Why aren't we better at home?

[Cowology]

Kinda weird but I noticed 2 things...

1) We're one of only 8 teams with a winning road record
2) We have the same winning percentage at home as on the road (16-15 home, 15-14 road)

So the question is... Why aren't we better at home? Every other team in the league plays substantially better in their own building. Usually if you are good enough to go .500 on the road you are playing at least .600 ball overall. In fact of the 7 other teams with winning road records the worst home record any of those teams have is New Orleans and they are .633 overall with a 22-9 home record.

Another way of looking at it; there are 20 teams (TWENTY TEAMS) with a better home record than Detroit. This includes New York, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Chicago, Philadelphia and Indiana. All teams we'd probably consider ourselves "better" than.

Is it just a coincidence? Did we just happen to have some our worst stretches of play during a period when had a lot of home games, or is there some reason we have been so bad in our own building? Any ideas?

[HeroicKennedy]

Not to instantly derail this topic, but why aren't you ever on the Gamefaqs NBA Board? There aren't enough Piston fans there.

[colors]

Instinctively, I'd say it's because we have been underachievers this year.
While most teams have tried their best and used everything they could, like homecourt advantage, we have, repeatedly, lost games because we were not trying hard enough, because we often showed no pride, because we often just didn't care. When you have such an attitude, playing at home won't change anything.
If we keep on playing like we have in the few last games, I bet our winning % at home will improve a lot.

[Greyhound]

The Pistons have been better on the road two of the past three seasons, and I think that the main reason is that both Hamilton and Wallace are considerably better on the road.

-------

Detroit's home, away record in the 2006-07 season:

Home (26-15)
Road (27-14)

Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace home vs. away statistics (this season):

[Dirtgrain]

Yah. Rasheed Wallace gets pissed off on the road--not so much at home. When he's pissed, I think he can elevate everybody else's effort.

[c rasheed]

Our crowds suck. The Palace is like a neutral zone.

[ambiglight]

Our crowds suck. The Palace is like a neutral zone.

Why is it everybody else's fault but the players?

[ambiglight]

They've been going half azzed for about a long stretch of the season, couple that with Curry experimenting with line-ups and the team can't take advantage of little advantages. Also it doesn't help that sheed pisses off refs whether he's at home or on the road and you got calls that normally go your way, going their way even at home...

[ajaX82]

Our crowds suck. The Palace is like a neutral zone.

Tickets are too expensive. A lot of the real fans cant afford to go to games (me) and if they can they get bad seats.

Detroit as a whole is one of, if not the best, sports cities there is. Our fans love these teams. They are merciless sometimes (Lions games are funny as hell), but we really do love sports.

Lower the ticket prices

[Bosanac]

Instinctively, I'd say it's because we have been underachievers this year.
While most teams have tried their best and used everything they could, like homecourt advantage, we have, repeatedly, lost games because we were not trying hard enough, because we often showed no pride, because we often just didn't care. When you have such an attitude, playing at home won't change anything.
If we keep on playing like we have in the few last games, I bet our winning % at home will improve a lot.

I'd agree with that. So with that goes any advantage of playing in front of you home crowd.

Ticket prices is another thing.

[Manocad]

As crappy as the automotive industry is doing in Michigan these days, that's one nice constant that I get to enjoy...I literally can't remember the last time I paid for a ticket to any of the Lions, Tigers, Pistons or Red Wings games, and I see 10-12 games a year amongst all four teams.

Yes, some crowds are more energetic than others. But the crowd feeds off the play of the team; if the team is stinking it up the fans don't cheer. The players have control of the way they play, not the crowd. I look at it this way...most teams play better at home because of the 'comfort' factor. The Pistons were struggling to find their identity after the trade and weren't really comfortable at all, so to me it's no surprise that the home and road records match for the most part. If the team continues to display the cohesiveness they've shown the last four games and Iverson embraces his bench role and provides solid contribution, the home record is going to improve.

[Greyhound]

Hamilton's home/ away statistics:

MPG 32.9 - 34.0
FG% .433 - .470
3P% .299 - .391
FT% .857 - .894
REB 2.9 - 2.9
APG 3.7 - 4.0
SPG 0.4 - 0.8
BPG 0.2 - 0.0
PPG 16.0 - 19.3

Wallace's home/ away statistics:

MPG 32.7 - 34.0
FG% .403 - .445
3P% .333 - .391
FT% .742 - .811
REB 7.3 - 8.0
APG 1.1 - 1.4
SPG 1.0 - 1.0
BPG 1.4 - 1.3
PPG 11.2 - 14.3

The only constant, both home and away for each player is steals per game for Wallace and rebounds for Hamilton. The only thing they each do better at home is block shots. Both players have an eerily similar drop off at home.

[pistons_own]

thts just the way it is, i like winning on road then at home

then other teams fans get the moneys NOT worth

[triplet1984]

We just haven't been good in the past period, for all the usual reasons (outlined in many threads by everyone), and that has translated to home games.

[zeebneeb]

It is an odd stat, but having a winning road record shows that this team still has "it". Pull it together boys!