Let me try it this way

[20Plus]

What could be changed at the dome to improve the overall experience and advantage all season long.

No one can argue the rep of the dome does help recruiting but does it give us a great home court advantage in the actual games that we may need it like Ville needed and received vs Coll. Charleston. Without the fans they lose that game by 5-10 points period.

 

[BlueCurtain]

bring back the curtain or assemble additional pullout seating to fill the eternal void.

 

[kingtidge]

strategically-loacated, cantina-style food concession areas that sell tacos...

...and they need to be good tacos - not taco-bell-spiced-mighty-dog-in-a-tortilla crap...

 

[EastCoast2]

How can you say the Dome offers no home court advantage? I'm assuming by your thought process that you have never played basketball before. Playing in a typical college gym versus playing in the dome are different experiences that offer different stimuli that actually affect your shot, for better or worse. Most players are used to a short background, seeing a wall or a short row of stands behind the basket, so when they see the background of the dome, a couple hundred feet and hundred or so rows of people, it throws them off. Our players are somewhat used to this by now. You can't practice playing in a dome if you're Marq or Pitt or UConn.

 

[EastCoast2]

Also, remember how loud our football fans got for the WVU game? It's just hard to get the crowd excited for Bucknell or EMU. Wait until #4 UL or #6 UConn come into town. 33,000 plus fans who have been waiting a year for these games.

 

[realorange]

Do anything that will bring the fans, particularly the students, closer to the court. Yes, the Dome is unique, but it is not the best of basketball arenas. Having been to the RBC center to see the NC State game, I'd take that facility over the Dome any day as far as a better place to view a game.

 

[EastBayCuse]

How can you say the Dome offers no home court advantage? I'm assuming by your thought process that you have never played basketball before. Playing in a typical college gym versus playing in the dome are different experiences that offer different stimuli that actually affect your shot, for better or worse. Most players are used to a short background, seeing a wall or a short row of stands behind the basket, so when they see the background of the dome, a couple hundred feet and hundred or so rows of people, it throws them off. Our players are somewhat used to this by now. You can't practice playing in a dome if you're Marq or Pitt or UConn.

This is an excellent poiint. When Cuse won the NCAA finals in New Orleans they had a great advantage in the Super Dome because they were used to the background in the Carrier Dome. While everyone was crediting the SU zone for shutting down Texas in the semi-final, and it was a big factor, I think the other factor that was largely unappreciated was that Cuse was used to playing/shooting in a football stadium whereas the other teams in the Final 4 were not. Big advantage. Since most Final 4's are going to be held in large domed arenas in order to accomodate the large demand for tickets, this gives Cuse a big advantage during the NCAA tournament, if they can get to the Final 4.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

Do anything that will bring the fans, particularly the students, closer to the court. Yes, the Dome is unique, but it is not the best of basketball arenas. Having been to the RBC center to see the NC State game, I'd take that facility over the Dome any day as far as a better place to view a game.

The student section could be a force if it was along the sidelines. Obviously, this is also where the Dome and the University makes its big money with prime seating. IMO, it would take a new arena to create a truly imposing student section like The Zoo or the Cameron Crazies. We have students that would be just as dedicated, but our current location really inhibits the things we can do.

 

[Marsh01]

What could be changed at the dome to improve the overall experience and advantage all season long.

No one can argue the rep of the dome does help recruiting but does it give us a great home court advantage in the actual games that we may need it like Ville needed and received vs Coll. Charleston. Without the fans they lose that game by 5-10 points period.

Without the hometown refs they would have lost the game by 15. Fans had very little to do wit hthe hand checking and bumping that went uncalled for 40 minutes.

 

[EastBayCuse]

Without the hometown refs they would have lost the game by 15. Fans had very little to do wit hthe hand checking and bumping that went uncalled for 40 minutes.

Fans have a lot to do with calls either being made, or not made, by refs. No matter how hard they may try to be objective, the refs are subconsciously influenced by fan reaction. It is human nature.

 

[Orange Barrel]

How can you say the Dome offers no home court advantage? I'm assuming by your thought process that you have never played basketball before. Playing in a typical college gym versus playing in the dome are different experiences that offer different stimuli that actually affect your shot, for better or worse. Most players are used to a short background, seeing a wall or a short row of stands behind the basket, so when they see the background of the dome, a couple hundred feet and hundred or so rows of people, it throws them off. Our players are somewhat used to this by now. You can't practice playing in a dome if you're Marq or Pitt or UConn.

This theory gets floated several times a season both on this board and by tv/radio/print analysts. I'm not sure I buy it. We often have dismal shooting nights in the dome and just as often have other teams go off on us shooting there.

 

[EastCoast2]

This theory gets floated several times a season both on this board and by tv/radio/print analysts. I'm not sure I buy it. We often have dismal shooting nights in the dome and just as often have other teams go off on us shooting there.

This is true, it goes to the law or large numbers for you math freaks. Anomalies happen on both sides of this argument. A 95% FT shooter will miss 4 in a row and people will wonder if he's sick, injured, scared of the crowd etc... it just happens. Just like Seton Hall shot lights out in the dome last year, Kentucky couldn't hit the backboard vs WVU in the E8 years ago.

 

[OttoMets]

This is an excellent poiint. When Cuse won the NCAA finals in New Orleans they had a great advantage in the Super Dome because they were used to the background in the Carrier Dome. While everyone was crediting the SU zone for shutting down Texas in the semi-final, and it was a big factor, I think the other factor that was largely unappreciated was that Cuse was used to playing/shooting in a football stadium whereas the other teams in the Final 4 were not. Big advantage. Since most Final 4's are going to be held in large domed arenas in order to accomodate the large demand for tickets, this gives Cuse a big advantage during the NCAA tournament, if they can get to the Final 4.

No one was crediting Syracuse for shutting down Texas in the Final Four - they scored over 80 points. That was a game won by Syracuse's offense and the Longhorns' indifferent defense.

I think the difference between the Dome and larger NFL domes is essentially the same as the difference between smaller arenas and the Dome; SU's not getting much advantage because the background is vastly different than what they're used to.