Being a first-year faculty member here and a former Division I varsity basketball athlete, I would like to make some general comments about Brooks Gym and the ETSU basketball record of winning there.
I am under the impression that the team practices in Brooks Gym.
This makes the team very familiar with that court and any idiosyncracies.
I know that they play there until football is through in the Mini-Dome.
I suggest the following variables as potential factors:
1. Each site has a different floor with unusual ball bounces, different backboards with rigidness or lack thereof, different rim tensions and different depth perceptions. These all can make shooting interesting, resulting in airballs, short or rather long rebounds, etc.
2. The sounds that result from the game also change and affect the players comfort, also known as the home court advantage. If the team practices solely in Brooks, the Mini-Dome floor never truly becomes comfortable. Ball bounce sounds, running and squeaking, rim sounds, etc., all affect the players perception. Look at the famed Boston Celtics parquet floor and its history of bounces.
I strongly believe though that the Mini-Dome is the place for home games. It brings a true sense of big-time basketball and excitement.
The solution should be, if not the case already, that all practices be in the Mini-Dome.
Believe it or not, the dome is and should be a big recruiting tool for potential athletes. I realize that the sight lines come into play, more so in football.
Players get very used to how the game sounds, feels, and is sensed on their home court.
At Miami, we practiced on campus and played our games in the downtown arena, which always felt odd as we were not used to it.
I sense that if the team practices in Brooks, they will always have a hard time feeling at home in the dome. I do not believe that Brooks Gym brings a sense of college-level athletics into focus.
When in Brooks Gym, I feel like I am in a high school gym. The bleachers are way too small, not only for the fans but the band and cheerleaders as well. They are way too close to the floor in Brooks.
The last home game did not show that fan support would or could fill up Brooks Gym.
If Brooks Gym was packed every game, I would concede the point that the dome is too big and impersonal.
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