Where is our home-court advantage?

[Carver Arena Guy]

Da Coach--you aren't aren't proving anything. You are proving that teams have home court advantages. They have them when they play on campus and when they play off campus.

Of course more people will be on that list--because more people play on campus arenas. A very small fraction of teams play off campus.

Look at the BOTTOM of that list. Those teams plan on campus as well. So where is their on-campus home court advantage? I mean, the bottom 75 or so all play in on-campus facilities. What gives there? You can't look at just the high end of a scale without looking at the bottom end. If playing on campus is such an advantage why are they so low? Why so many teams down there? Wouldnt all the teams playing off campus be at the bottom if your theory holds true?

Why do teams win a lot at home--its because they have a good team. It has nothing to do with where they practice. Again, Bradley has had many years where they dominated at home. What was different then than now?

Same with other schools--the team overall was better. When you are good--you win at home. When you are average--you are average at home.

As for the schools that play some on campus and some off-campus--well, they play easier games with smaller crowds on campus--thus more wins. When they have bigger crowds, bigger games, and tougher opponents--they play off campus. Thus a lower winning percentage (St. John's and Villanova are examples of this).

If Carver Arena was such a distinct disadvantage why did Bradley win so many games there in the mid-late 80's and then again in the mid 90's?

Why do we continue to make silly excuses? There is no way anyone on the Bradley basketball staff honestly believes they haven't won at home as much is because they don't practice there. Jim Les knows better than that.

[Carver Arena Guy]

The argument MAY hold some small amount of weight, but IMO, these examples listed do not.

You would need to go through every team and see what the RPI of the opponents were when playing at a civic arena vs. an on campus facility.

The reason I say this is because MANY of these schools that play at both places, play their crappy non-conference opponents at the campus location to save the costs of renting the civic arena for a lesser opponent. Any "big game" with an expected large attendance is played at the civic center. Those opponents are more often then not much tougher competition IE- more losses.

The only way to use these as examples is if they played the same competition at both sites, every year, which obviously will never happen.

Good point Nacho and I made that point but probably got lost in my rambling. St. John's plays easy, non-conf opponents at home but Big East opponents at MSG. Villanova does the same thing. Bethune-Cookman does that as well and they are on the lower end.

You want to know what teams win alot at home--look at the the teams that win alot. That pretty much sums it all up.

[tornado]

Good point Nacho....

glad all the ISU fans on the Bradley board agree...

[Carver Arena Guy]

glad all the ISU fans on the Bradley board agree...

Not an ISU fan tornado. Obviously you missed my posts on the BU/ISU game thread topic. Bradley fan here, have been my whole life.

[Da Coach]

One more thing- The concept of "home court advantage" has actually been studied quite a bit by sports psychologists.
In brief- studies vary, but they have found that there is a significant "home court advantage" effect, and basketball is a sport where one of the greatest "home court advantages" is seen.
And one of the most strongly cited factors is the familiarity of the home court facility.

[Carver Arena Guy]

One more thing- The concept of "home court advantage" has actually been studied quite a bit by sports psychologists.
In brief- studies vary, but they have found that there is a significant "home court advantage" effect, and basketball is a sport where one of the greatest "home court advantages" is seen.
And one of the most strongly cited factors is the familiarity of the home court facility.

Understood. And Bradley is infinitely more familiar with Carver Arena than any opponent who comes in there one time a year. Bradley practices downtown more now than they ever did in the late 80's and early 90's.

Bradley has dominated at home before. Bradley has dominated at home at Carver Arena. There shouldn't be a reason why it can't happen again. I believe it can.

[BU RICK]

Whatever happened to those combined seasons where we won 20-30 in a row at home? I miss those I hope it's a clear sky tonight, if so I'll be out on the balcony with my binoculars to make it better.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100129/sc_space/biggestandbrightestfullmoonof2010tonight

[Da Coach]

Da Coach--you aren't aren't proving anything.

I don't need to prove anything, though the proof above shows that teams have less "home court advantage" in arenas where they do not practice.
And as I mentioned, even sports psychologists cite the familiarity with the home court as one of a few significant factors that lend to the phenomenon of "home court advantage". So, you are free to believe what you want.

You are the one making little sense by claiming familiarity doesn't matter, because you can find some isolated case that seems to disprove it.
By the way- I showed above that your examples don't really hold up.

And you are wrong about some other statements- past teams actually spent much more time practicing in the Carver Arena than recent teams have.

[Carver Arena Guy]

I don't need to prove anything, though the proof above shows that teams have less "home court advantage" in arenas where they do not practice.
And as I mentioned, even sports psychologists cite the familiarity with the home court as one of a few significant factors that lend to the phenomenon of "home court advantage". So, you are free to believe what you want.

You are the one making little sense by claiming familiarity doesn't matter, because you can find some isolated case that seems to disprove it.
By the way- I showed above that your examples don't really hold up.

And you are wrong about some other statements- past teams actually spent much more time practicing in the Carver Arena than recent teams have.

Da Coach--come on man. You know better. What about all the teams that were on the bottom of the list who also play on-campus? They just don't count? So you only looked at the top of a list and not the bottom to make your hypothesis? That's really a terrible way of conducting an expirement.

