Stegeman isn't great, but the training facilities are top notch. I disagree that Stegeman is an excuse for failure to win a single game in the tournament and typically outright failing to get in. If you want to say that it's why we don't regularly compete with Kentucky/Duke/UNC for the top 10-15 players, fine... But we're not just one step back from them. We're many. Also, Alabama, Miss St, and several others have pretty shitty venues as well.

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basically zero atmosphere

Not sure where this is coming from... it's about on par with other places when the competition is good, and plenty of other SEC programs have less than ideal crowds for games against bottom dweller 200+ RPI programs.

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inconsistent fan support

This is accurate, but again a reflection of the brand of basketball that we play. For big games, the fans show up... then they get let down... it's a shitty self fulfilling prophecy, but the best way to get consistent fan support is to put a consistently quality product on the floor. Fox has taken the team as far as he can in my opinion (and others), and yet 8 years later there are people willing to give him a pass but feel that it's win or gtfo for Kirby in year 2... Just calling a spade a spade.

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no tangible demonstration of a real desire to improve

Not sure what a tangible demonstration would be other than actually stating that regularly missing the tournament is unacceptable and holding a coach accountable.

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Basketball players typically don't care about staying in state

This doesn't seem to be the case for players in Kansas, Indiana, North Carolina, etc... why does it only apply to players from the state of Georgia? It doesn't have to just be in state either... regional is big. Villanova is just a little outside Philly. Their roster is made up primarily of guys from Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey/New York - all bordering states. Butler is more than 50% Indiana/Ohio guys. Baylor's roster is half TX players, then expanding into OK, MO, and LA gets you to 75%. Gonzaga has a good number of guys from the NW (Oregon, Washington, BC) and further still most guys are from "out west" whether it's CA, CO, Montana... basketball recruiting is regional. So yes, being on the doorstep of the ACC is problematic, it is the same for Auburn, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, etc... all teams that are at present trending more positively than UGA.

This post was edited on 2/27/17 at 11:32 am

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Posted by Crowknowsbest

Member since May 2012

25901 posts

Posted on 2/27/17 at 11:51 am to fibonaccisquared

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Stegeman isn't great, but the training facilities are top notch.

The training facilities are what you'd expect for a power 5 school. Stegeman is not a suitable venue for a major college basketball team.

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Not sure where this is coming from... it's about on par with other places when the competition is good, and plenty of other SEC programs have less than ideal crowds for games against bottom dweller 200+ RPI programs.

... and those other SEC programs suck on the national scale. Why would they be the metric?

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it's a shitty self fulfilling prophecy, but the best way to get consistent fan support is to put a consistently quality product on the floor.

The classic chicken and egg problem. Fans will show up when the team is good, but you can't have a good team without good players, and it's hard to get good players to play in an out-dated and empty arena.

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Not sure what a tangible demonstration would be other than actually stating that regularly missing the tournament is unacceptable and holding a coach accountable.

Maybe don't play in the worst major college venue in the region. That would be a start.

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This doesn't seem to be the case for players in Kansas, Indiana, North Carolina, etc... why does it only apply to players from the state of Georgia?

Those states have blue blood programs in them. Those schools keep players home because 1) they can get anyone from anywhere and 2) the local kids are indoctrinated in a culture of basketball madness from the time they are little kids. Basketball is bigger than football in those places. It's not even a reasonable comparison.

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Villanova is just a little outside Philly. Their roster is made up primarily of guys from Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey/New York - all bordering states. Butler is more than 50% Indiana/Ohio guys. Baylor's roster is half TX players, then expanding into OK, MO, and LA gets you to 75%. Gonzaga has a good number of guys from the NW (Oregon, Washington, BC) and further still most guys are from "out west" whether it's CA, CO, Montana...

All of those are better and more attractive programs than UGA.