How Do You Market A College Basketball Team That Shows Effort Described As ‘Unacceptable’ By The Coach?
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
A visibly agitated and ticked-off UNLV basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger was so upset with the passion and effort of his hoops team that the coach said after UNLV’s eight-point loss to Pacific Wednesday evening that he wished he could put on a uniform and dive for loose basketballs on the court himself.
But he noted he doesn’t have college eligibility anymore.
That was Otzelberger’s idea of humor as UNLV’s first-year coach was blunt during his post-game press conference after the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels were outscored 45-31 by Pacific in the second half and lost a 74-66 decision to the basketball team from the private university based in Stockton, California.
UNLV now has won only four of its first dozen games under Otzelberger, who was hired in March after UNLV Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois fired Marvin Menzies after UNLV lost to San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament in early March. The Pacific Tigers, which play in the West Coast Conference, improved to 11-3 tonight.
The 42-year-old Otzelberger used the term, “unacceptable,” to describe the effort and passion of his players at Thomas & Mack Center Wednesday. The Runnin’ Rebels made 21 of 48 shots, including six of 22 from three-point land. UNLV led 35-29 at halftime and led by as much as nine points after the start of the second half. But Pacific eventually worked over UNLV in the second half to win by eight points.
For the record, here’s Otzelberger’s quote: “Our effort and energy was unacceptable. In practice tomorrow, we are going to spend a lot of time taking charges, diving for loose balls, blocking out and guarding the dribble. If you don’t do those things in basketball you are not going to be successful. Their team came onto our court, played harder, tougher, more physical and was more aggressive. That’s not what we are about and not what we seek to do each day. We are going to make sure we keep doing those things every day until they become habits.”
UNLV player Nick Blair was asked after the loss about the team’s second half woes this season. Blair responded, “Lack of concentration.”
At his post-game media session, Otzelberger was asked by a local TV sports reporter how his team is handling the adversity.
Otzelberger responded, “Very poorly.”
With the team losing more than it’s winning and not showing the level of passion that Otzelberger is looking for, Las Vegas fans are not exactly filling the 17,000-seat arena.
The score sheet reported attendance at 7,023, but an eyeball assessment of the crowd revealed the number of people in the stands was probably closer to half that number.
UNLV Athletics’ marketing strategy is to offer affordable family prices for tickets, but the arena that used to draw big crowds for basketball games has lots of empty seats in the bottom bowl for UNLV hoops.
Just two years ago, UNLV defeated Utah in a 2017 basketball game at T-Mobile Arena. Tonight, Utah defeated six-ranked Kentucky at the same T-Mobile Arena, while two miles to the east UNLV lost to Pacific in a game that upset its coach.
Wednesday’s game was the first home game for UNLV in 22 days. UNLV continues its five-game homestand on Saturday vs. Robert Morris at 12 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center.
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