Top 25 talk

[sac]

Salisbury and Ramapo combined to go 23-49 from the free-throw line.  Both shot under 50%. 

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Was it in an empty gym with a bad shooting background?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

SMH... amazing how some don't realize the game was broadcast... by us... from Las Vegas... in front of a pretty decent crowd for this event's standards (due to location and time of the year). Could have watched a pretty entertaining game with some pretty good defense that equated to those missed shots. There was also two teams who clearly were trying a little too hard at times with the pressure of the game clearly on their shoulders.

BTW - check out this highlight from Ramapo in the game... Soanes seemed to come out of nowhere: https://youtu.be/O0fWYNOy58A

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Must have been revolutionary mental defense on the free throws.

IMO it's better to play these type games on campus sites in facilities made for small school basketball. Have seen the same thing in high school basketball tournaments in Ohio. Players have a hard time adjusting to the open background if they aren't used to it.

[HOPEful]

...(t)hese type games on campus sites in facilities made for small school basketball. Have seen the same thing in high school basketball tournaments in Ohio. Players have a hard time adjusting to the open background if they aren't used to it.

Free throws are muscle memory. Should not matter at all what's behind the backboard.

Below are all facilities "made for small school basketball"... If Augie can fill their 4,000 person stadium and if Hope and Calvin can fill their 3,400 and 5,000 seat stadiums for volleyball, I don't think the problem is in the South Point Hotel's 4,400 seat stadium. Not to mention the national broadcast by D3hoops or the experience for the players travelling to Las Vegas and playing against teams they otherwise would never have scheduled due to regional issues...


                                   

[AO]

...(t)hese type games on campus sites in facilities made for small school basketball. Have seen the same thing in high school basketball tournaments in Ohio. Players have a hard time adjusting to the open background if they aren't used to it.

Free throws are muscle memory. Should not matter at all what's behind the backboard.

Below are all facilities "made for small school basketball"... If Augie can fill their 4,000 person stadium and if Hope and Calvin can fill their 3,400 and 5,000 seat stadiums for volleyball, I don't think the problem is in the South Point Hotel's 4,400 seat stadium. Not to mention the national broadcast by D3hoops or the experience for the players travelling to Las Vegas and playing against teams they otherwise would never have scheduled due to regional issues...


                                   

I agree with you but did you mean to post pictures from Indiana's Assembly Hall and the D2 South Dakota Augustana?

[Gregory Sager]

...(t)hese type games on campus sites in facilities made for small school basketball. Have seen the same thing in high school basketball tournaments in Ohio. Players have a hard time adjusting to the open background if they aren't used to it.

Free throws are muscle memory. Should not matter at all what's behind the backboard.

Below are all facilities "made for small school basketball"... If Augie can fill their 4,000 person stadium and if Hope and Calvin can fill their 3,400 and 5,000 seat stadiums for volleyball, I don't think the problem is in the South Point Hotel's 4,400 seat stadium. Not to mention the national broadcast by D3hoops or the experience for the players travelling to Las Vegas and playing against teams they otherwise would never have scheduled due to regional issues...


                                   

I agree with you but did you mean to post pictures from Indiana's Assembly Hall and the D2 South Dakota Augustana?

Yep. Here's the D3 Augustana's gym (the Carver P.E. Center):



Carver has a listed capacity of 3,200 on Augie's d3hoops.com page, but that's outdated information. The school's website lists the capacity at 1,900, following a seating renovation in the summer of 2008, and that number's pretty accurate.

Aside from that, though, I completely agree with HOPEful's point. Really, where are the "facilities made for small-school basketball" in Vegas, anyway? The only school of higher education in the city that has a basketball program besides UNLV is the College of Southern Nevada, a juco, and the CSN Sports Center is about as big as a modestly-sized church gym:

[HOPEful]

Hahahahaha... nope. I didn't... I won't even change it cause I think it's funny.

[AO]

You also forgot to include a picture of Salisbury's Maggs Physical Activities Center. 

