and playing in CA as many times as possible can only help the program on many fronts (recruiting, less travel time, less travel costs, etc).

Since more recruits from SoCal have trickled in, I am kind of surprised Katz hasn’t taken a stronger approach to trying to get the Hornets in front of SoCal recruits as much as possible. We’ve had home and homes with LMU and Riverside as well as a money game at USC a few years ago. Aside from that I don’t recall many trips down south.
 
Im sure he has tried to make inroads in scheduling more CA programs. Fact is like EarleHornet said, we only have 8 non-conf games outside the Bracketbuster game. And Im sure Katz wants to have as even a home/road schedule as possible. Look, our four non-conf home games this year are at least CA opponents. Also keep in mind other schools have contracts with other schools that are set a couple years in advance. We don't know how the other BW schools (besides Davis) have scheduled out.

The WCC is looking to become a national hoops conference. Its getting a lot harder to schedule them now. The WAC is dying. The MWC will schedule here and there but at their place (they may say to us will go to Sac but only at Arco). The gym hinders us. Plain and simple.
 
There are ever-changing dry erase boards in both the coach's office and team room with the following year's OOC games listed. It's constantly changing as the year progresses until all the final paperwork is signed. Several intriguing matchups have come and gone that the Hornet faithful never even know about.

It's also not unheard of for a staff to schedule games against a non-regional opponent for a specific player or group of players (i.e. scheduling UCLA or UC Riverside for a roster with several players from the L.A. area).

There are three main reasons, SAC has trouble drawing decent OOC games at home and I will weight them as follows.

1. Poor Facility - 60%
2. Program Prestige - 30%
3. Fear of losing/Hostile environment - 10%
 
Thankfully it looks like your reason number three might be getting a lot stronger than 10%. It's the coaches job on the line so he should have the final say on scheduling. Dominion has a few local kids on the team and that probably has something to do with this game. Katz also sent quite a few players from Delta College to Dominion. It's nice to be able to pay back an institution that has helped you place kids in the past. Loyalty is not one of Katz's weaknesses. Quite refreshing now a days.
 
The amount of OOC games on the schedule isn’t the issue I’m complaining about. As SHA pointed out, about 9* are available every season:
  • • Causeway (1, home & home) – Our only big attendance draw.
    • Money games (2, road) – They are regional this season which is nice and they give fans a chance for a road trip.
    • Bracket Buster games (2, home & home) – Random luck of the draw wrt a regional standpoint. SJSU on the schedule is nice, SEMO not so much. It’s anybody’s guess as to how it will work out this season.
    • D2 game(s) (1 or 2, home) – I prefer if only 1 is scheduled. I understand the reason why a 2nd one is scheduled but I don’t like it. If the program can pull itself out of the cellar I would like to see the 2nd one go away if it can be replaced with a home game.
This leaves only 3 openings (assuming 1 D2 game). I also have no problem with what seems like a never ending home and home agreement with Bako. Bako is a comparable program and it’s regional. So with the 2 final slots available for OOC, I would hope Katz is using it to pound on some doors to find a regional home and home agreement and exhaust all those options before he has to look farther east. It’s interesting to hear from K that the following season’s OOC games are that fluid; I would have never thought potential OOC opponents change that quickly.

The strategic plan hints at the use of Arco/Power Balance/Sleep Train/Your-Name-Here Arena in the 2014/15 season. If this happens, I assume this would be on a limited use basis and would hopefully be used to lure in some more appealing OOC match-ups. I don’t see a need to have every game at Arco as very few of the BSC games will draw much more than they do in The Nest.

*Assumes a 29 game schedule, 20 of which are BSC games. With Idaho coming aboard after next season, the BSC scheduling will probably change. I’m hoping the BSC is split into divisions for Oly sports which will reduce the BSC games and open up more slots for OOC games.
 
32-30 Hornet lead at the half. Pretty embarrassing performance on the boards and in the paint. Once again plenty of missed point blank shots. This would be a pretty embarrassing loss, but amazingly it wouldn't overly surprise me.

Ugh, Demps has been horrible. Just fouled a guy taking a 3. :x

49-48 Hornet lead with just under 12. I think we all have the same feeling I do. :ohno:

55-54 Hornet lead 7 mins left.
 
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