Team Shooting Percentage: XL vs. Gampel

[Hi-Low]

Being a state school has meant that UConn has agreed to play a certain number of games in the capital city. There is no way around it.
That being said, I hate these league games in Hartford, especially when school is in session
But it is what it is and they play there enough to not let it bother them that much - its now head games
Why not pull a JC and spend a few nights in Hartford and shoot there over a few days rather than cram a 2 hour shooting session prior to game

Hard to spend a couple of nights in Hartford when school in session. Maybe for Sat afternoon game go to Hartford on Friday prior. Sort of points out the problem though of playing mid week BE games at XL...it's not a home court unless packed for a big game. Still should best a mediocre Creighton team anywhere in CT but XL not a happy place for these guys obviously

 

[UconnU]

They announced 10k but calling that a neutral court is not what a neutral court is.

On TV that felt very much like a neutral court game in New Jersey. Crowd was sparse and disengaged, no real student section. Didn’t give us any edge.

 

[CTMike]

Uh yeah we played like butt there wasn’t much to cheer for. Strange how it was quite loud when we closed the gap. Stranger still how no one here was cheering their heads off as another 3 clanked off the rim.

 

[ConnEd]

Hard to spend a couple of nights in Hartford when school in session. Maybe for Sat afternoon game go to Hartford on Friday prior. Sort of points out the problem though of playing mid week BE games at XL...it's not a home court unless packed for a big game. Still should best a mediocre Creighton team anywhere in CT but XL not a happy place for these guys obviously

Even if they wanted to get there this weekend, the Wolf Pack had games on Fri & Sat.

 

[BGesus4]

Was it full of UConn fans tonight? Because it didn’t look very full at all on TV.

Not full at all. At tip off it was pretty empty. Crowd was pathetic for a top program’s home court. I shutter at the thought of a top recruit we’re in a tough competition for attending a game like this at the xl center. There’s a large gap in the messaging of showing kids four banners and telling them how important the program is to the state, and what went on at xl tonight.

 

[UconnU]

Thankfully we only have go into this extremely tough environment a couple more times this year.

 

[Mr. French]

Could it have something to do with the size of the building and space behind the basket to the crowd? Might throw off the player’s depth perception when shooting? Coincidentally we played some of our best games at Atlantis, where the arena was very small and the crowd was right on top of the court.

This definitely could be the case in my experience playing and coaching. It’s way different shooting into that open space than it is on a smaller court. It takes some adjusting.

That being said, it’s also their 2nd home court and they play in many larger arenas, so it shouldn’t be THAT much worse. If it is, they should be trying to get some trips into Hartford to practice before XL games.

 

[Hoophound]

The fans aren’t loving this team. They know it is flawed. The juice just isn’t there because they only put on a good show every other game. It has to hurt attendance because expectations aren’t that high, ranked or not. CT wants to play at an elite level or at least see that the future will be elite. We need more talent. Until we get more talent on the roster, being an excited fan is hard work.

 

[Kathy]

I read about this in one of Calhoun’s books. I was surprised because I obviously never knew that. But, It’s actually a very smart idea. I would hope Hurley does the same.

He did that a lot

 

[methodology]

Hard to spend a couple of nights in Hartford when school in session. Maybe for Sat afternoon game go to Hartford on Friday prior. Sort of points out the problem though of playing mid week BE games at XL...it's not a home court unless packed for a big game. Still should best a mediocre Creighton team anywhere in CT but XL not a happy place for these guys obviously

Calhoun would do it all the time, it’s not impossible. The team has tudors and play away games during the week it’s no different and you’re only 30 min or so from campus if a player had to be on campus for something

 

[CL82]

They announced 10k but calling that a neutral court is not what a neutral court is. They shot 22% outside of Whaley and the refs were abysmal. There was literally nothing to cheer for save for a few minute tease in the 2nd half. Bottom line is the team needs to be able to put the ball in the basket at arenas that aren’t named Gampel.

10 K announced, so what maybe 8000 actual? That is not a “full arena“ that’s a half empty arena. Half empty arenas aren’t exactly a great home court advantage.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Even if they wanted to get there this weekend, the Wolf Pack had games on Fri & Sat.

That is kinda part of the problem. Tail wagging the dog. UConn's home basketball schedule and the "need" to play an X amount of games in Hartford is partially determined by a minor league hockey team and/or other events booked at XL vice having almost full control by playing games on campus.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Calhoun would do it all the time, it’s not impossible. The team has tudors and play away games during the week it’s no different and you’re only 30 min or so from campus if a player had to be on campus for something

Maybe we need some of those for message board posters.

 

[UConn990411]

This is just an embarrassing excuse.

I’m not a fan of the XL Center, and I don’t know a single UConn fan who is. But any team that wants to make a postseason run will have to win some games away from the comfort of their preferred home court.

