Commentary : HOME ISN’T WHERE THE FANS ARE : Why Washington Keeps Treating the Bullets Like They Are the Away Team

The Washington Bullets are far from being a great team, and even have a ways to go before they can be considered a good one. But the Bullets went on the road last week and played their hearts out. Having already won in Chicago, the Bullets did likewise in Atlanta and New York, and came within one Hail Barkley shot of winning in Philadelphia. After qualifying as legitimate Road Warriors, which is the toughest thing of all in the NBA, the Bullets returned home for a game with the Celtics Sunday.

The Bullets had to be pumped. Capital Centre was sold out for only the third time all season, and they would need every advantage imaginable to beat the Celtics and stay abreast in the Eastern Conference playoff race. But a funny thing happened to the Bullets on the way to Landover on Sunday: Somebody switched arenas on them. It looked like Capital Centre on the outside. But inside, it sounded like and could have been Boston Garden.

The schedule says the Bullets were to play three home games this week: Celtics, Pistons (Thursday) and Hawks (Sunday). The reality is that the Bullets have no home games. Home is where you get cheered even though you blow a rebound. Home is where the fans get on the officials and the calls go your way. But more often than not these days, half the crowd at Capital Centre comes to root for the visiting team.

Bullets owner Abe Pollin wasn’t feeling well Sunday, so he stayed home and watched the game on television. He got an inkling of what was going on from the telecast, and got the full report afterward: At least half of the 18,643 in Capital Centre were rooting for the Celtics. That’s a conservative estimate. Some season-ticket holders felt it was more like 60%.

And what made it seem even more like Boston Garden was that those rooting for the Bullets were shouted down. Still, the Bullets prevailed, 98-92, which upset some of the Centre patrons. Their attitude really has lit Pollin’s fire.

“Of all the things that bother me,” he said, “number one on the top of the list of things I do not like . . . is these people who somehow find it in their hearts to come so often to Capital Centre and root for the other team.”

Pollin was equally angry and sad. Asked if he feels the Bullets are a team without a home, he replied, “Well, it’s certainly not the home-court advantage they’re entitled to, that’s for sure.”

This was no one-time deal, either. When the Lakers come to town (the only other team to sell out Capital Centre this season), half the people are there to see Magic and Kareem. Same now goes for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. How many will come to see Isiah Thomas instead of the Bullets Thursday night? Dominique instead of the Bullets in the season finale on Sunday?

The Washington Capitals fans are slightly better--they were inspirational in Game 7, which thrilled Pollin--but they didn’t fill the building for Game 5. The Bullets, who aren’t likely to see a Game 7 this coming postseason, might not know how to act if they walked out of the locker room and found a fervent crowd such as the Capitals had Saturday night.

Kevin Grevey, a Bullet turned restaurateur, was at Sunday’s game and said he thought every staff member of every congressman in New England must have been present.

“As a Bullet,” he said, speaking from years of experience, “it’s as frustrating as can be. I remember when I was a rookie and I was just shocked. Basketball is a motivating game and there’s no question that fans can get your adrenalin going. True professionals can’t let those outside things bother them, so I guess I’d say it’s only a bit of a disadvantage. But it was terrible. I don’t like Celtics and I don’t like Celtic fans. I wish the Bullets could sell enough season tickets so that those yahoos couldn’t get in the place.”

But that’s the rub. The Bullets can’t sell enough season tickets. In a 23-team league, the Bullets are 20th in attendance. Even the New Jersey Nets, who couldn’t see the playoffs with a periscope, draw more than the Bullets, who have suffered the second-biggest dropoff (after the 76ers) in this record-breaking season for NBA attendance.

So the Bullets have a dilemma: either suffer through having a half-empty building or grit your teeth while half of the customers root, root, root for the visiting team.

Marty Aronoff, who does statistics for CBS and several other outlets, noted, “When the Celtics come in, I expect somebody to go down and paint the Cap Centre floor parquet.

“No place else is even close to the Cap Centre. If the Bullets stay close and make some plays, the crowd will swing toward their side. But they never get that boost at the beginning of the game when a team can really benefit from it.”

One factor is that the Bullets, even with the addition of Bernard King, lack excitement. Moses Malone will probably retire as one of the best five pivotmen ever, but nothing about his game brings you out of your seat (or out of your house). And the last few drafts haven’t exactly yielded a star player.

At least the Bullets know they can win on the road (9-9 since Feb. 19) and survive at home (9-4 over the same span). Game by game in these final weeks, the Bullets are coming to realize, there’s no place like road.