Does crowdless basketball help inexperienced teams?

[JulesWinnfield]

The dominance Phoenix has displayed in the bubble has me thinking. Is there something to the notion that an empty arena stripped to raw hoop competiton benefits young teams? Or at least lessens on some level the need for the mental resolve that comes with more experience. Absent the moments of adversity and momentum that a loud arena can create can somehow lessen the pressure packed setting that vets handle better

Its well known that the 92 dream team lost a scrimmage to a college all star team in an empty arena. Of course the dream team dominated the rematch. But i wonder how much stripping the game down to 5v5, disregarding all outside influences can swing the pendulum more toward raw talent and lessen the importance of other factors that leak in to play when thousands of fans are there reacting to everything...

Thoughts?

[NyKnicks1714]

It acts as an equalizer of sorts and that's probably one of the reasons.

[Lalouie]

it's not the full answer to phx, but without the crowd and media hoopla the tension of the moment is lost. it becomes like a glorified practice. maybe the role players benefit?

i don't think hc has anything to do with anything either. teams lose away because it's not as comfortable as home where they spend most of their season. since it's really not "home" for any team all the teams are experiencing the same thing. otoh i expected denver to lose their thin air advantage

[Dupp]

Probably but I think it’ll be more evident in the playoffs if it makes a difference or not.


The teams that had the most to play for won the most in the bubble. That should really come to no surprise to anyone that follows sport. I wouldn’t put too much other weight on It than that.

[dc]

Hasn't been talked about, but it absolutely works to the advantage of younger, more inexperienced teams.

These types of teams usually play poorly in the playoffs on the road. Playing in a neutral environment helps a lot. See Atlanta in 2007 or Boston in 2018. Those teams had trouble with playoff road games.