Cage Clinic
Here Off to

The fiftieth anniversaty : celebra-
‘tion: of the founding of the game
of basketball was off to a good

start in Kansas City Kansas today,
its impetus provided by the kick-
| off event last night in‘which Dr.
F.C. “Phog” Allen, famed Univer- |
versity of Kansas coach, appeared
here to conduct the first session
of the Better Basketball clinie spon-
sored by the local YMCA. ©

The approximately 800 persons
-who *witnessed the demonstration
“of basketball fundamentals given by
Allen and five members of his K. U.
cage squad felt that this provided
a close link with the foundations
of the game. Basketball was in-
vented fifty years ago by Dr. James
A. Naismith, then a YMCA physi-
cal director.» Later Doctor. Nai-
smith was associated closely with
Allen at the University of Kansas
for a number of years until Nai-
smith’s death less than two years
ago. And Allen, perhaps more~
than any. other’ one individual, has
led the way in developing and
popularizing the game since it was
given to the world by the YMCA,

Local. Cagers in Demonstration
Two of the five players with Al-
|}len were no strangers here. They
)} were Paul Turner and Bob Johnson,
former ~ Shawnee . Mission ' high
school athletes. Others were Vance
Halls=\Jack “Ballard and Ty =P.
Hunter. And when they and: their
“horse and‘ buggy” coach were thru,
those present ‘had a better idea of
why Kansas teams haye won twen-
ty-three championships in:the thirty
years Allen has coached them.
-~ It was advanced fundamentals
which the players demonstrated.
They showed how to take’ the ball
down the court into scoring position
on a fast break and on-set plays,
against both man-for-man and zone
defenses. They showed how ‘these
methods were based upon ‘proper
pivoting, dribbling and ball han-
dling. Fundamental floor work was
explained and demonstrated, with
players “passing at angles and run-
ning in curves.” Various offensive
and defensive exercises were gone
thru, showing how Allen’s teams get
thoro drilling in application of
fundamentals. ;

| Allen in Tribute to Naismith
| At‘the dinner which: preceded the
Clinic, Allen again bid for support
\of his efforts to bring. about a .
'“celean-up” of college athletics. He
‘denounced: the “reprehensible prac-
‘tice of placing both football and bas-
ketball ‘players’ on salary. lists,”
which; he said, existed in.most°of the
colleges and universities of America.
He divided the :Big Six ‘schools
‘into two classifications, the “big
pocketbook” and the “little pocket-
book” leagues. ‘ There ‘are’ three
schools in the circuit in’ each classi-
fication; he said, without mention-
| ing names.
‘Allen paid tribute to Doctor
Naismith as a great man, who never
realized how big a thing he started
in basketball. He urged greater. em-
phasis upon Naismith’s idealism
concerning amateur. sports and less
of the process of ‘commercialization
of sports.