Home Court Advantage

by Jeff Clark on Feb 26, 2009 9:09 AM EST in Articles Comment 49 comments

The Celtics have been neck and neck with the Cleveland Cavaliers all year long. They currently have 2 more wins and 2 more losses than the Cavs. So in a vacuum you would think that we are in pretty good shape. However, we recently lost Kevin Garnett for 2 to 3 weeks and just dropped a horrible game to the Clippers. So naturally fans are starting to panic and many in the media are writing us off for home court advantage.

Short aside: I was watching some ESPN NBA show a week ago and Stuart Scott was talking about how the Celtics needed to make a move at the deadline because the Cavs were "running away with the East." At the time the Celtics had the best record. I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, it got me to thinking. Just how important is this home court advantage?

Well, it is very important actually. The goal is always to get home court. It is important. It makes a difference. There have been several studies and articles published on the psychology behind home cookin' and the effect fans have on the refs.

However, as an optimist, I'm looking for ways to rationalize my way out of thinking it is the end of the world to lose home court. So here are some rationalizations.

I could bore you with stats that show that the teams with home court advantage win a high percentage of games in the playoffs. However, on a macro scale, doesn't it make sense that the teams that win more games in the regular season have a good deal of success in the playoffs?

Yes, I remember last year and how the team didn't win a road game till the Pistons series. But I would submit that last year was a bit of an anomaly. Put us in another 7 game series with the Hawks and I'm pretty sure we'd pick up a few road wins. It does get tougher against someone like the Cavs, but I think that speaks to the quality of the opponent moreso than the venue.

However, that's about all the rationalization I can muster.

The downside to losing homecourt is pretty troubling. If we end up as the 2 seed, we are looking at the prospect of meeting the Magic (and a motivated Dwight Howard) in the second round instead of someone like the Hawks, Heat, or Sixers. I think we match up well with the Magic, but they won't let us out of that series without putting up a good fight. The last thing we want is to face the Cavs beaten up and tired.

So we have to hope that a few things fall into place. We have an easier schedule in the second half of the year (with fewer games that are spread out more). So we have to take advantage of that. We need to get through this period without KG and do so without burning out Paul and Ray. We have to find a way to work Mikki and Marbury into the rotation without sacrificing wins along the way. We have to hope that Scal can get back on the court and keep his head away from elbows and the floor.

Oh yeah, and we have to hope that at some point LeBron and his mates will hit a rough patch and drop a few games of their own. Otherwise we'll just have to win a few more games on the road in the playoffs. I think we can do that, but it isn't ideal. Nobody said repeating would be easy.

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More important than HCA

is the #1 seed. Would you rather play Orlando or Miami in the 2nd round?

by rickyfan3.0... on Feb 26, 2009 8:49 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

yeah, I guess I meant HCA throughout

"Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me." Michael Scott

by Jeff Clark on Feb 26, 2009 8:51 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

home court is important but at this point it doesn’t look like we’re going to have it. Dropping that game to the clippers was a real disappointment even though we were road weary,beat up and missing key guys. at this stage I’m not worrying about home court; all I’m worrying about is being healthy for the playoffs. as with any long road trip there has been some slippage in our D and our turnovers are still way too high. also we miss too many FT’s . Now we have marbury and moore to incorporate into our team as well so I think the C’s have plenty of things on their plate without getting too worried about home court. I firmly believe we can win on the road in the eastern conference playoffs and once you get to the finals the 2-3-2 doesn’t necessarily favor the home court especially if the road team can steal one of the first 2 games.

by Red2 on Feb 26, 2009 8:52 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Its Always Somethng

Home court, everybody fresh, new X men off the bench, mistake free coaching, confidence. Mix them together and you go all the way. Miss one ingredient and maybe it doesn’t tast as good but we can still win it all.
If I had to lose one ingredient it would be either home court or new X men. Lose two ingredients and you don’t make it. We got the X men. They have to be able to contribute but it does look like Danny has gambled well. I can hear Marbury now “I was off most of year and I need more time to get my conditioning and game going” (ie those 5 TO’s weren’t really his fault), but maybe he’s terrific. That’s why its called a “gamble”.

by Wildblu1 on Feb 26, 2009 8:54 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Scal

I’ve3 been away. Is He hurt agan?

by Wildblu1 on Feb 26, 2009 8:54 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

May Have Another Concussion

He was hit hard from the back in the Denver game and his neck seemed to snap back. He looked dazed when he was lying there, but got up quickly and hit 2 free throws. He left the game saying he had numbness in his leg. He didn’t think he had the symptoms of a concussion. The injury was characterized as a neck strain. He went to LA, but was sent back to Boston for tests.

