A lot has been said about the Storm's home court advantage being one of the best in the WNBA. It's true. We're loud, knowledgeable about the game and passionate about the Storm.There have been times when we've been able to lift the team and make it very hard for the other team to hear themselves think. It's been good so far, but I think it's time to take the next step.

The Brick Project

In 2004, a small group of fans travelled to Minnesota for the Storm's first round road playoff game. We luckily got to sit right under one of the baskets. Because the home crowd was so quiet during the Lynx's free throws, and because we were 20 feet away from the shooters, us yelling "Brick" right as the shooter released the ball was shocking enough that it made them flinch and miss their shot. I would say that we accounted for as few as three and as many as six missed free throws.

That's pretty amazing. During a playoff game, we were able to help the Storm by forcing the Lynx to miss free throws.

Doing this in the Key has been much less effective. The normal fan reaction during opponents' free throws is to make a ton of noise from the time the shooter steps up to the line and through their shot. The players expect it. They practice for it. They've been facing that kind of reaction since their high school days.

What really works is one loud explosion of noise right when they are releasing the ball. On an episode of "Sport Science" (a short-lived show on FSN that examined the science behind sports), they tested different methods of distracting an NBA player during free throws. Nothing had an appreciable effect — including visual distractions like cheerleaders, waving thundersticks, clowns on stilts, or audible distractions like heavy metal music or loud, sustained cheering. The only thing that worked was hitting the shooter with a loud burst of sound at the end of their shooting motion, right before they released the ball. The concept is that even someone expecting such a loud noise can't control their natural urge to flinch or react to being startled.

If we as a group started yelling Brick at just the right time, we could significantly affect visiting teams' free throw scoring.

The Brick Project aims to get that started.

The Brick Project Part 1: It's all in the Timing

Timing is the most important part of how much this will impact a player's shot. The sweet spot is right as the player is about to release the ball. If you do it to early, she might have enough time to overcome the flinch (if there is one). If you do it too late, the ball is already moving out of her hand and a flinch won't alter the course of the ball. Getting the timing correct takes some practice and observation as each player has a different free throw routine and her own timing.

The Brick Project Part 2: Volume

The Brick is most effective when it is quiet first. We have to try as hard as possible to make it quiet during the player's wind up so that when we bring the volume, we'll have maximum impact. All of us have been trained to make noise during free throws. You've got to resist that and as much as possible without being rude, get those around you to hold back until it's time to really yell.

To help out with the volume part, we will be distributing mini megaphones to Storm fans who sit in the sections closest to the baskets on both ends. We will be available before weekend games to pass out megaphones (we'll post our location and times on the forum) and will also bring a small quantity into the arena and pass them out to key people before each game. We'll also be looking for a few volunteers from the sections directly behind the basket to hand out megaphones to fans they know will join in and help out. We're ordering 250 and hope to have them all distributed in the first couple weeks of the season.

We don't want to hand these out to everyone. The people who get a megaphone need to be committed to bringing it to each game and using it. The cost for these is coming out of our pocket, so it's important that we get the most bang for our buck.

The Brick Project Part 3: Consistency and Success

If you receive a megaphone, it is vital that you bring it every game and use it. It is also just as vital that you teach those fans around you when to be quiet and when to yell the loudest during free throws.Think about it — if we can get enough people to join in, get the timing right and be as loud as possible, we can have a real, quantifiable impact on every Storm home game.

Can we account for 3, 5 or even more points per game on missed free throws? I think we can. I know we can.