Cornell Basketball - ECAC Holiday Classic

Does anyone have any ticket information for the game at MSG?

Also, is the game against Seton Hall sold out?

srg1
Does anyone have any ticket information for the game at MSG?

No, it doesn't actually appear that anyone does. It's not listed on the event schedule on the MSG website, it's not listed under events at MSG on Ticketmaster, and there's nothing about it on the Cornell sports website. There is a single listing on Stubhub, for what it's worth.

I called MSG. They say that Ticketmaster controls the ticketing. I left a message for the Cornell ticket office. I spoke to the St. John's ticket office and they said they have not received any MSG tickets. They supposedly will call me when they get tickets in. I called Ticketmaster and they didn't know jack. This is bizarre. The tournament sounds like it will allow include St. John's season ticketholders because they are the only ones who could have purchased tickets.

FWIW, Hofstra has already begun selling tickets to the event. Check their athletics website gohofstra.com

I can't find it on their website. Is there a direct link?

[www.nmnathletics.com]

CM cWo 44
[www.nmnathletics.com]

OOF! This would have been a no-brainer in the pre-fatherhood days but it is more than I'm willing to spend now. $50 and leaving my wife with the kid on a Sunday? It might have been out of my hands anyway.

Thank you!

Wow, pricey tickets indeed. However, if you find cheaper tickets, you might earn brownie points with the wife by taking the baby to the game with you and giving her a free Sunday afternoon.

Rita
Wow, pricey tickets indeed. However, if you find cheaper tickets, you might earn brownie points with the wife by taking the baby to the game with you and giving her a free Sunday afternoon.

We're a year away from that. I see other people with babies at games like this and always think "mimosa". Make a choice because the ingredients are better apart than together.

I just spoke with the Cornell ticket office and they said to contact St Johns ticket office who is organizing the tournament. They said they have called the St Johns ticket office several times and are waiting for a callback.

ugarte

Rita
Wow, pricey tickets indeed. However, if you find cheaper tickets, you might earn brownie points with the wife by taking the baby to the game with you and giving her a free Sunday afternoon.

We're a year away from that. I see other people with babies at games like this and always think "mimosa". Make a choice because the ingredients are better apart than together.

We often took our baby to Lynah. If she got fussy, you just get up and try and settle her down. Better than not going at all.

I spoke to Maria at the Hofstra ticket office. Very nice and well informed. 516-463-7988. She said they are taking orders but do not have actual tickets in hand. She estimated that Hofstra would purchase 500 tickets. The price listed on the St. John's site is slightly different than what Hofstra lists. Hofstra received price estimates and moved ahead with the order form. Also, the tickets Hofstra is offering are for the good seats. They did not order tickets in the middle and upper levels. Hopefully those tickets will cost between $20 and $30.

Maria also indicated that the burden is on St. John's as the host school.

I called her also. I'm not sure if anybody cares, you might just want to see the game - but the tickets they are offering are in the Hofstra section. Might want to wait a little bit longer until Cornell may eventually have tickets to offer in the Cornell section.

Jim Hyla

ugarte

Rita
Wow, pricey tickets indeed. However, if you find cheaper tickets, you might earn brownie points with the wife by taking the baby to the game with you and giving her a free Sunday afternoon.

We're a year away from that. I see other people with babies at games like this and always think "mimosa". Make a choice because the ingredients are better apart than together.

We often took our baby to Lynah. If she got fussy, you just get up and try and settle her down. Better than not going at all.

We, actually me and another classmate, while mom relaxed at home, took our baby to see Cornell play football at Princeton. Not a victory IIRC. Princeton scores, Princeton fires off a cannon about 50 feet away. Bâby got upset to put it mildly. Not as much as mom when baby came home with a fully loaded diaper. It was changed when we left the stadium, but mom to this day believes I had him in an all-day diaper. Me, I figured, after the cannon went off, he had nothing left to give.

billhoward

Jim Hyla

ugarte

Rita
Wow, pricey tickets indeed. However, if you find cheaper tickets, you might earn brownie points with the wife by taking the baby to the game with you and giving her a free Sunday afternoon.

We're a year away from that. I see other people with babies at games like this and always think "mimosa". Make a choice because the ingredients are better apart than together.

