Interesting NYT article: home teams choose brand of basketball
I never really gave any thought to this before, I guess I just assumed that there was a standard ball that all teams used. I could definitely see how this could help explain the effect of home court advantage, as well as how some shooters can inexplicably go cold on the road.
The N.C.A.A. does not require the use of a specific brand of basketball during the regular season. The home team plays with its preferred type, whether it is Nike or Spalding or Adidas. The choice is often tied to the team’s equipment contract. Because each brand has a distinct feel, it is just another reason it is hard to play on the road in college basketball.
To make this closer to home, the Daily did a story a few weeks back about 'The Rock', Michigan's ball. It's a brand from Anaconda Sports. Says Beilein started using their ball way back at LeMoyne over 20 years ago.
Here's the article:
http://www.michigandaily.com/sports/michigan-jams-rock
I love the name of the ball.
makes me wonder what brand indiana uses. i'm guessing the internet doesn't have a comprehensive list of this stuff yet, eh?
Are the only restrictions size, weight, and number of panels? Could someone use a rubber ball if they really wanted to?
NCAA rulebook: "The ball shall have a deeply pebbled leather or composite cover." It's not really clear what a "composite" is, but it seems like a rubber ball would not fit the description.
Other restrictions include the ball's color (Orange, Red-orange or Brown), so no maize-and-blue basketball, and no awesome ABA red, white and blue basketball either, and there is a restriction on the resiliance ("bounciness") of the ball--when dropped from 6 feet, it must bounce to a height of 49 to 54 inches.
I have heard this referenced before as a reason why Wisconsin was so unbeatable at the Kohl center for the last few years.
should just roll out a maize and blue mini-ball from "the claw game" for the home-opener next year. Set the tone for the new Crisler Center as a damn tough place to play. "Try making free throws with this Bitches!!-evil laugh"
Considering how well we played at home this year I'm obviously partial to being able to use the Rock in the tournament (both B1G and NCAA) but I'm guessing that's not going to happen.
EDIT: I used the power of my grade school skills and read that for the NCAA it's Wilson. I sure do hope Beilein has been using a bunch of Wilson balls in practice so the guys are used to it (that goes without saying right??)
I also remember this being an issue in HS - the panels on our basketballs were more cushiony and I could get a better grip on them and get better spin on my shot - away games always sucked.
Never had thought about that making a difference in performance. Thought of it as more of a comfort/intimidation/atmosphere thing (which is still a huge part of it).
What is clear is that winning on the road in a major conference is real tough- and what sepereates the elite from the good teams. Glad it may be a factor for our scucess at home- but to be an elite team the road record needs to be much better.
Wilson is the official ball of the NCAA and used by many places because it will prepare them for the tournament. This is the case in divisions I, II and III. In larger conferences it is often the each institution's equipment contract that calls for which brand of ball to be used, while in smaller conferences (all divisions) the conference itself often has a contract with a ball company that makes all of the conference's institutions use that ball.
I played college basketball and it is really hard to get use to a new ball at times. The Rock has a very different feel (more like a street ball) than most basketballs and may be the toughest to get use to. Nike and Adidas balls are very similar. I prefer Wilson.
As far as an NBA ball: extremely hard and slippery. It is real hard to get use to but most NBA players do not want to use anything else once they get use to it.
TH Jr.s preformance last night I'm REALLY hoping Illinois uses a Wilson ball so we'll have a shot at having that TH Jr for the tournament and not the one that was in the God awful slump.
We used the Wilson Jet in high school, but the ball racks always had a few other brands so we would not get too comfortable with just one brand. You do notice the difference between the brands so it does play a minor factor.
to practice with a different ball when you have a road game coming up? Even with the variety involved it appears they keep to a standard. If you are playing Indiana later this week and they use a Nike ball, then practice with a Nike ball- right? Also makes me wonder how different the hoops and backboards are from arena to arena, maybe that would be more of a factor?
Edit: I see from The Daily article that UM does just that- practices with the opponent's brand of ball for road games.
“I’m a Nike guy, so if there was a uniform ball, I’d want it to be Nike,” Marquette Coach Buzz Williams said. “That’s how my kids get Christmas presents, so, yeah, I want to use Nike.”
A guy making probably seven figures relies on apparel-company freebies to give his kids Christmas presents?