Basketbawful

Friday, December 01, 2006

Word of the Day: Home Court Disadvantage

Home Court Disadvantage (hom kort dis'-uhd-vant'-ij) noun. The paradoxical phenomenon in which a team actually plays worse at home than they do on the road, which usually leads to or is caused by the home crowd's intense dislike of or disinterest in the team.

Usage example: The New York Knicks have a serious Home Court Disadvantage this season, mostly because their fans hate them.

Word Trivia: With a 6-11 record, the Knicks are far surpassing everyone's expectations. After all, that's roughly three times as many wins as anybody expected them to have this season. But the crazy thing about their record is the fact that they're 5-5 on the road...and only 1-6 at home. The Knicks are one of only 10 teams so far this season to be at least .500 on the road, but they have the worst home record in the league. Simply put, this is because their fans hate them. Now mind you, Knicks fans are a surly breed to begin with, but several years worth of mismanagement by Isiah Thomas has turned them into the proverbial mob of angry villagers with torches and pitchforks. This isn't exactly unprecedented. When Wilt Chamberlain was playing for the San Francisco Warriors during the 1963-64 season, he claimed that the home crowd was so quick to boo them that they preferred playing on the road. He may have had a point, since the team's home and road records were barely distinguishable (26-14 and 22-18 respectively). Of course, all that hatred is really a sign of how much the fans care. Not so for the Atlanta Hawks. Their crowds don't care at all. In fact, I can't tell whether the 17 or so that show up for games are actually alive. As a result, the Hawks rarely light it up at home. Or anywhere else for that matter.

A typical, happy Knicks fan.

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