The NBA Finals began last night at the home of the World Champion Miami Heat. The words “Home Court Advantage” (HCA) will be heard often over the next couple of weeks. The San Antonio Spurs erased Miami’s advantage with a solid 92-88 win.

The stat guys will tell you that the HCA is worth a certain amount of points. So what’s the cause? The physical layout is the same wherever the game is played: large arena, court 94’x50’, basket 10’ high, etc.

Someone will say it’s mental. Of course it’s mental. Everything is affected by our perception of it, including the court, the building and the basket. The question is what causes the perception that gives the home team a sizable statistical edge?

I have a theory. It is not an absolute, of course. I think it holds up very well with this modification; the younger the athlete, the more it is a factor. It is one of the reasons that veteran players can be such a factor in championship play. I have applied my theory with teams that I coached, so I am not just whistling in the dark.

I know, enough already. What’s my theory? I will tell you, but you have to promise to try it on and see how it fits your experience growing up whether you were an athlete or not.

One of the things young people experience growing up is the “bully of the block” or the bullies of the nearby neighborhoods. With the bully we strategize to avoid. We are fearful. Our survival is threatened.

That threat is most likely still with us. Every time we are in a new place, have an unknown situation or are just away from our comfort zone we can have a fearful reaction that we manage for the most part. But at best, we are uncomfortable, uneasy or just not relaxed enough to produce our best effort.

Remember, you promised (or not) to try this on.

What to do about this uncomfortable feeling will be coming in my next blog post.

You have to dig a little, maybe. You have been “managing” the fearful reaction for a long time. Stay tuned …