You'd think they'd be used to the open background.

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Take it up with Ken Pomeroy.

https://kenpom.com/blog/the-nrg-effect/

Unless someone has better data. I can't imagine NRG is materially different than most other places of its sort -- big D1 programs are used to 10k seat arenas or so, but NRG is much larger than that.

D3 programs mostly are used to 2kish with relatively little space between the basket and a wall. So the type places that these neutral events seem to be staged in are much different than that.

Is there a reason these events can't be held in a right-sized facility, like a high school or small college gym? Vegas, not Vegas, who cares? It's not like most D3 programs are anywhere near Vegas anyway.

It will be interesting to see if there is a preference when the Great Lakes event starts next year.

[Gregory Sager]

Is there a reason these events can't be held in a right-sized facility, like a high school or small college gym? Vegas, not Vegas, who cares?

The D3hoops.com Classic is held in Las Vegas. Are you suggesting that they find a gym somewhere outside of the city? Well, then, that's the problem; there really isn't much of anything outside of the city, except dirt and mesquite brush.

So, yeah, there is a reason why it's held where it is, rather than what you term a "right-sized facility". I've already shown you the one small-college gym in Las Vegas, and, while the shooting background at the CSN Sports Center is no doubt quite lovely, it's obviously a completely unsuitable venue for a tournament that consists of six games per day and involves dozens of teams of both genders. Shooting background isn't the only consideration when it comes to staging an event of the magnitude of the D3hoops.com Classic. In fact, it's likely not even that far up the list. Locker room facilities, transportation and/or proximity to on-site housing and dining, technical specs relating to game management and media access, etc., are all no doubt bigger priorities, and I'm sure that Pat and Gordon and D-Mac can chime in on the logistics even better than I can.

[sac]

Bad shooting backdrop or not, 10 other teams played on that floor the same day and nine managed to shoot above 50% from the stripe.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Did it occur to anyone that the Salem Civic Center's walls are 50 feet, at least, of the baselines as well? The seats at the South Point Arena are actually closer behind the one basket than the Civic Center's walls. And on the other end of the SPA there is a backdrop that is closer to the baseline than most Division III schools I attend. Yes, there is a deep spot on one side, but it isn't that big a deal and IMHO just another thing to complain about.

I can talk about logistics when I am not calling and producing six games in a day.

[Pat Coleman]

The D3hoops.com Classic is held in Las Vegas. Are you suggesting that they find a gym somewhere outside of the city? Well, then, that's the problem; there really isn't much of anything outside of the city, except dirt and mesquite brush.

So, yeah, there is a reason why it's held where it is, rather than what you term a "right-sized facility". I've already shown you the one small-college gym in Las Vegas, and, while the shooting background at the CSN Sports Center is no doubt quite lovely, it's obviously a completely unsuitable venue for a tournament that consists of six games per day and involves dozens of teams of both genders. Shooting background isn't the only consideration when it comes to staging an event of the magnitude of the D3hoops.com Classic. In fact, it's likely not even that far up the list. Locker room facilities, transportation and/or proximity to on-site housing and dining, technical specs relating to game management and media access, etc., are all no doubt bigger priorities, and I'm sure that Pat and Gordon and D-Mac can chime in on the logistics even better than I can.

The other tournaments in Vegas have taken place in a YMCA, or in a high school gym, and teams have to bus from the hotel to practice and to games. Here they can walk, and that's something coaches rave about every time we ask them for their feedback.

The national championship of Division III is played in a large gym with deep shooting backgrounds. Good enough for the national championship, good enough for the D3hoops.com Classic. Why should we limit ourselves to small-time feels for these kind of events? Coaches generally enjoy the facility.

[ElRetornodelEspencio]

Good enough for the NCAA is sometimes not that high a bar.

But whatever. if the coaches are getting what they want then there's no reason to change. I guess ones that want that kind of experience can go there and the ones that want something else can go to Great Lakes or the Hoopville, or a traditional campus tournament like Mose Hole or something.