When the NCAA Tournament opted to play its biggest games in large, domed stadiums, it because a classic Sports Internet 2.0 take to chastise the money-grab because it resulted in poor shooting, especially from distance.
But truth and time reveal all. Here we sit in 2019 with the Final Four in Minneapolis’ spacious U.S Bank and four teams remaining to solve the riddle of big-venue shooting.
I’ll bet they do. At least to a point consistent with an average game. Look at this breakdown from the last seven Final Fours. Teams average 44 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from distance.
That’s not exactly building a clunker brick-by-brick. Most coaches and players downplay the challenge of domed shooting and, it appears, the data is beginning to back them up. Proactive things like putting curtains over the windows to block out glare help, too.
It may be time to retire this old trope. We can take it out of storage the next time there’s cold shooting in a few consecutive championship weekends, though the dome may have little to do with what happened.
Don’t be sad because this go-to isn’t and shouldn’t be there anymore.
Smile because it happened at all. Let the warm, nostalgic feel wash over you one last time.
