This morning's Geno Ford Show

[buschsquirrel2011]

"We have only had THREE practices so far at the Civic Center and, of course, 3 games/exhibitions...so the shooting pcts. at the Civic Center will get better as our guys get more practices down there."

now really? I thought.... Oh never mind

Was that Geno Ford's comment or tornado's transcript/breakdown of what Geno said?

Either way, one thing I like about you coachdude, you never let any actual facts get in the way of your opinions

In sports, and life in general, people have opinions and perceptions of things all the time. However, those opinions, while they may seem sound in logic, are not backed up by any actual facts or evidence. This is one of those cases. Perception and reality not always the same thing.

Anyway...Bradley should beat Wofford. I disagree with Dave Reynolds on the score. It won't be that high. Wofford won't let it. The Terriers will really try to slow the pace. If BU guards the shooters it wins. If not, could be trouble. Wofford's point guard is a good little player and the off guard has as nice a shot as I've seen in a long time.

[tornado]

Was that Geno Ford's comment or tornado's transcript/breakdown of what Geno said?..

it is virtually word for word what Geno said - if you heard otherwise then feel free to post what you heard

[Old Coach]

I agree that this is very important. I think that this will improve as the season goes on. I would think that it wouldn't expect some of the vets such as DSE and JP though. (This is their third season playing there) But it would be very hard for JP to improve any...

Depth perception in the arena shouldn't be an issue for JP, as he rarely takes a shot more than 3 feet from the basket.

For the guards, it's clearly another issue. I would love to see a "makes & misses" shot chart on everything from 15 feet and out. One of the 3rd year guards only shoots about 26% from beyond the arc for his career, so I wouldn't expect to see that greatly improve, but I'd love to see it get north of 30%.

[mrcoachdude]

Was that Geno Ford's comment or tornado's transcript/breakdown of what Geno said?

Either way, one thing I like about you coachdude, you never let any actual facts get in the way of your opinions

In sports, and life in general, people have opinions and perceptions of things all the time. However, those opinions, while they may seem sound in logic, are not backed up by any actual facts or evidence. This is one of those cases. Perception and reality not always the same thing.

Anyway...Bradley should beat Wofford. I disagree with Dave Reynolds on the score. It won't be that high. Wofford won't let it. The Terriers will really try to slow the pace. If BU guards the shooters it wins. If not, could be trouble. Wofford's point guard is a good little player and the off guard has as nice a shot as I've seen in a long time.

Wow..got your attention...facts vs opinion...I'll get back to you after I look up all the NCAA teams shooting % at home vs the road...it may take a while...oh never mind..its just my opinion..who really cares

[tornado]

almost everyone would agree that players DO shoot better on familiar courts than on unfamiliar ones..

Many studies have proven this and it's one reason teams across all levels of college & pro play enjoy a home court advantage...
If teams shot as well on the road then road teams would win close to 50% of the time but in reality road teams lose 70-80% of the time..

Bradley historically - going back 50-60 years enjoys an 80% winning pct at home...

Here's an incredibly thorough scientific study that showed that players shoot better at home than on the road...
".. field goal shooting was significantly better at home than on the road, F (1, 154) = 5.85, p < .05."
...but as one would expect - the difference was not seen in FT shooting since standing still 15 feet from the hoop kinda washes out all the rest of the variables, distractions, backgrounds, etc...

http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2007/articles/1012.htm

Here's one NBA study showing the shooting pct at home over the course of an entire season - over 1200 games - is 48.7% while it is just 47.2% on the road..
3-pt shooting is 36.0% at home and 35.5% on the road..

http://www.teamrankings.com/blog/nba/nba-home-court-advantage-really-just-the-refs

[buschsquirrel2011]

it is virtually word for word what Geno said - if you heard otherwise then feel free to post what you heard

I was curious as I didn't hear what he said.

My point was, and has been, the individual players shooting percentages will not increase the more games they play at Carver Arena. Guys shoot the way they shoot. Good shooters shoot well regardless of where the game is played, bad shooters shoot poorly regardless of where the game is played.

That has been my point all along.

[mrcoachdude]

I was curious as I didn't hear what he said.