"I don't come to play, I come to WIN"--Larry Bird

by TrueGreen on Feb 26, 2009 10:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sour grapes

Without the HCA, and barring injuries or a fluke (Starbury playing like an All-Star), objectively I’ve gotta favor the Cavs in 7, by about 55% to 45%. It’s huge. We only barely got by the Cavs last year, and they’re much, MUCH better this year. Are we even as good as last year?

The Starbury gamble was necessary.

Yeah Wildblu, he got hit on the head/neck and had a recurrence of the concussion symptoms, although they’re spinning it as a cervical strain (or is it sprain?).

"People don't understand, if you can't live the rest of your life off one year in the NBA, you can't live off 21." -- Keon Clark

by Eeyore III on Feb 26, 2009 9:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Pruitt...

www.tmz.com

by rickyfan3.0... on Feb 26, 2009 9:03 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Nothing like...

…gettin together with yo boyz at home…doesn’t matter much, Gabe knows he ain’t seeing the court again this year…

by BillfromBoston on Feb 26, 2009 9:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

BillfromBoston

I don’t have the ability on here to edit posts, so I can’t edit out masked profanities – please don’t use them. That said, you had a long post and I wanted to maintain it, so here it is reposted (I won’t do this often)

BillfromBoston:

Health…
…is certainly THE most important factor – no team wins the ’chip without all guns firing…there is no doubt that having the #1 seed in the east is a big deal because it keeps Boston from having to go through 2 of the top 3 teams during the playoffs….

That being said, this is a veteran team and has come a long way in terms of chemistry and execution – they’ve been more inconsistent in terms of effort – definately have paced themselves more this year than last – but i don’t believe we’ll see an inferior product come playoff time.

Also, I believe a lot of people are discouraged because the team played 100 percent every game last year – something that is extremely rare – and they are fooling themselves into thinking Boston doesn’t have the same top gear. But if you look around the league over the past few years you see tons of title-contending and winning teams that do the same thing – SA and LAL this year come to mind right off the bat.

Finally, its great to have a game 7 at home, no argument. But the series has to go to 7 games first. I think way too many people are extrapolating LAST seasons road woes into a projection for THIS season.

Boston has grown leaps and bounds this year and I have extreme difficulty believing they are going to struggle to execute on the road like they did last year. 90% of their struggles were their own and not the making of their opponent.

That Cleveland series last year was over in 5 or 6 games if Boston had any ability to focus on both offense and defense when on the road – they didn’t figure out how to play their game on the road until the Detroit series – once they did that, we all saw what happened on the road in the finals – the team was outstanding.

I believe LAL was and still is far superior to Cleveland – the fact that they pushed Boston to 7 last year does not lead me to the conclusion that since they improved, we’re screwed.

Cleveland is much better, but Boston is much better equiped to play more consistently on the road as well. So, YES i do want HCA in the ECF, but i’m not about to say the team is [out of luck] if they don’t get it…

…23 games to go…

"Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me." Michael Scott

by Jeff Clark on Feb 26, 2009 9:12 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

formatting - ugh

to be clear, everything after the quoted area is what Bill wrote

"Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me." Michael Scott

by Jeff Clark on Feb 26, 2009 9:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry Jeff...

…I didn’t think an implied profanity consisting of 2 letters was the equivilent of mispelling a full word – my bad…we have a new born and its a little joke we have at home using a single letter instead of the word in order to work on cleaning up our language – sorry!

by BillfromBoston on Feb 26, 2009 9:40 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

no worries

"Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me." Michael Scott

by Jeff Clark on Feb 26, 2009 9:49 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Home Court Advantage

It is almost a necessity for you guys to have home court advantage. I wont lie I am a Laker fan but most importantly I am a fan of Basketball. Regardless, I agree with one of the above posters, you guys HAVE to worry about the CAVS they are almost unbeatable at home. Unless you guys have the HCA I dont see you guys getting past them. With the addition of Marbury I do see you guys making a serious push towards the end. You guys do have a brutal stretch against eastern contenders including cleveland (2), orlando (2), and Atlanta (2). You guys also have to play Miami twice and San Antonio one more time. I think these games you guys are all capable of winning and with the addition of marbury games you probably should win with the exception of cleveland of course. Back to marbury, I dont think he will be a cancer at all..he’ll have his act straight as a arrow. Regardless of what the other laker fans say I WANT TO SEE you guys in the finals. I want to beat the best and until some ones does, you guys are the best. Good luck the rest of way.