These guys are rarely ready at the start of games, and I have a hard time blaming the XL for that.

 

[McLovin]

Uh yeah we played like butt there wasn’t much to cheer for. Strange how it was quite loud when we closed the gap. Stranger still how no one here was cheering their heads off as another 3 clanked off the rim.

You just made the OPs point and I don’t think you even know it.

 

[McLovin]

This is just an embarrassing excuse.

I’m not a fan of the XL Center, and I don’t know a single UConn fan who is. But any team that wants to make a postseason run will have to win some games away from the comfort of their preferred home court.

These guys are rarely ready at the start of games, and I have a hard time blaming the XL for that.

I’d assume @XLCenterFan is…

 

[ASweet3781]

This is just an embarrassing excuse.

I’m not a fan of the XL Center, and I don’t know a single UConn fan who is. But any team that wants to make a postseason run will have to win some games away from the comfort of their preferred home court.

These guys are rarely ready at the start of games, and I have a hard time blaming the XL for that.

It’s spin to distract from an inexcusable performance.

Notice none of them can explain why we still came out and played like crap against providence with the xl full and rocking.

It’s not the building shooting bricks, missing free throws, and neutering their rotation and depth.

 

[UConn990411]

I’d assume @XLCenterFan is…

I’ll repeat what I said - I’m not a fan of the XL Center. In fact, I’d argue that it’s a horrendous venue to watch a game.

That still doesn’t explain why a group of 18- to 23-year-olds is consistently unprepared to start games. That’s an even more concerning trend now that February has rolled around.

 

[McLovin]

It’s spin to distract from an inexcusable performance.

Notice none of them can explain why we still came out and played like crap against providence with the xl full and rocking.

It’s not the building shooting bricks, missing free throws, and neutering their rotation and depth.

It’s so funny.

Calling it “spin” in a thread that clearly shows we shoot far worse in the XL Center than Gampel.

You keep asking for an explanation. There it is.

I guess you are just choosing to ignore the data. That’s cool I guess.

 

[McLovin]

I’ll repeat what I said - I’m not a fan of the XL Center. In fact, I’d argue that it’s a horrendous venue to watch a game.

That still doesn’t explain why a group of 18- to 23-year-olds is consistently unprepared to start games. That’s an even more concerning trend now that February has rolled around.

Being unprepared to start has been a huge issue in the past. I’ll give you that.

I feel like it’s been mostly corrected though.

Ironically, our 2 slow starts this year I can recall came at the XL center.

 

[ucawn]

Stop being generous to the XL. We’ve played 2 tournament teams in that building and have gone 0-2 this season. If that isn’t enough evidence enough idk what to tell you. I got reamed for saying this earlier but we look like a top 10 team in Gampel… idk why we don’t play there night in and night out.

 

[Get a Job]

Uh yeah we played like butt there wasn’t much to cheer for. Strange how it was quite loud when we closed the gap. Stranger still how no one here was cheering their heads off as another 3 clanked off the rim.

It's quite obvious that many fans share your attitude, but that doesn't mean it isn't a terrible attitude. If anything, you are illustrating why it is more important to be loud when things aren't going well. When UConn is making shots and leading, a.) the crowd will naturally be loud and b.) they probably don't need help from the crowd anyway. When they are stinking up the joint, the silence makes the experience of being at the game terrible for the spectators, and I imagine it is similar for the players. It probably also helps the visiting team relax and gives them the feeling that they are in control of the situation.

I realize it's awkward and not easy to be the guy yelling in a quiet stadium, but if more people would do it, it wouldn't be a quiet stadium in the first place.

 

[methodology]

Stop being generous to the XL. We’ve played 2 tournament teams in that building and have gone 0-2 this season. If that isn’t enough evidence enough idk what to tell you. I got reamed for saying this earlier but we look like a top 10 team in Gampel… idk why we don’t play there night in and night out.

Go read post #8. There’s evidence as to why they look so much better at gampel than HCC

 

[UConnDad]

And Yet Ryan Hawkins lit it up there.

He can’t shoot at Gampel though!

 

[UconnU]

The fans aren’t loving this team. They know it is flawed. The juice just isn’t there because they only put on a good show every other game. It has to hurt attendance because expectations aren’t that high, ranked or not. CT wants to play at an elite level or at least see that the future will be elite. We need more talent. Until we get more talent on the roster, being an excited fan is hard work.

The roster is full of talent, 5th year guys and 4 star prospects. I don’t foresee us having more talent than this in the near future.

We’ve always had kind of an older fanbase that wasn’t as engaged and needed some coaxing to get to the games. Alumni is now really scattered throughout the country. Many older lower level fans from the Calhoun days are retired living in distant states. The covid measures don’t help. Need to do a better job marketing, drawing new fans in. Student section should be the easiest to fix in the near term.