In an infamous press conference, former Utah coach Jim Boylen was asked about his team’s offensive ineptitude. He answered with the now-famous line, “ball didn’t go in the hoop.”
He could have been talking about, well, every single team in the South Regional during the Sweet 16 in Houston last weekend. UCLA and Gonzaga started things off by making four (not a typo) jump shots combined in the first half, and then it was Utah’s and Duke’s turn. They didn’t fare much better.
In the first half of the Utes’ loss to the Blue Devils, Brandon Taylor lined up a three pointer and let it fly. From my seat in the NRG Stadium, I could see exactly what he saw — a rim and a net hovering amidst a black curtain.
The shot, not surprisingly, missed — and missed badly.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s different,” Taylor said after the game. “It feels so spacey, you’re not used to the basket being right here, and [then space] and you’re not used to being elevated. It’s just different. But that’s the thing, shooters are shooters. They are going to shoot the ball and keep shooting the ball.”
So that’s what Taylor and lots of other players did. They just kept jacking up shots that turned into bricks — if they were lucky enough to hit rim at all. It was ugly, it was sad and it certainly could have been avoided.
NRG Stadium is the home of the NFL’s Houston Texans and seats 71,054 — or just a tad bit bigger than a normal basketball arena (the Hunstman Center seats 15,000). The NCAA knew they wouldn’t be able to sell out the stadium (official attendance was announced as 21,168), so instead of having empty seats as a backdrop to the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, they opted to drape the arena in black curtains.
And those curtains made shooters feel awfully cold. Gonzaga and UCLA combined to shoot just over 19 percent on 3-point tries, and Utah and Duke started their contest by missing 15 of the first 17 shots. Some exciting basketball there.
“We never really got a good feeling,” Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “It’s an interesting environment. It’s not a basketball arena. It’s the only Regional that’s played in a venue like this. Everybody else is a normal-sized arena. It’s not our issue, it’s Duke’s issue as well as everybody else.”
“I’m a little bit surprised, like we had our shoot-around in front of everyone, we shoot the heck out of the ball and our guys felt good about shooting,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I’m not sure it’s just the arena or the level of game, you know. Maybe that combination has something to do with it.”
So now we sit hours before the Final Four and where is it being held? Another damn football stadium. Sure, this one makes a little more sense — all three will probably be sold out and there’s more room for ads, but it’s not like any of the athletes are getting any piece of that. So really, we are weakening the game, and experience for the players, so the NCAA can make a few more bucks. Yeah, that makes sense.
Move the Final Four, and while we’re at it, all basketball games to where they belong — basketball arenas. Come on people, it’s really not that progressive of an idea.
@millerjryan