We often took our baby to Lynah. If she got fussy, you just get up and try and settle her down. Better than not going at all.

We, actually me and another classmate, while mom relaxed at home, took our baby to see Cornell play football at Princeton. Not a victory IIRC. Princeton scores, Princeton fires off a cannon about 50 feet away. Bâby got upset to put it mildly. Not as much as mom when baby came home with a fully loaded diaper. It was changed when we left the stadium, but mom to this day believes I had him in an all-day diaper. Me, I figured, after the cannon went off, he had nothing left to give.

Can't understand that.

Maybe Age needs to quit that.

In case anyone didnt get the below email about the tournament:

Cornell Men's Basketball at the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival
The Cornell men's basketball team will return to the "World's Most Famous Arena" and attempt to win one of the most historic college basketball tournaments in the country, the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival, on Sunday and Monday, December 20-21. The nation's longest running holiday college basketball tournament will also feature host St. John's, Hofstra, and Davidson. In the tournament's first game, the two-time defending Ivy League champion Big Red will face Davidson, an NCAA quarterfinalist two years ago.

Don't miss your chance to watch what may be the best Cornell Basketball team ever! Led by seniors Louis Dale (Ivy Player of the Year as a sophomore), Ryan Whittman (two-time 1st team All-Ivy), and big-man Jeff Foote (arguably the best seven-footer to ever play in the league), the Big Red have already claimed road victories over the Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeast Conference and the UMass Minutemen and of the Atlantic 10 conference. Fresh off its thrilling OT win over Bucknell, the Big Red currently sport a 6-2 record. Come on out and enjoy the pageantry of college hoops at the Garden and root your alma mater to victory!

Event Details
Date: Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. versus Davidson and
Monday, December 21, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. versus St. John's or Hofstra

Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

Tickets: Tickets are available through Cornell's Athletic Ticket Office online: www.cornellbigredtickets.com or by phone at (607) 254-2327. All tickets are $54 per day for reserved seats (lower bowl and 100 level) and offer admission to both of that day's games.

Post-game: Following the game, Cornellians are invited to meet the Cornell men's basketball team and Coach Steve Donahue at Lugo Caffe, located at 1 Penn Plaza, 33rd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. Lugo Caffe owers Johnny Heil '90 and John Meadow '01 will provide a little bit of "la dolce vita" along with half price Peroni and Blue Moon beer and half price "Big Red Martinis."
TICKETS
Online: www.cornellbigredtickets.com
Phone: 607-254-2327

Pretty pricy - $54 and no student tickets...I'm not sure how many people MSG expects to draw...It's a shame they don't have half price student tickets. They're going to have a half full arena.

CUontheslopes
Pretty pricy - $54 and no student tickets...I'm not sure how many people MSG expects to draw...It's a shame they don't have half price student tickets. They're going to have a half full arena.

I have a feeling half full is ambitious.

The tickets are expensive but the main reason is they are for 2 games each so $27 seems somewhat reasonable, too bad they dont just sell tickets to 1 game instead of a session pass but why would they, they would make less money.

phillysportsfan
The tickets are expensive but the main reason is they are for 2 games each so $27 seems somewhat reasonable, too bad they dont just sell tickets to 1 game instead of a session pass but why would they, they would make less money.

Plus, they (almost) always have St. John's (possibly included for season ticket holders?) and another local team, this year it's Hofstra. In the past they've had (at least) Manhattan, Iona and Marist. When I've gone, the crowds have been pretty good, though rarely full.

phillysportsfan
The tickets are expensive but the main reason is they are for 2 games each so $27 seems somewhat reasonable, too bad they dont just sell tickets to 1 game instead of a session pass but why would they, they would make less money.

$27 per game for a tournament "featuring" 4 mediocre teams - and 50% of games that an individual fans is likely to not care about - doesn't strike me as very reasonable. Especially since they just ran an event where you could see 2 of the premiere programs in another college sport $25.

Well they were hoping Davidson was still going to have Curry. At least it is not a fake auto advance tournament like the Legends Classic.

The bottom line is the bottom line. If you don't live in the city, it's expensive just to travel there and pay for parking, tolls, train tickets, meals, etc. On top of that, we're asked to pay $54 for a ticket (it doesn't matter if it's for two games or one, since most of us only care about the Cornell game). Many of us just traveled into NY for the hockey game last weekend, and to ask us to spend all of this money to do so again is a tough sell. If the tickets were more reasonably priced, I'd certainly consider going to the games. But not for $54 a pop!

