Page 8 . Febe 12, 1942

: If the basket were 12 feet high the player would have to
shoot the ball two fect higher than he is forced to do at present, and this
_ would cause the big husky defensive man to play further back away from the
basket in order to get the ardiof reboumd from a shote This would remove
a few feet from his present blockingeout position, By the same token, if a
high arch shot would miss the basket and fall short, then this big fellow
being removed from the basket a short distance, would give an opportumity
for the speedier, shorter men to cut in and retrieve this falling shot that
would light inside the playing field, before the powerful yet slower man
could get to a vantage pointe

ss the fact that the end line is four feet back of the basket
would further give the shorter man an opportunity to retireve and to place
the ball quickly back into scoring territorye All of this would be an
advantage for the shorter man and an equalizer for the exceptionally tall
fellow who can reach over and dunk the ball into the basket.

You accommodate the muscles of your eyes to height the same
@S you accommodate your eyes to distance. Whena player shoots the ball
for the basket when he is fifteen feet out he naturally guages the distance
and shoots with a certain arching of the belle When he is twenty-five feet
out he arches higher and takes into account the distance he is to shoot,
The fact that he would shoot at a twelveefoot basket instead of a tenefoot
he would naturally accaumodate his eyes to height the same as he doses to
distance and arch the ball highere ‘The shorter man than would be handicapped

the less by this changes

| Again, 80% of the fouls are called on men driving in,
endeavoring to shoct for a layup or a close shote By having the basket
higher you would do away with these layeups and rive in and it would be
more advantageous not to be wider the basket, but out a piece so the bank
shots and the arch shots would hit more accurately, ‘therefore, it would
clear up the congestion that now exists under the basket. By reducing
‘the number of fouls it necessarily would improve the ball handling and
therefore improve the games | |

A field goal could cowmt three points, and one point could
be given for a free throw, which is about the proper ratiog The fact that
two free throws are given for so many shots that are attempted near the basket
when the player is fouled is hardly the right balances Many clever players
"draw" fouls from their opponents merely to get the two wmeuarded shots from
the free throw lines

: Back to the BigeSix Conferences ‘The University of Missourt
for the first time in a great many years, does not have a pleyer taller than
62" and she has not won a single game in the Conferences She has lost five
and won mones Last year she had Blain Currence, a great end in football and
a fine basketball player, who was 6'5" tall. She also had Haskell Tison, a
center, 6172" ta11 and Missouri finished im a tie with Oklahoma dma Kansas for
the BigeSim Chempionship, This year without these two players Missouri is
in the cellar positions I am giving you the present standing of the BigeSix
Conferences . Mees