Sunday, January 09, 2005
Free Throw Science
Props to eagle-eyed Mrs. Joesblog for spotting this article in Slate, which makes a very interesting proposal. Rather than waving wildly -- and randomly -- at opposing free throw shooters, NBA fans should try waving left and right more slowly and in unison. This should have the effect of disorienting the shooter a bit, possibly just enough to alter the shot.
The article contends that with everyone waving randomly, the background blends together and is perceived as visual white noise, which is easily disregarded. But if everyone leans left together, then leans right, it just might have a more noticeable effect. When the visual background relative to the shooter appears to be tilting left, then right, the shooter may unconsciously compensate, resulting in -- viola! -- a resounding clang off the rim for the opposition.
The Slate guy got Mavs owner Mark Cuban (of course) to try this for a few games, with promising but still ambiguous results. The article says Cuban dropped the idea, but Mrs. Joesblog and I attended Saturday's game vs. the Indiana Pacers, where we noticed one of the Mavs promotions people was still directing behind-the-basket fans in waving left and right together.
Fans being how they are, and it being Saturday night with beer on tap, some fans got with the program better than others. Still, they did sync up sometimes, and it seemed to us that the Pacers bricked a few free throws when that happened. (The Mavs sank a higher percentage of their free throws than the Pacers for the night, but they usually outshoot opponents from the line. The Pacers shot about the league average for the game overall.)
Will the NBA think this is legal and kosher? The Slate guy thinks legal, yes, kosher, maybe. He cites college basketball, where fans do stuff like this and much more.
My opinion is that if the idea caught on and appeared to work, the NBA would ban it. They allow the frantic waving only because it does not work, while at the same time it makes the fans feel involved (and a bit naughty).
Either way, it's nice to see reason and logic being applied to something this important...