PS…get better KG, oh yeah ANdrew Bynum’s rehab is going real well..he is expected back towards the end of march. Its gonna be fun down the stretch.

by 323 in tha place to be on Feb 26, 2009 9:14 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

thanks

and thanks for reminding us that there are plenty of classy Laker fans out there

cheers

"Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me." Michael Scott

by Jeff Clark on Feb 26, 2009 9:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

just like the celts

this is one blog site i appreciate because it gives good information and you guys have good knowledge of the game as well…all lakers fans aren’t “trolls”…lol

by 323 in tha place to be on Feb 26, 2009 10:19 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

stuart scott

jeff, i saw the same show and i nearly threw up. the guy is so annoying and so busy ‘yo yo’ing it up while over using the word ‘ridiculous’ that he makes completely erronious statements. percentage points divided the two teams at the time…

by ssspence on Feb 26, 2009 9:20 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Why

doesn’t he just get a job working for the Lakers? I thought national “reporters” were supposed to try to be objective.

by MurphyHOF on Feb 26, 2009 6:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Stu's boring. I'm tired of his schtick.

by wondahbap on Feb 26, 2009 10:20 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Regarding HCA...

I think last year’s team showed why HCA is vital. They struggled on the road, and yes, even in the Finals, and last year’s team was better. Add that to the fact that Cleveland is much better, especially at home, it makes it that much more important.

by wondahbap on Feb 26, 2009 10:25 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think this year's team is better

I think this year’s team is better suited for the postseason than last year, assuming everyone is healthy. I would feel much better with HCA, but the championship boost/pressure relief of having won a title last season should serve the Cs in very good stead this postseason.

by drza44 on Feb 26, 2009 10:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

In what ways are they better?

Especially better suited for the playoffs?

by wondahbap on Feb 26, 2009 10:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Our road playoff woes were strange last season. We had a group of elite/hall of fame vets with some playoff experience and somehow they couldn’t putt it together. Also, they were one of the best teams on the road during the regular seaosn. So, going into the playoffs if you had to pick one team that would do well on the road, you’d have picked the Celtics. But, things didn’t work that way.

So, what’s the key ingredient to performing well on the road during the playoffs? Obviously, you could argue that this was the first time that Celtics team played together in the playoffs. So everything was new to them. But the same can be said about some of the other playoff teams as well.

Is it personality? Do you have to be strong mentally to shut out the crowd and unfortunately we had elite vets that couldn’t do that? But playoff inexperienced roster of role players on both the Cavs and Lakers are mentally strong and weren’t fazed by the crowds/intensity of the game? It’s just really strange to me.

by BOSPORTS on Feb 26, 2009 10:59 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

The Season Isn't Over

The Celtics have 23 games to play, 10 on the road. They have 2 with Cleveland and one with San Antonio on the road. The rest of the schedule is creampuffs, although Atlanta has given trouble in the past. They have three back to backs in March and April.

Cleveland has to play 27 games, 13 on the road. They are at Houston tonight and San Antonio tomorrow. They have two more games with Orlando and two with Boston. In addition to the upcoming back to back in Texas, they have five more back to backs in March and April.

Cleveland has a two game lead in the loss column. The Celtics will win HCA if they can beat Cleveland twice. Even if they only beat then once, they have a shot because Cleveland has a tougher schedule.

However, as I have said elsewhere it won’t really matter. The league wants a Kobe LeBron final, and that’s what will happen barring a minor miracle. The ECF will be 5 against 8, and that is almost impossible to overcome.

by Brickowski on Feb 26, 2009 11:09 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I know others think this is paranoia but I agree with you about the refs.