My point was, and has been, the individual players shooting percentages will not increase the more games they play at Carver Arena. Guys shoot the way they shoot. Good shooters shoot well regardless of where the game is played, bad shooters shoot poorly regardless of where the game is played.

That has been my point all along.

Could not disagree more...home court has its advantages and shooting % is one of them...

[tornado]

I'm with ya coachdude on this one... if it weren't the case then why do opposing coaches get FURIOUS if they do NOT get their time on the GAME court for practice or warmup?
If the local made no difference, then they would go to the "Y" and shoot around...
if you look at trends - you have to look at broad trends or one aberrant game can mess i tup - but look just about anywhere over a year, a season, etc..and you'll prove it every time...

Bradley 2010-2011
Home 43.4% overall, 47.3% on 2-pt attempts, 33.9% on 3-pt attempts
Road 42.5% overall, 46.2% on 2-pt attempts, 31.1% on 3-pt attempts
Neutral 38.5% overall, 37.5% on 2-pt attempts, 41.4% on 3-pt attempts (small sample - just 4 games)

[buschsquirrel2011]

Well....almost every team in America shoots better at home than the road...of course they also win more...play better defense, etc.

That has nothing to do with the shooting percentages.

You made the point that the more BU practices at Carver Arena the better the team will shoot there. That has never proven to be true.

You would have to look at how individual player numbers go up from the first game of the season to the last game of the season at Carver Arena. That is the situation we are talking about. We are not talking about home/road splits.

If Bradley players were shooting 38% at home after five games but it went up to 45-46% at the end of the season then the point would be made. However, that's not how it works and not how it ever works.

Good shooters shoot well anywhere and bad shooters shoot poorly anywhere. This shouldn't be hard to grasp. I am certain of the data.

Anyway, probably not worth discussing anymore. No one is going to change someone else's opinion.

[tornado]

what proof would convince you -- I just cited all the numbers and the overwhelming majority of people who speak or are considered experts (coaches, etc..) on this subject agree..

But I don't even need "proof" - all I need is the word of our head coach who says that HE BELIEVES that if we get more practice time on our own home floor that it will improve their shooting.

[shaunguth]

what proof would convince you -- I just cited all the numbers and the overwhelming majority of people who speak or are considered experts (coaches, etc..) on this subject agree..

But I don't even need "proof" - all I need is the word of our head coach who says that HE BELIEVES that if we get more practice time on our own home floor that it will improve their shooting.

I'm just glad Wofford doesn't practice at Carver Arena. That would be scary!

[AZ BU Fan]

What always interests me is how the talent at Wofford (and other lower mid majors, Div II and III teams who have pushed around BU over the years) eludes BU recruiters?

[tornado]

that's an easy one to answer - Bradley doesn't now nor have they ever spent much time at all recruiting in North & South Carolina

http://athletics.wofford.edu/roster.aspx?path=mbball&roster=149&

[tornado]

here's last Saturday's Geno Ford Show with Dave Snell -

http://www.collegesportsdirect.com/Video.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=5950&vid=845316

[BuBraves55]

almost everyone would agree that players DO shoot better on familiar courts than on unfamiliar ones..

Many studies have proven this and it's one reason teams across all levels of college & pro play enjoy a home court advantage...
If teams shot as well on the road then road teams would win close to 50% of the time but in reality road teams lose 70-80% of the time..

Bradley historically - going back 50-60 years enjoys an 80% winning pct at home...

Here's an incredibly thorough scientific study that showed that players shoot better at home than on the road...
".. field goal shooting was significantly better at home than on the road, F (1, 154) = 5.85, p < .05."
...but as one would expect - the difference was not seen in FT shooting since standing still 15 feet from the hoop kinda washes out all the rest of the variables, distractions, backgrounds, etc...

http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2007/articles/1012.htm

Here's one NBA study showing the shooting pct at home over the course of an entire season - over 1200 games - is 48.7% while it is just 47.2% on the road..
3-pt shooting is 36.0% at home and 35.5% on the road..
http://www.teamrankings.com/blog/nba...-just-the-refs

And that's in the NBA- with more experienced players in way less intimidating atmospheres on the road.
I'm sure college home/away splits look significantly different.

More Carver time in practice!