Tim Dong asks via MSN: "I'm a Yao Ming fan. Actually I like Tim Duncan best but I have to say in public that I'm a Yao Ming fan. I'm from Shanghai, you see, Yao's home city. I've been following NBA basketball by reading news in English. I have many questions. One of them is concerned with the terms 'home record', 'road record', 'home loss', 'road loss'. A loss is a loss, right? My question is - why do they keep track of home losses and road losses?" My comments: Great question, Tim. Did you name yourself after Tim Duncan? True or not, it's nothing to be ashamed of to be a fan of Duncan, the power forward of the San Antonio Spurs who does everything so well that Shaquille O'Neal (a no small judge on the subject) calls him the Big Fundamental. Even in Shanghai, I mean. Great point - "A loss is a loss", you say. After the playing season is over, all that fans will remember is a team's total number of wins and losses, not how many wins at home, how many on the road. But we cannot be so sure, can we? In the NBA, each team plays 82 game during the regular playing season from November to next April. Teams play exactly half of those games (41) at home on its own court in front of its own supporting fans. Naturally, teams tend to perform better at home, when they are cheered on by the screaming fans who often boo players from the visiting team. Even referees are prone to making favorable calls for the home team when the fans really get into it. Aptly, this is called home court advantage. The Arco Arena, home to the Sacramento Kings, is considered the most intimidating home court among all 30 NBA teams. By the same token, however, losing games at home is more difficult to accept by the home fans, who may turned traitor and boo their own team if things get too bad. At the Madison Square Garden, home to the Knicks, New York fans have practically been booing their own players for years. This year's been no exception (they are 1-6 - one win against six losses - at home). Actually, Knick fans are among the most knowledgeable and supportive. They are not at all miserly when it comes to cheering a good play when they see it on the floor. I guess they just don't see it that much these days. The Knicks have been struggling. Pundits too take a team's home record into consideration when they evaluate teams. Good teams, they say, are usually able to win two-thirds or more of games at home and at least half of games on the road. Elite teams, of course, are those that are able to "hold serve" at home and win games on the road. The Spurs (Duncan's team) is an elite team. So far this season, they are 4-3 at home - not that impressive considering - but their road record has been an awe-inspiring perfect 6-0 (six victories against no losses). Yao's Rockets, on the other hand, are looking to turn it up at home. Last season, they managed just 16 wins at home, losing 25, the primary reason why they failed to make the playoffs. So far this season, they have a healthy record of 5-1 (five wins, one loss) at home. Very healthy indeed, don't you think, Tim?

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.