One call is all it has to be. But we can overcome it if we are significantly better than Cle. We are going to have to play very hard d and not stop even when we get crappy calls. We have to take advantage of make up calls and not throw the ball away. We can’t get screwed by the refs just a little and throw the ball away twenty times and get taken out of our game by key calls early in the game and expect to win it.
You can see doc has become very aggressive with the refs.He has to try to overcome this as much as possible now by complaining about everything reasonable to complain about. He was yelling at he last night when they gave that mystical time out,“oh its my fault now?? Yeah its my fault now.?” I’ll have some hope if he keeps this up

by wahz on Feb 26, 2009 11:22 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They’ve got two more with Orlando too. Jameer or no, they’re no creampuffs. Going to be hard to sweep a season series against them.

by Berkcelt on Feb 26, 2009 1:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If you want to get into conspiracy theories....

then the NBA would want a Finals rematch. The ratings were great last year, and would be better this year with Bos V. LA. LeBron making the Finals would only make his move to NY harder to accept. The NBA wants that more then they would want LBJ in the Finals now.

Then the NBA will let LBJ run roughshod in NY, where the whole world will want to see. LBJ was in the Finals in Cleveland and NO ONE cared.

Seriously, blaming the refs is so boring. They helped you win Game 2, but maybe you forgot

by wondahbap on Feb 26, 2009 11:16 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Seriously, blaming the refs is so boring. They helped you win Game 2, but maybe you forgot

Did you not just blame the refs for our Game 2 win, (expletive)?

by BOSPORTS on Feb 26, 2009 11:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good one, Bo

As you pointed out, this guy’s last paragraph is oxymoronic in nature. The 2nd sentence states the very thing the first sentence decries. Must be a troll.

For the record, we “blame the refs” for being incompetent and/or corrupt, not just in our games but all over the league. It’s a gigantic, and in my view, fatal flaw in the business known as the NBA. But we don’t blame them for last night’s loss. We sucked. Period.

by DRJ1 on Feb 26, 2009 12:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

He isn't a troll

You’ll find as much with a cursory glance at his posting history.

-sw

Manuel Aristides Ramirez is the greatest hitter I've ever seen.

by Steve Weinman on Feb 26, 2009 12:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

DRJ1 calling me a troll? Talk about irony.

Maybe both of you should read my comment and explanation.

This is how the NBA has been for years. It’s NOTHING new. If you do not like it, then why do you watch? Why do you complain constantly?

No sport has perfect officiating. I would argue it’s much worse in baseball, where a home plate umpire can dictate the most crucial part of the game based on his interpretation. Unquestioned.

by wondahbap on Feb 26, 2009 1:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I complain about the refs because...

… they suck. They’re a disgrace. They’re incompetent, and sometimes apparently corrupt. I follow the Cs DESPITE all that… but believe me, I’ve come close to abandoning the NBA many times… and someday, hopefully soon, I will. And I am not the only one. Of all sports, the NBA has by far the worst officiating. It’s not even close.

by DRJ1 on Feb 26, 2009 1:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Complaining is important

I have to just add this point…. our complaining plays a role much greater than just whining or letting off steam. If we fans did not complain, then NO ONE would complain, because the teams are specifically prohibited from doing so. If we don’t complain, nothing will ever change. We MUST complain, if we care about the game at all.

Every time the refs screw up (which = dozens of times per day), fans should complain about it. And post the videos on YouTube. The businesspeople who run the league should eventually start to understand that they are losing more than they are gaining by maintaining the current untenable system. You cannot have humans running around making over 100 of calls per game on events that occur in hundredths of a second and expect them to be as accurate as slow-mo video. It’s impossible. (Plus it opens the door WIDE to corruption… another story.) The obvious solution — which they have thus far resisted — is the addition of video refs. We’ll see if that ever happens. But if we don’t complain, it’s certain that nothing will ever improve.

by DRJ1 on Feb 26, 2009 1:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

But the refs aren't the cause of your 13 losses. That's all.

We, as fans, have the advantage of having multiple angles in slo-mo, repeated over and over. So we see bad officiatiing. Do you realize how hard it is to officiate world class athletes in real time?

I’m not saying they should not be better. They definitely could, but it’s not as easy as you think. I have problemswith inconsistent charge/blocking calls and blatant make up calls.

by wondahbap on Feb 26, 2009 1:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It's certainly not easy

But with the advent of digital TV, instant replay, DVRs, etc… pro basketball needs to recognize that they’re not in Kansas anymore. Every fan now sees every bad call. They will inevitably lose more and more fans if this continues.

