NCAA ball inflation

[TallTitan34]

https://twitter.com/BobbyPfor3/status/1775365677227892887

Several players all missing way long.

[TallTitan34]

And for the crowd who thinks this is excuse making for Marquette, it's entirely possible the ball helped us to the Sweet Sixteen.

Colorado is a great three point shooting team and had a terrible first half from deep.

[rocky_warrior]

And for the crowd who thinks this is excuse making for Marquette, it's entirely possible the ball helped us to the Sweet Sixteen.

Colorado is a great three point shooting team and had a terrible first half from deep.

If you come across 3pt % for this tournament, vs previous tournaments I'd love to see them (a quick search yielded nothing)

[wadesworld]

If you come across 3pt % for this tournament, vs previous tournaments I'd love to see them (a quick search yielded nothing)

Or from 3 tournaments ago (when they were still using the previous ball).  Or the Tournament 3 point shooting compared to the regular season 3 point shooting of Tourney teams.

[MU82]

None of those stats would matter to me. To me, it's simply common sense to use the same ball for every game in every arena.

[rocky_warrior]

Or the Tournament 3 point shooting compared to the regular season 3 point shooting of Tourney teams.

That's a valid comparison, but I think only if you also do that for other years.  My "gut" is that I've usually seen more misses in the tournament, and if my gut is right, it's probably due to win or go home nerves.  Again, would love to see the #s.

[rocky_warrior]

None of those stats would matter to me. To me, it's simply common sense to use the same ball for every game in every arena.

In that case, it's also common sense to play all the games in identical arenas.  Teams aren't allowed to have unique buildings.

Probably also common sense not to allow fans.  They lead to one team having an advantage over another.

And common sense for all players to have uniform heights and weights.  Wouldn't want any nonsense going on with someone having a physical advantage.

I'm probably missing some other "common sense" changes.

[The Sultan]

My opinion (and brew's) is that they should have an interest in pursuing it. It seems like an obvious thing to do to level the playing field.

Others are allowed their own opinions, of course, and ultimately the only opinions that matter are those of NCAA poobahs.

What they should do is  announce prior to the year beginning what ball they will be using. Then let the schools do with that information what they wish.

[Warrior Code]

What they should do is  announce prior to the year beginning what ball they will be using. Then let the schools do with that information what they wish.

Makes sense to me. Nike schools could still honor their contract and play with a Nike ball, but you could still get practice time with the tourney ball all season.

[lawdog77]

Makes sense to me. Nike schools could still honor their contract and play with a Nike ball, but you could still get practice time with the tourney ball all season.

That's a bad idea. Muscle memory. It would mess up your mechanics switching balls during practice time.

[BM1090]

What they should do is  announce prior to the year beginning what ball they will be using. Then let the schools do with that information what they wish.

Agree with this.

[Warrior Code]

That's a bad idea. Muscle memory. It would mess up your mechanics switching balls during practice time.

More than abruptly switching up at the end of the year? You could practice with the Wilson ball one day a week, or just for certain drills, etc. However the coach wanted to do it so it wouldn't be as big of a shock come tourney time.

[The Sultan]

Y'all realize that when teams play on the road, they are oftentimes using a different ball than the one they play with at home right? I think we are acting like there is an enormous difference between different types of basketballs, but in reality the difference isn't that great.

[lawdog77]

Y'all realize that when teams play on the road, they are oftentimes using a different ball than the one they play with at home right? I think we are acting like there is an enormous difference between different types of basketballs, but in reality the difference isn't that great.

You sure about that? Whats a team's winning percentage on the road using a different ball versus home? To be honest, I couldn't care less, but it's the offseason.

[MUDPT]

Didn't Bo use Sterling balls because they sponsored him at Platteville? And then MU practiced the week before the UW game with the Sterling balls because they were so different?

[TSmith34, Inc.]

That's a valid comparison, but I think only if you also do that for other years.  My "gut" is that I've usually seen more misses in the tournament, and if my gut is right, it's probably due to win or go home nerves.  Again, would love to see the #s.

Or, you know, voodoo.

Obviously.

[brewcity77]

Y'all realize that when teams play on the road, they are oftentimes using a different ball than the one they play with at home right? I think we are acting like there is an enormous difference between different types of basketballs, but in reality the difference isn't that great.

