From NetsDaily:
With three minutes left in the third quarter of Monday night’s game vs. the Kings, Keyon Dooling stole the ball from Kevin Martin near halfcourt and was immediately fouled by Martin. Dooling went to the line for two shots on the clear path violation. After he missed the first, one in a series of missed free throws by the Nets, a cascade of boo’s rained down on the Nets’ guard. Dooling made a motion with his hands as if to say, “bring it on” while mimicking the crowd’s boos. After making the second and then quickly hitting a three, Dooling turned to the crowd as he ran down the court and sarcastically mouthed the word “boo!”
Marv Albert and Mike Fratello noted the episode and even replayed it on YES.
After the game, Dooling explained his feelings to the media.
“We don’t like the boo’s at home. It doesn’t make us play better,” Dooling said. “If they come and cheer us, that will be more helpful. We want to get it right. We don’t want to lose, especially on our home court. We want to give them a good show. We want to play hard, we want to play with intensity we want to do all the things that make them happy. But in this league, sometimes you have rough starts, and cheering would help us get through it.”
He was asked, Is it that bad? Dooling responded: “I played for the Clippers, and it was never like this,” he said, a testament to just how bad he thinks things are.
I guess that helps explain New Jersey’s 7-12 record at home. The Nets are 10-6 on the road. Both Fred Kerber of the New York Post and Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger attempted to explain New Jersey’s home woes. Kerber believes the lack of crowd support is an “excuse.” New Jersey is ranked 22nd in home attendance. The Nets are drawing an average of 15,399 fans per game. The Bucks (10-5), Clippers (3-14), Sixers (7-8), Pacers (5-13), Bobcats (3-10), Timberwolves (4-12), Grizzlies (9-10), and Kings (6-11) are drawing fewer fans at home. Aside from the Bucks, each of the team’s ranked below the Nets in attendance have struggled to win at home. But unlike the Nets, none of of those teams are expected to make the playoffs.
Lack of support is one thing, booing the home town team is another. I’ve never understood fans who choose to boo their favorite team for playing poorly. Maybe more so than any other sport, basketball is a game that requires confidence in order to succeed. I undersand the urgency to criticize, but fans accomplish nothing (despite evidence to the contrary in NJ) by booing the home team. It’s no wonder the Nets are so eager to get out of New Jersey.
