Underneath the Final Score. Photo Courtesy of Alton Ritter

When the New York Liberty met the Indiana Fever last Saturday, the game was billed as the first professional basketball game played outdoors in the sport’s history. Back in 1951 however, the Harlem Globetrotters played an outdoor game in Berlin, so not to take away from the magnitude of the event, let’s say it’s the first in the modern era of basketball. Regardless of the semantics, the event was hot. Dan Gladstone and the Garden’s community development department did a big service for the city fanship by providing London “New York City Breaker” Reyes as the host of the pre-game outdoor festivities. The b-boy edge was definitely on point and a true representation of the originality that flows from New York City. The event featured a live DJ, theme-park games, and entertainment transforming the outdoor courtyard into a carnival. It reminded me of an ultra-modern park jam with families scooping up free pudding, free drinks, and good music and feeling real good as they entered to watch the game. My overall rating of the pre-game activities was one Vince Carter flyover the Frenchman with Harlem Kingdome crowd spillout for serious pounds on the court.

With little to no wind, not a cloud in the sky, and comfortable conditions courtside the game kicked off a bit after 7:35 pm. The Liberty started the game rough, shooting four air balls in the first quarter and bricking at 19% from the field, scoring only 8 points to Indiana’s 18. I saw a slight glare of twilight mixed with stadium lighting on the backboard and it seemed to affect the Liberty jump shooters from 17-ft and out. As darkness fell, the lighting and background became arena-like, with Indiana shooting a bit better than their seasonal shooting percentage (40% versus 39.3%) while the Liberty shot 30% versus their seasonal average of 42.6% by half-time. By the end of the third quarter, the Liberty again shot horribly scoring only 7 points with their overall shooting percentage diminishing to 23.9% while Indiana’s went up to 41.5%. While watching Indiana’s best players and the Liberty’s players and their shot selections, Indiana’s players shot from elbow-extended and out while the Liberty shot the majority of their outside shots between the elbows, or in front of the rim.

When shooting outdoors, a solid background whether white or black is usually the easier sight-line. When the backboard is clear then the amount of space behind it dictates whether depth perception is affected. I think depth perception wasn’t the problem in this instance since the players from both teams are used to the arena backgrounds; the problem the Liberty had in my opinion was the lighter background created by the luxury boxes behind the basket. On the sides of the court, the sight-lines had less bright background. When shooting from the sides, a player naturally focuses on the rim more and worries less about background, backboard, or fans that might be moving around in the seats.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience and it was interesting to see how both teams played. Liberty Head Coach Pat Coyle wasn’t as thrilled as I was with the whole experience saying she was glad to “be a part of the a first,” but she added that she wasn’t excited about “having any seconds.” We’re hoping she changes her mind and that the New York Liberty take another shot at the outdoor game. I’m looking forward to the men’s joint coming up October 11 at the Indian Wells Tennis Facility oustide of Palm Springs, California – The first NBA pre-season outdoor game between the Suns and the Nuggets. See the preview about it below…

How ‘bout a rain delay and tarp on the floor, which actually went down at the NYC Nike Tournament of Champions last year at Goat Park. Some baseball-like planning for a basketball event with the games played that day. Are you checking the flavor David Stern?