Yeah you would think they would at least sell the tickets in the second level for cheaper maybe half, probably make a lot more money. Its a shame cause it would have been nice if they had a large crowd.

Found some websites with somewhat cheaper prices
game 1 $45 [www.stubhub.com]
game 2 $39 [www.stubhub.com]
game 2 $47 [www.ticketsinventory.com]

ugarte
OOF! This would have been a no-brainer in the pre-fatherhood days but it is more than I'm willing to spend now. $50 and leaving my wife with the kid on a Sunday? It might have been out of my hands anyway.

I think a lot of people who made Cornell-BU hockey a family event are going to swallow hard, pay the $54 times one, and go solo to the basketball game. And I see it not as $27 for each of two games Sunday but $54 to see Cornell play and if you want you get to see a second game also. Plus the train at $15 or $25 to park and the bridge/tunnel toll, and those $9 beers. $100 basketball game, easily. Maybe there'll be a big sale at Macy's and you can save enough to pay for the ticket. You know, buy three sweaters at $20 off and you've saved $60 right there. My wife explained that to me a couple times.

From Cornell NY Net News mailing:

Post-game: Following the game, Cornellians are invited to meet the Cornell men's basketball team and Coach Steve Donahue at Lugo Caffe, located at 1 Penn Plaza, 33rd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. Lugo Caffe owers Johnny Heil '90 and John Meadow '01 will provide a little bit of "la dolce vita" along with half price Peroni and Blue Moon beer and half price "Big Red Martinis."

After some poking around, I see that all 4 games of the tournament will be televised (MSG and MSG+2), providing further disincentive to buying tickets.

I'm trying to get a handle on how closely matched the Sunday combatants, Cornell and Davidson, will be.

billhoward
I'm trying to get a handle on how closely matched the Sunday combatants, Cornell and Davidson, will be.

They are 2-6, though they have played a challenging schedule, though not more challenging than ours. I'd say that Cornell is a modest favorite.

cornell by 9

[www.usatoday.com]

Congrats to Harvard, the Ivy league will be a battle this year, Harvard beats BC for the second year in a row, 74-67

Good news everybody. On a hunch, I checked the Garden website and there are tickets available, including those in the 300s, for $15. Of course there is a gross $4.14 service charge, but way better than $50+.

[www.thegarden.com]

Have at it.

Scroll down to 12/20, the MSG Holiday Festival, click "Get Tickets" and you can specify the day you'd like. Then you can specify by price on the individual day's ticket page.

Ah that sucks I just bought tickets yesterday, thank you Cornell ticket office

Is it possible to return those tickets if I ordered them over the phone and didnt get them yet?

Also srg1 you should change the thread title so people know cheap tickets are available.

phillysportsfan
Is it possible to return those tickets if I ordered them over the phone and didnt get them yet?

You'll get a faster answer picking up the phone than posting to a message board. It took me almost 11 hours to get back to you with something as useless as this.

ugarte

phillysportsfan
Is it possible to return those tickets if I ordered them over the phone and didnt get them yet?

You'll get a faster answer picking up the phone than posting to a message board. It took me almost 11 hours to get back to you with something as useless as this.

Of course, it's not like anyone was going to answer the phone at the ticket office at 2am.

Yeah I know I am going to call but I was just curious if anyone had any experience with trying to cancel.

My Comcast channel guide shows the Cornell-Davidson game being telecast on Fox College Sports Atlantic from noon to 2pm on Sunday.

I would also bet that both games will be available on channelsurfing.net or myp2p.eu

Not sure if I missed it in a post, but does anyone know what part of MSG (sections) is considered the Cornell side/quarter for basketball this weekend? Thanks.

Robin

Robin
Not sure if I missed it in a post, but does anyone know what part of MSG (sections) is considered the Cornell side/quarter for basketball this weekend? Thanks.

Robin

I would call the ticket office

Cornell ranked #46 by Sagarin's calculations (Harvard is #49). Davidson deep down in the 100s. St. John's #33, IIRC, and Hofstra #100. The two teams that beat Cornell are ranked #1 ('Cuse) and somewhere around 30 (Seton Hall). Only nine teams ranked higher than Cornell, according to Sagarin, have played more difficult schedules. (Must be a lot of Carson-Webbs out there.)