The point is that if you standardize that, you eliminate this conspiracy theory altogether. Don't say "we're going to use this", say "this is the ball we're all using."

Quite simply, when you can streamline processes to avoid stupidity, that should be done, because the alternative is a bunch of different people all choosing how to do stupid things and then pointing fingers everywhere but at themselves when said stupidity has consequences.

[The Sultan]

The balls are standardized brew. The brand they use isn't standardized however.

And again the answer is simple. The NCAA can announce what ball they are using this summer long before practices even start. Then the institutions can decide if they want to roll with that ball throughout the year, or go with whatever ball they have used prior or is dictated by whatever contract is in place.

No mandates from an organization that can't really mandate anything these days, and no whining from message boards afterwards because their team went 4/31 from deep.

[brewcity77]

The balls are standardized brew. The brand they use isn't standardized however.

You're splitting hairs to try to defend the point. It's simple. Wilson is the official ball of the NCAA. It's what all our member teams use. Or Spalding, or Franklin, or whoever will donate the balls for free while giving the NCAA the most money for the advertising opportunity they get to have their balls on every game.

FFS, we have an official ladder brand of the NCAA to cut nets. This isn't something that would be difficult or controversial, and frankly it's idiotic that it's even a point that can be debated.

[The Sultan]

You're splitting hairs to try to defend the point. It's simple. Wilson is the official ball of the NCAA. It's what all our member teams use. Or Spalding, or Franklin, or whoever will donate the balls for free while giving the NCAA the most money for the advertising opportunity they get to have their balls on every game.

FFS, we have an official ladder brand of the NCAA to cut nets. This isn't something that would be difficult or controversial, and frankly it's idiotic that it's even a point that can be debated.

Right. The NCAA dictates what ladders they use to cut nets at the tournament! The NCAA doesn't dictate what ladders the Big East uses when teams cut down nets at the BET or an individual team uses to cut down nets for whatever reason during the season.

The NCAA has, to my understanding, NEVER dictated what brand of equipment should be used during the non-championship season. Footballs, baseballs, basketballs, uniforms, etc. have all been left up to the individual schools.

And to be honest, I'm not sure they *can* dictate what each of the member schools use without requiring those schools to amend or break existing agreements already in place.

But all of the sudden, Marquette goes 4/31, and its its a no-brainer that the NCAA should do something it has never done prior, and may not actually have the power to do anyway. 

[TallTitan34]

But all of the sudden, Marquette goes 4/31, and its its a no-brainer that the NCAA should do something it has never done prior, and may not actually have the power to do anyway.

This has been a problem back to at least last year if not sooner.

[The Sultan]

This has been a problem back to at least last year if not sooner.

I'm sure since it was discussed so much around here last year.

[TallTitan34]

I'm sure since it was discussed so much around here last year.

From The Athletic on last year's tournament:

"They need to take some air out of the ball. It's too much and I think everyone's shot has been off lately. Everyone in the tournament," [Kateri] Poole said. "And I'm not trying to make excuses regardless, but throwing the ball off the backboard, it sounds like it's gonna pop."

But Poole said Sunday that the ball was so hard that it hurt LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson's finger and split one of Morris' nails. Asked about Johnson's finger, an LSU media relations staffer deferred to one of the Tigers' student athletic trainers. The trainer said she was not authorized to speak about potential injuries. An NCAA spokesperson also declined comment about LSU's claims.

[The Sultan]

I said "around here." I don't recall this being such an outrage on Scoop until Marquette shot poorly. Usually the Scoop collective blames the refs, but I guess this time its the balls.

[brewcity77]

But all of the sudden, Marquette goes 4/31, and its its a no-brainer that the NCAA should do something it has never done prior, and may not actually have the power to do anyway.

At no point have I mentioned 4/31, nor do I find it at all central to the discussion at hand.

Whether it's Marquette, or Duke, or LSU, or whomever, going to one ball year-round across the sport would take the talking point away. The only reason you're debating it is because they haven't created an equipment standard. I don't blame a ball, or overinflation, or whatever. We had a crap game. But the mere existence of this talking point is stupid and something that could be pretty easily addressed.

And as the original debate began with a video posted before the tournament even started, it's clearly not a new issue.