well, with video, a lot of it comes down to time/resources vs. quality. that is, you can get a video card (like an ATI) that captures directly as MPEG-2, then just burn it directly to DVD±R(W). another route is the standalone recorder, which will also capture (and burn directly to DVD) in realtime. then there's the better quality, but more resource intensive caputre cards/methods that capture in (DV) .AVI format, and then have to be encoded to MPEG-2, authored, then burned to DVD. obviously, the cheaper options are an AVI capture card or an MPEG capture card, but the AVI capture cards require more time (encoding to MPEG-2). the standalones require more resources ($$$) than either type of capture card.
but if a direct-to-MPEG capture is acceptable quality for your own viewing of *tons* of basketball games, then i'd say you probably made the right choice.
along that line of thought, if the quality looks okay to you at 352x480, then why change anything?
note: my statements regarding "acceptable" quality are based on the criteria that the usage of the video card is for personal viewing (not for video concert releases, where everyone wants the optimal quality possible, obviously).