Finished watching the postgame interviews, and couldn’t help but notice both Pascal and Malachi make subtle references to the crowd (Pascal mentions how energy being drained after every mistake from the crowd, Malachi said the crowd only got into it in the second half).
Now these players are professionals, and many of them played in empty arenas for basically a season — but I can’t help but wonder if our home crowd has changed over the years. Been seeing a few social media posts showing “sold out crowds” having tons of empty seats. To anyone who’s been to a game this year, how’s the crowd been compared to previous seasons?
A lot of “true fans” have been priced out, and tickets are going to corporations who give them out as a social experience. (You can both be well off and a true fan before anyone @'s me)
I think this has resulted in a more laissez faire crowd, who needs the team to provide them the energy. On the positive side, players are less likely to be jeered when not doing well.