Hopefully this snow holds off otherwise might prevent a lot of people from going to the games.

Yea, looks like are plans are halted due to the storm.

Robin
Yea, looks like are plans are halted due to the storm.

Yeah same here, it is painful to have to eat the cost of those $54 tickets.

Cornell looking pretty good on both ends. Early 13-5 lead with about 7 minutes gone, in front of practically DOZENS of rabid fans.

Free audio from ustream
[www.ustream.tv]

MSG and Fox College Sports Atlantic broadcasting tomorrow night's consolation and championship games starting at 7pm EST.

free crappy stream
[www.justin.tv]

Just gave away another big second half lead. Predictable, I regret to say. Offense reverts to trey after trey and can't score inside, while giving up easy looks inside.

Al DeFlorio
Just gave away another big second half lead. Predictable, I regret to say. Offense reverts to trey after trey and can't score inside, while giving up easy looks inside.

Funny, no complaints about trey after trey in the first half when they were shooting 60%.

Davidson's a good team. Cornell took the first half, Davidson took the second. And then the game ended when Foote decided not to call a timeout.

Pretty interesting last minute coaching on both ends. Donahue needs to have the team call a TO on the first 1-and-1, IMO, and for Davidson to put nobody on the line to contend the rebound at the end seems awfully questionable as well.

Jordan 04

Al DeFlorio
Just gave away another big second half lead. Predictable, I regret to say. Offense reverts to trey after trey and can't score inside, while giving up easy looks inside.

Funny, no complaints about trey after trey in the first half when they were shooting 60%.

Davidson's a good team. Cornell took the first half, Davidson took the second. And then the game ended when Foote decided not to call a timeout.

Sorry, Jordan, the game didn't end.

You clearly didn't understand what I wrote. When treys go in, it's great. When they don't, you need another facet in your offense. Cornell doesn't have that. Lastly, Davidson is NOT a "good team." They may be in a year or two. If Cornell wants any chance of being competitive in the NCAAs, they have to beat a young, inexperienced team like Davidson without all this drama.

Jordan 04
And then the game ended when Foote decided not to call a timeout.

It's not over...

Al DeFlorio

Jordan 04

Al DeFlorio
Just gave away another big second half lead. Predictable, I regret to say. Offense reverts to trey after trey and can't score inside, while giving up easy looks inside.

Funny, no complaints about trey after trey in the first half when they were shooting 60%.

Davidson's a good team. Cornell took the first half, Davidson took the second. And then the game ended when Foote decided not to call a timeout.

Sorry, Jordan, the game didn't end.

You clearly didn't understand what I wrote. When treys go in, it's great. When they don't, you need another facet in your offense. Cornell doesn't have that. Lastly, Davidson is NOT a "good team." They may be in a year or two. If Cornell wants any chance of being competitive in the NCAAs, they have to beat a young, inexperienced team like Davidson without all this drama.

I understood what you wrote. But it takes more than one missed three to establish that the well has run dry. Wittman was raining threes from beyond the NBA arc in the first half. It's not until he misses 3-4 open ones in the second half that you realize that the strategy has to change, and what I saw, was a team that did start to change. They got to the line a number of times in the last few minutes by getting the ball down low. But I'm not one to tell the best player in the league to stop taking open shots because he's miss one or two.

IMO, the issue this game has been the complete lack of help defense down low, and not the decisions to take open 3's.

And thanks to both of you for pointing out the most obvious reverse-jinx post.

Nice bail-out call at the end to put Davidson on the line.

WITTMANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How 'bout dem 3's

So let's see, we come out way ahead and then let the op get even. We go to OT, but this time we win. Maybe we shouldn't schedule any more MSG.

Jordan 04
It's not until he misses 3-4 open ones in the second half that you realize that the strategy has to change, and what I saw, was a team that did start to change.

They "started to change" after blowing a 16-point lead and falling behind--not very timely. Same thing against Bucknell. To be competitive against a top team, you have to get the ball inside to complement the treys. Princeton's successful Pete Carrill-coached teams were masters at getting back-door lay-ups. The threat of that made it easier for their three-point shooters. Davidson worked many back-doors today to get back in the game. No question, Cornell's inside defense is a weak point. As is defensive rebounding, by the way. Many too many Davidson offensive rebounds led to second-chance points.

We were lucky to win this game. We needed Davidson to choke on foul shots at the end of regulation and at the end of OT, which it did. And we needed a basket at the buzzer in regulation to send the game into OT, and a basket at the buzzer in OT to win the game after Dale, who got us into OT and carried us in the first part of OT, blew two FTs which would have given us a three-point lead. It's a great win, but our defense was terrible in the second half.

Gotta remember to set the DVR for tomorrow night's game. I suspect St. John's and I want to play them even though we are much more likely to beat Hofstra. A loss to St. John's probably means more than a win over Hofstra. Even if not, I'd rather take another shot at taking a Big East scalp. America East is already among the coup we've counted.

At halftime, St. John's 37, Hofstra 36.

Also, for what it's worth, Hofstra is in the CAA, not the America East (they made that move in 2001, I believe).

kingpin248
Also, for what it's worth, Hofstra is in the CAA, not the America East (they made that move in 2001, I believe).

True enough - but we've got the CAA in our trophy case already also.

Well we got St Johns who went on a 13-1 run to win the game 72-60

phillysportsfan
Well we got St Johns who went on a 13-1 run to win the game 72-60

I'm assuming the consolation game is at 7, with the championship after that. Can someone confirm?

Swampy

phillysportsfan
Well we got St Johns who went on a 13-1 run to win the game 72-60

I'm assuming the consolation game is at 7, with the championship after that. Can someone confirm?

Yes, I can confirm. Figure 9:15-9:30 or so for the start.

dbilmes
We were lucky to win this game. We needed Davidson to choke on foul shots at the end of regulation and at the end of OT, which it did. And we needed a basket at the buzzer in regulation to send the game into OT, and a basket at the buzzer in OT to win the game after Dale, who got us into OT and carried us in the first part of OT, blew two FTs which would have given us a three-point lead. It's a great win, but our defense was terrible in the second half.

Really fun win to be at, but you certainly wouldn't draw it up that way. The offensive let-down in the second half was not all that surprising. You're not going to continue shooting 55% from 3, or whatever it was, that they did in the first half. However, it was the 2nd half defense that was the real let-down. One observation: it wasn't that the help-D wasn't there, as someone mentioned above, it's that it was AWFUL and necessary FAR too often. The primary defender bit on every shot-fake, from a team that wasn't shooting all that well, allowing the player to dribble by and either get a layup around the late/weak help defense or pass to open teammate while we were scrambling around. We're going to need to be a lot better defensively to win tomorrow night, beat Harvard, win the Ivies and/or make some noise in the tourny.

That rant said, I had a great time and it was an awesome win. Really good stuff from Louis Dale carrying the team through the last few minutes of regulation when they really needed it, after scoring no points up until that point. His missed free throws were certainly costly, but we wouldn't have been in that position without his play in the waning minutes.

Let's Go Red tomorrow night!

All three local hockey teams play tonight -- MSG will join the Cornell game in progress after Rangers postgame (roughly 10:00). FSC-A [edit: or the MSG overflow channel (see link below)] will carry it from the beginning.

I'll probably just go to a sports bar and ask for a dedicated TV. There's no other big New York game tonight, is there?

Greenberg '97
All three local hockey teams play tonight -- MSG will join the Cornell game in progress after Rangers postgame (roughly 10:00). FSC-A will carry it from the beginning. For those with Cablevision, it's on the Sports Pak tier ($5/month).

If you don't already subscribe to the Sports Pak, you can order it today, cancel it tomorrow, and pay a pro-rated 17 cents, as I did when the ECAC semifinal was on the NHL Network earlier this year.

I'll probably just go to a sports bar and ask for a dedicated TV. There's no other big New York game tonight, is there?

No need to pay for FCS if you have cablevision already. It will be on the MSG overflow channel from start to finish. For me it's channel 66 (CSPAN2). Cablevision subscribers see here: [www.optimum.net] Sorry Bill, no HD tonight.