Again, why do all those teams who practice on campus not have a higher winning percentage? Wouldn't all of them (not just ones you selected) be higher than the teams who play off-campus? You are neglecting about 80% of the schools in the NCAA. To do it properly you have to look at all of them, not just the top ones.

We are going to have to disagree about how much time BU teams past/present spent practicing at Carver Arena. That is semantics. Doesn't affect the discussion either way.

Why was Bradley able to have 20+ home court winning streaks at Carver Arena? What is different then and now?

[Da Coach]

So by your theory, there should be no teams at the bottom of the list? Of course there will be bad teams with little or no home court advantage.
You can't use that to diprove what I have said. It's irrelevant.
The question was asked about home court advantage, and I answered with a logical answer that many at Bradley believe is part of the reason, and it's backed up by sports psychologists, and by comparison of actual records of teams that play in campus AND off-campus arenas.

Please, just accept it or not. Stop trying to dominate every thread and shout down every Bradley fan here who has an opinion that differs with yours.

You have already obliterated all records here with almost 40 posts in the last 24 hours. Should we just rename this board the Carver Arena Guy board?

[Carver Arena Guy]

So by your theory, there should be no teams at the bottom of the list? Of course there will be bad teams with little or no home court advantage.
You can't use that to diprove what I have said. It's irrelevant.
The question was asked about home court advantage, and I answered with a logical answer that many at Bradley believe is part of the reason, and it's backed up by sports psychologists, and by comparison of actual records of teams that play in campus AND off-campus arenas.

Please, just accept it or not. Stop trying to dominate every thread and shout down every Bradley fan here who has an opinion that differs with yours.

You have already obliterated all records here with almost 40 posts in the last 24 hours. Should we just rename this board the Carver Arena Guy board?

I would be honored if you renamed the board in my honor. I've had things named after me but they weren't positive

Sorry, Im a passionate Bradley fan. It's been slow at work. There are many weeks where I don't have time for this so I will take advantage much to everyone else's chagrin.

We are going to have to disagree on this. I don't know any Bradley fans who feel BU struggles to win at home because they don't get to practice at Carver Arena. Again, I don't know a single one who thinks this. Especially since these fans all remember how much Bradley used to dominate at home in the late 80's and mid 90's.

If Bradley has always struggled to win at home then I think your point is more valid. But, they haven't. As mentioned, they have had 2-3 20+ game home court winning streaks at Carver Arena. There is nothing different between then and now except the quality of the team overall fluctuates.

[tornado]

Im a passionate Bradley fan. ...

but after every great BU win, you are totally silent....??

[Carver Arena Guy]

but after every great BU win, you are totally silent....??

Actually I just registered for the board yesterday. I have already been kicked off the board in the past. So it's kinda hard to post when some people feel you aren't allowed. If admitting to that leads me to getting kicked off again, I'm sorry--see you later

You would have to read my posts on other message boards to see my comments after Bradley wins. Or you would have to be privy to the hundreds of text messages I send/receive to my many BU friends/fans that I talk to on a daily basis (win or lose). Or you would have to be sitting next to me at a Bradley game as I cheer on the Braves.

Tornado, I guarantee---If I am not kicked off before then you will certainly see me comment big time if the Braves win in B/N on Saturday. I am glad you are following me so closely however

I don't question anyone else's fandom. Im not sure why others feel they need to do the same.

[dogsrus]

Home Court Advantage (HCA), to me, is more then just the court you practice/play on.

I would agree that in a small way (very small) you lose a miniscule bit of advantage compared to those that practice and play on the same court but not enough to draw any conclusions from as far as hurting the HCA. And how would a person explain those teams that lose alot at home and still practice there? Also, If you think about it, the backdrop changes between practice and gametime due to all the fans so really, just how advantageous is it really?

To me its more then JUST the court you play on. "Home court advantage" should actually be the "playing at home" advantage.

Things you often here coaches refer to far greater more times then actually mentioning the court are , sleeping in our own beds.....eating at familiar places......not having to travel......no distractions at hotels.....minimal to no travel TO the arena.....famililarity with the surroundings, no buses, airports or planes. AND the home crowd (noise).

BU has all of those mentioned above and they DO practice at Carver on occasion not to mention all the home games they play there throughout the season.

So there is NO reason other then talent/coaching that we don't have a better home court record. Period.

[Out of Balance]

Home Court Advantage (HCA), to me, is more then just the court you practice/play on.

I would agree that in a small way (very small) you lose a miniscule bit of advantage compared to those that practice and play on the same court but not enough to draw any conclusions from as far as hurting the HCA. And how would a person explain those teams that lose alot at home and still practice there? Also, If you think about it, the backdrop changes between practice and gametime due to all the fans so really, just how advantageous is it really?

To me its more then JUST the court you play on. "Home court advantage" should actually be the "playing at home" advantage.

Things you often here coaches refer to far greater more times then actually mentioning the court are , sleeping in our own beds.....eating at familiar places......not having to travel......no distractions at hotels.....minimal to no travel TO the arena.....famililarity with the surroundings, no buses, airports or planes. AND the home crowd (noise).

BU has all of those mentioned above and they DO practice at Carver on occasion not to mention all the home games they play there throughout the season.

So there is NO reason other then talent/coaching that we don't have a better home court record. Period.

Can't argue or disagree with anything you have said here, Dog Also I might add, some players get the chance to play in front of family and friends, as that is why they chose the school in the first place Good post Dog