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January 4, 1938,

Mire George J, Johnson,
545 North Walcott,

Indianapolis, Indiana.
Dear Mr. Johnson:

This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 23rd ultimo inquiring about
my attitude regarding the elimination of the center jump. i am sending you an excerpt
from my new book on basketball, “Better Basketball", which is just off the press of
the McGraw-Hill Book Company, of New Yorks

This was written last sumer concerning the probable effects of eliminating the
center jump. You can see by this article that I have written that I still think
basketball has enough thrills to enthrall her followers.

4nd so far as the argument which is brought out in your postscript is ag
that the fens would leave the coumtry's fieldhouses in droves should the center jump |
be re-introduced, I might say that last year was the biggest year that basketball ever
had so far as spectator attendance was concerned, So, fran my angle of reasoning, I
do not believe the postscript holds much logical argument.

I would not want to be quoted on this statement because it might cause same re~
flection on the Pacific Coast games, but here is my analysis why the Pacific Coast
has been so strong for the tipless game of basketball, Out West football is king,
and just after the New Year's game out on the coast it is not surprising to see
blazing banner streamers across the front pages of some of the sheets making a state=
ment something like this: Only 270 more days until the next football game on the
Golden Coasté

It soumds like a bargain counter shoppers alluring ad. So the Golden Coast people,
being so ensmored of football, put it up to the basketball group to hockeyize basket=
ball to attract attention. By eliminating the center jump, they made it the
scrambling, fire-wagon game, sans finesse and adroit playinge Outside of Mrs Luisetti
and one or two other boys, the coast players admittedly are not up to the caliber of
sections where the game has been played year in and year oute

Sem Barry, of course, came from the Big Ten, and stimulated basketball on the coast.
John Bum played his last year here wmder me in 1920, and was then my freshman coach and
assistant coach until he went to Stenford mine years agoe

Sam Barry is the only man on the coast that uses set playse John Bum, Nibs Price
and the rest of the boys hurry the ball back end forthacross the court without any
design on offense or defense. John Bum uses what he calls the freedom offense, and
i think with Mr. Luisetti in the line-up he seems like he is generally free.

So I have always said that the coast boys of necessity had to do what they did in
jump to have the game attract attention. i am not criticizing

their game in the end I do not want this published in this mamer because it
: openly the

  

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