ETA: See here for other operators with overflow stations [www.msg.com]

Chris '03

Greenberg '97
All three local hockey teams play tonight -- MSG will join the Cornell game in progress after Rangers postgame (roughly 10:00). FSC-A will carry it from the beginning. For those with Cablevision, it's on the Sports Pak tier ($5/month).

If you don't already subscribe to the Sports Pak, you can order it today, cancel it tomorrow, and pay a pro-rated 17 cents, as I did when the ECAC semifinal was on the NHL Network earlier this year.

I'll probably just go to a sports bar and ask for a dedicated TV. There's no other big New York game tonight, is there?

No need to pay for FCS if you have cablevision already. It will be on the MSG overflow channel from start to finish. For me it's channel 66 (CSPAN2). Cablevision subscribers see here: [www.optimum.net] Sorry Bill, no HD tonight.

ETA: See here for other operators with overflow stations [www.msg.com]

Thanks, I wouldn't have guessed that our local TW would pick this up on their overflow TW station, but they are.

srg1
Does anyone have any ticket information for the game at MSG? Also, is the game against Seton Hall sold out?

Those who attended can confirm, seats were available both days and it appears weather was not a tipping point in the difference between sold out and available.

billhoward
Those who attended can confirm, seats were available both days and it appears weather was not a tipping point in the difference between sold out and available.

Seats were available? More like, sections were available.

Fellow Cornellians, please do not let the question of availability of tickets keep you from a game, with the possible exception of hockey vs. Harvard at home. God knows, we need all the people to show up we can get.

HeafDog

billhoward
Those who attended can confirm, seats were available both days and it appears weather was not a tipping point in the difference between sold out and available.

Seats were available? More like, sections were available.

Fellow Cornellians, please do not let the question of availability of tickets keep you from a game, with the possible exception of hockey vs. Harvard at home. God knows, we need all the people to show up we can get.

It was fascinating that at timeouts a dozen - 15? 20? - guards ringed the court. So the fans wouldn't mob the court? So the players wouldn't go hide in the stands after missed shots? Too bad Cornell couldn't have mustered, say, 2500 fans for each game. Relative to the other teams' turnouts (actually, Davidson did okay, considering it's more than 500 miles away and it's not very big), that many would have made the rafters ring.

billhoward
It was fascinating that at timeouts a dozen - 15? 20? - guards ringed the court. So the fans wouldn't mob the court? So the players wouldn't go hide in the stands after missed shots? Too bad Cornell couldn't have mustered, say, 2500 fans for each game. Relative to the other teams' turnouts (actually, Davidson did okay, considering it's more than 500 miles away and it's not very big), that many would have made the rafters ring.

The other problem was that there was really no cohesive "Cornell section." We did have a good few hundred people there, at least - consolidated, we could've been loud and effective. As it was, we were pretty spread out, so the St. John's fans probably think we only have one loud fan* and a bunch of relatively polite ones.

*HeafDog, natch.

Beeeej

billhoward
It was fascinating that at timeouts a dozen - 15? 20? - guards ringed the court. So the fans wouldn't mob the court? So the players wouldn't go hide in the stands after missed shots? Too bad Cornell couldn't have mustered, say, 2500 fans for each game. Relative to the other teams' turnouts (actually, Davidson did okay, considering it's more than 500 miles away and it's not very big), that many would have made the rafters ring.

The other problem was that there was really no cohesive "Cornell section." We did have a good few hundred people there, at least - consolidated, we could've been loud and effective. As it was, we were pretty spread out, so the St. John's fans probably think we only have one loud fan* and a bunch of relatively polite ones.

*HeafDog, natch.

Nah, you all came through on the teevee. Well, HeafDog did anyway.

The St. John's athletics web site says the Red Storm was #5 in men's basketball RPI (as calculated by rpiratings.com).

[www.redstormsports.com]

Couldn't tell from the website that St. John's played last night. Must be another Game That Didn't Happen as far as they're concerned.

TimV
Couldn't tell from the website that St. John's played last night. Must be another Game That Didn't Happen as far as they're concerned.

[www.redstormsports.com]

And you can't even use snow as an excuse.

billhoward

It was fascinating that at timeouts a dozen - 15? 20? - guards ringed the court. So the fans wouldn't mob the court? So the players wouldn't go hide in the stands after missed shots?

Was Matt Coates running the security for this game?