The solution is to EMBRACE the disruptive technology… by adding 2 video refs to each game, reducing the on-court number of refs to two, and giving the video refs the power to make or change any call (except maybe techs). And techs should be much more strictly defined. A ref should not be allowed to change the outcome of a game because he capriciously and often randomly decides he doesn’t like somebody’s tone of voice. That too is ridiculous.

by DRJ1 on Feb 26, 2009 1:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with that.

Use the technology.

by wondahbap on Feb 26, 2009 4:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No. I'm not complaining it about it, nor blaming them. If the game is being called a certain way, adjust.

It’s just that it goes both ways, but it’s amusing when some fans blame losses on officiating time after time after time after time. You get my point.

My point is, if there is some blatant bias in refereeing, the Celtics benefit as well.

by wondahbap on Feb 26, 2009 12:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You're right...

…sometimes the Cs do benefit. Personally, I don’t like when that happens either. I think we all want every call to be fair and accurate. (Adding video refs would accomplish that… but I digress.) But it does seem like the Celtics get the short end of this stick more often than not, and more often than other teams.

I like your point about adjusting. I don’t think the Cs are particularly good at that… they have an aggressive style, especially on defense, and it never seems to change, even when the refs are obviously intent on calling every ticky-tack touch. Doc should be calling timeout and telling the team to adjust to the refs. I don’t think that ever happens (somebody correct me if that’s wrong). And there are times when it’s impossible to “adjust”. 5 vs 8 is sometimes (hmm, often) insurmountable.

by DRJ1 on Feb 26, 2009 1:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ALL defending Champs have to go through this.

That is why it’s hard to repeat. Only the truly great teams are able to go back to back, because they can deal with anything that comes their way.

by wondahbap on Feb 26, 2009 1:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed...

… and it shouldn’t be that way. The field should be level, the same for everyone in terms of the officiating.

by DRJ1 on Feb 26, 2009 1:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Blaming the Refs

I go by what I see. When the refs call a one-sided game, as Bavetta did in Utah the other night, that’s the league’s problem, not mine. If Stern wants to hide the quality of the officiating, he can order the games to be played in secret.

If you are a Laker fan, the protection that LeBron gets in the finals is going to drive you crazy, and you’ll be singing a different tune. He can travel, palm the ball and barge into people with impunity. The only other player who gets that kind of protection is DWade. Kobe gets protected too, but not nearly so much as those two.

And it’s not the dramatic calls at the end of a close game that will decide the outcome of the ECF. It’s all of the little touch fouls will be called against Perkins and Garnett in the first half— fouls that are not called against the Cavs when they do the same thing. The resulting foul trouble will reduce their effectiveness in the second half. Meanwhile Varejao will come into the game and mug people, but half of them won’t be called.

by Brickowski on Feb 26, 2009 12:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Unfortunately, ALL Utah games are like that.

You have a point, the refs do need to do a better job at consistency and make up call, but no one team has the clear edge over another.

Back to Utah, the refs allow the Jazz to get away with a lot early, but they even it out late. Every time. So, road team have to take ‘advantage. Every team know this going in, and I’ve seen enough Utah games to know this. Make adjustments and move on.

by wondahbap on Feb 26, 2009 1:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

word of advice wondahbap

you KNOW that people are going to complain about the refs

if you want people to argue with you and call you a troll, keep on telling them to stop complaining about the refs, and go ahead and bang your head against a brick wall while you are at it (I say this in sarcastic jest)

or you could just let it go and focus on other points

cheers

"Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me." Michael Scott

by Jeff Clark on Feb 26, 2009 1:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Bad calls go both ways, and that is just part of the game and can be lived with. But I agree, some players get categorical special treatment which borders on all out immunity from the very rules that restrict the rest of the players in the league, and that is inexcusable, and it is ruining the integrity of the game itself.

by jurrasicearl on Feb 26, 2009 12:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Quote

This is from the always-funny basketbawful:
So can we all just agree that The Marbury Effect goes beyond basketball and is bordering on the supernatural? The last time everybody started talking about Marbury becoming a Celtic, the team lost seven times in nine games. Now they’re losing to the Clippers while stars are getting injured and a petty roleplayer is acting the fool. Starbury is walking chaos, a shadow of doom to everything he touches…nay, everything he looks at or is even associated with in passing. If Danny Ainge signs him, this season will not end well for the Celtics. Mark my words.

by DRJ1 on Feb 26, 2009 12:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs