SB Nation Reacts: The bubble experience

This week’s SB Nation Reacts polling has to deal with the quality of the NBA bubble experience. They were all national questions this week that each of our voters had an opportunity to participate in. No local questions. So let’s get right to it.

The first questions we asked was whether or not you like the new camera angle for NBA broadcasts, and our voters were pretty clear:

I voted yes here. Though I do feel at times that I’m watching a game on NBA 2K, I still found myself seeing some little details that I hadn’t before.

Our second question asked if you like the fake crowd noise and game audio being pumped in. This was a pretty close vote.

I also voted for “Didn’t Notice”, as I don’t think it affected my viewing experience at all. So good job by the NBA there in my book. But this vote of 42-38-20 was tight.

Question number three asked about the controversial virtual fans, which I’ve heard plenty of people complain about but also plenty of people say they thought were fun, and that’s also been reflected in the voting results, where we asked our participants if they’d like to be a virtual fan, and the results were almost even.

I voted yes. Why not? It’d be fun to see myself at a Rockets game!

Our fourth question asked if we thought the smaller gym was having any impact on shooters. Most of you agreed.

I actually disagreed with this one. Shooters rely on routine, and sometimes slight changes can affect that routine, for better or worse. I have absolutely no statistical evidence to back that up, I just voted with my gut. A quick look at three-point percentages in the bubble shows some teams shooting better, while others are shooting worse. The Houston Rockets were shooting 34 percent from deep as team outside the bubble, while shooting 36 percent so far in the bubble.

And our final question dealt with the new bubble dress code for coaches. Instead of suits, they’re now wearing polos, and we asked our voters if they thought that should continue.

I actually voted no on this one. I like suits. I like to wear them, and I think professionals of all job titles look better in them. Call me old-fashioned, call me out of touch, and I figured I’d be in the minority on this one. But hey, it’s my opinion, and I’m sticking to it!