Road Shooting Woes

It has been brought up many times that Valpo struggles to shoot the ball effectively on the road.  I'd like to look at why that might be.  First lets look at our shooting percentages throughout the first 13 games and see if there actually is a discrepancy. Road games are bolded.

Game	Place	2pt %	3pt%	FT%	RESULT
Georgia S.	ARC	52.90	54.20	85.70	W
Northern Ill.	ARC	52.10	54.20	66.70	W
Nebraska	NEB	34.00	13.30	66.70	L
Kent St.	Kent	58.10	33.30	82.90	W
Chicago St	ARC	39.70	28.60	78.60	W
Bethune	ARC	54.80	53.30	74.20	W
St. Louis	StL	32.60	23.80	70.00	L
IPFW	ARC	40.80	29.40	72.00	W
New Mex	NM	48.60	44.40	61.50	L
Missouri St	MS	40.50	33.30	69.40	W
Oakland	Oak	50.90	30.40	70.00	L
IUPUI	ARC	50.00	19.00	80.80	W
Purdue Cal	ARC	54.90	40.00	60.00	W

I think it is painfully clear that our shooting is much worse when the guys are on the road versus when they are in the comfortable confines of the Athletics Recreation Center.  Shooting only 50% or better in 2 of the 6 road games compared to 5 of the 7 home games, shooting at best 33% twice on the road compared to shooting above 40% at home 4 times, and finally hitting at least 70% of the free throws only twice on the road compared with hitting better then 70% 5 times at home. Some people will say we are playing tougher opponents on the road which is true, but watching the games Valpo gets plenty of good looks that just aren't falling as frequently on the road. Why does this keep happening? There is a great video done by ESPN Sports Science on this topic.

The first thing the Sports Science crew talks about is noise.  The ARC can be one of the loudest buildings in the conference due to its small size.  I don't think the players are affected by the noise level in these other arenas.  The second aspect the crew mentions is site.  I think this is where we run into some of our problems.  The ARC is fairly dark when you move away from the court.  The darker the back drop the easier it is to focus on the rim and use those visual cues to hit those jump shots. I haven't been to many of the road games but I'd be willing to wager that many of the venues the team goes to are more brightly lit.  The final aspect that I feel also figures into our poor shooting is space.  It is no secret that the ARC is very small. Everything in the ARC is right on top of the court, the fans, the ceiling, and the the scoreboard.  Many of these other venues have higher ceilings and every single fan is not right on top of the court.

I think when Valpo does upgrade to a new facility in the near(?!) future they should take in account the dimensions of the other arenas that the team frequently plays at.  Feeling more at home when the team is on the road will help lead to higher shooting percentages and higher winning percentages!