uneblinstu's post game chatter: ed 6, vol 23 - @ Northwestern

[NUdiehard]

While we are on the subject of rules, it continues to absolutely astound me that each team can use their own brand of basketball for games.  I know it has always been this way, and apparently is the same for football, but it just blows me away.  Maybe it is just me, but one basketball can have a completely different feel from another type of basketball.  If a player or team practices every single day with one brand of ball, and then is handed a different brand of ball for game day, that seems like a huge advantage to the home team.  Personally, people spend all this time talking about crowd noise, traveling, etc, as pitfalls for road teams, but I think the different ball can be just as big, if not bigger, issue.  

 

From what I understand, NW uses UnderArmor basketballs.  Seriously? Was it an indoor/outdoor ball?  Give me a break.  If you watched close, you could actually see the NU players seeming for have a difficult time even bouncing the thing.  Heck, why not just use one of those "rubber' balls that we all played with growing up as kids.  

 

If I were a middling program that knew it could never compete, I would buy the crappiest ball I could find and practice with it every single day.  That would give that team a huge advantage during games.  

 

Anyway, one other questions i have off this is, does NU practice with the brand of ball that is used by the opponent in the practices leading up to a road game.  If trey don't, then this is a serious oversight.  NU has a huge budget, so buying 3 or 4 "alternate" sets of basketballs is not even going to cause a minor dent in the budget (and yes, I know they would need to buy 20+ balls of each).  

 

Anyway, that is my rant for the day.  

[Huskerpapa]

While we are on the subject of rules, it continues to absolutely astound me that each team can use their own brand of basketball for games.  I know it has always been this way, and apparently is the same for football, but it just blows me away.  Maybe it is just me, but one basketball can have a completely different feel from another type of basketball.  If a player or team practices every single day with one brand of ball, and then is handed a different brand of ball for game day, that seems like a huge advantage to the home team.  Personally, people spend all this time talking about crowd noise, traveling, etc, as pitfalls for road teams, but I think the different ball can be just as big, if not bigger, issue.  

 

From what I understand, NW uses UnderArmor basketballs.  Seriously? Was it an indoor/outdoor ball?  Give me a break.  If you watched close, you could actually see the NU players seeming for have a difficult time even bouncing the thing.  Heck, why not just use one of those "rubber' balls that we all played with growing up as kids.  

 

If I were a middling program that knew it could never compete, I would buy the crappiest ball I could find and practice with it every single day.  That would give that team a huge advantage during games.  

 

Anyway, one other questions i have off this is, does NU practice with the brand of ball that is used by the opponent in the practices leading up to a road game.  If trey don't, then this is a serious oversight.  NU has a huge budget, so buying 3 or 4 "alternate" sets of basketballs is not even going to cause a minor dent in the budget (and yes, I know they would need to buy 20+ balls of each).  

 

Anyway, that is my rant for the day.  

Good point.  I guess it can add to the old home court advantage.

[roscoe]

Just as I was getting out of high school officiating is when the rules allowed a ref to back away and pass the ball to a player inbounding the ball. I would always make sure the player knew I was passing to him with some sort of verbal statement. I never had one lose complete control but there were some bobbles and if it was a bad enough bobble I would blow my whistle and restart the inbounds. Not sure if that answers the question, just the way I approached it.

[ajb5856]

While we are on the subject of rules, it continues to absolutely astound me that each team can use their own brand of basketball for games. I know it has always been this way, and apparently is the same for football, but it just blows me away. Maybe it is just me, but one basketball can have a completely different feel from another type of basketball. If a player or team practices every single day with one brand of ball, and then is handed a different brand of ball for game day, that seems like a huge advantage to the home team. Personally, people spend all this time talking about crowd noise, traveling, etc, as pitfalls for road teams, but I think the different ball can be just as big, if not bigger, issue.

From what I understand, NW uses UnderArmor basketballs. Seriously? Was it an indoor/outdoor ball? Give me a break. If you watched close, you could actually see the NU players seeming for have a difficult time even bouncing the thing. Heck, why not just use one of those "rubber' balls that we all played with growing up as kids.

If I were a middling program that knew it could never compete, I would buy the crappiest ball I could find and practice with it every single day. That would give that team a huge advantage during games.

Anyway, one other questions i have off this is, does NU practice with the brand of ball that is used by the opponent in the practices leading up to a road game. If trey don't, then this is a serious oversight. NU has a huge budget, so buying 3 or 4 "alternate" sets of basketballs is not even going to cause a minor dent in the budget (and yes, I know they would need to buy 20+ balls of each).

Anyway, that is my rant for the day.

Absolutely correct. A different ball will feel totally different. It can really throw off a shot as feel has everything to do with shooting the basketball. From the catch to the last roll off the fingertips. Using a different brand can really give you the "what the heck is this thing?" thought as you catch it and it can really mess with your mind. Feel is everything. I don't understand it. You go from Nike to Adidas to Under Armour...at least once you get to the NCAA tournament then they have the standardized ball. They use that Wilson NCAA ball for every game. I have no idea why they don't standardize it for regular season games.

[royalfan]

That is absurd that home team gets to choose the ball.  I did not know that.  The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it gets.  No wonder it seemed windy today:)

[Norm Peterson]

Football, the team on offense uses their preferred ball.  So, Taylor Martinez wanted and got to use old, worn adidas balls.

 

In basketball, I guess someone has to pick the ball and since there's not a distinct offense and defense out there, you just use the home team's ball.  And, since more than one company makes basketballs, there will obviously be more than one ball that gets played with.

 

Within that rule, though, that allows the home team to choose the ball, there are parameters that game balls have to fall within.  Baseballs have to be a certain size and weight in order to be usable as "official" game balls.  Same goes for basketballs.  They have to be round, of course.  They have to be a certain size.  They have to be a certain weight.  And they have to have a certain bounce.  They're pretty uniform.  Brands might change but balls are going to be pretty similar across all brands.

 

JMOO.

[ajb5856]

Football, the team on offense uses their preferred ball. So, Taylor Martinez wanted and got to use old, worn adidas balls.

In basketball, I guess someone has to pick the ball and since there's not a distinct offense and defense out there, you just use the home team's ball. And, since more than one company makes basketballs, there will obviously be more than one ball that gets played with.

Within that rule, though, that allows the home team to choose the ball, there are parameters that game balls have to fall within. Baseballs have to be a certain size and weight in order to be usable as "official" game balls. Same goes for basketballs. They have to be round, of course. They have to be a certain size. They have to be a certain weight. And they have to have a certain bounce. They're pretty uniform. Brands might change but balls are going to be pretty similar across all brands.

JMOO.

Similar, yes. But any ball that is FIBA approved is gonna fall within the size and weight parameters. That doesn't mean different branded balls will have even close to the same feel. The Nike ball dribbles way differently than the adidas or Wilson ball. They feel way different. In football, it doesn't really matter since the offense that chooses the ball is the primary handler unless there is an interception or another turnover by the defense. And the defense isn't used to handling the ball anyway. This obviously isn't the case with basketball where both teams are going to handle the ball equally. I'm serious. Go to scheels and handle and dribble every different ball they have. The Nikes have more of a hard 'shell' and feel 'thinner'' while some of the Wilson NCAA balls have a 'squishier' feel, a softer feel to its surface. They will handle, feel, and dribble way different.

[Tallbaby21]

They must not have seen our Ted Valentine game in Charleston.