Marshall men’s
basketball team is 349-110 since 1981 when playing at the Cam Henderson Center,
and for the past few seasons, the Herd has found it easier to win at home than
on the road.
In the
2009-2010 season, the Herd won 24 times, and 15 of those came from games played
at home. The following season, Marshall won 14 games in Huntington and only 6
on the road. The 2011-2012 season was another year that the team struggled to
win games on the road. At home, the Herd had a record of 13-4. On the road,
however, Marshall only took home 5 of 13 regular season games played on the
road.
The past two
seasons have been the worst for the Herd when it comes to taking home road
wins. Marshall has played 28 games away from Huntington since 2012 and has only
won 5 of those games.
In the world
of sports, many view the advantage of playing at home as a motivating factor
that helps teams win.
Former Los
Angeles Lakers head coach, Phil Jackson, in a 2010 Los Angeles Times blog
article listed home court advantage as the biggest priority of his team.
"What's
important," Jackson said, "is getting out ahead of the rest of the
pack and somehow or other putting them in the back so that you have that home
court advantage that looms important at certain times in the playoffs."
Indiana
Pacers guard Paul George favors home-court advantage, as well. In an interview
with Jim Rome on Jim Rome is Burning in January, George was
asked if he believed the Heat would beat the Pacers in Indiana four times if
they had home-court advantage. His response was simple:
"We
don't," George said. "We know how well we play at home. We're one of
the best teams in the postseason last year defending our home court."
George went
on to stress the importance of home-court advantage, which seems to be a major
reason why Marshall wins at the Cam Henderson Center, and loses frequently on
the road.
In the 16
games that were played in Huntington during the 2012-2013 season, the Cam saw
an average of 5,587 fans per game. In the 16 home games that were played in the
season after, an average of 4,713 fans were in attendance each game.
The Herd
lost 11 games away from home in the 2012-2013 season. When the team was in
Huntington, however, they had a record of 11-5. In the same season, it also
added to the total of years winning at least 10 games at the Cam Henderson
Center, which is 22 out of the 33 years the Herd has played in that building.
That season was the sixth consecutive time the Herd was able to do so.
The
2013-2014 season was not Marshall's year on the road, either. The Herd saw
action away from Huntington 14 times and only won 2 of those games.
Marshall's
struggles on the road these past two seasons has carried over into postseason
play in Conference USA, as well. Both seasons, the Herd found themselves on the
losing end in tournament play within the first two rounds. The last time the
team was able to make it to a Conference USA championship game was in
2011.
DeVince
Boykins, a senior guard from Forest City, North Carolina, said the Herd needs
to play harder on the road to win.
"On the
road, it is all about grinding it out because a lot of games go down to the
wire," Boykins said. "At the end of the day, we've got to start
finishing games out."
Boykins also
said the team needs to play smarter basketball fundamentally when it is away.
"We've
got to make free throws, reduce turnovers, and stop making mistakes,"
Boykins said. "Pretty much all we have to do is take care of the
ball.
Marshall men’s basketball wins at
home and loses away: 2009-2014
Year Home
Wins Road Loses +/-
2009-2010
|
15
|
4
|
+11
|
2010-2011
|
14
|
7
|
+7
|
2011-2012
|
13
|
8
|
+5
|
2012-2013
|
11
|
11
|
even
|
2013-2014
|
8
|
12
|
-4
|
Source: herdzone.com
No comments:
Post a Comment