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EDITOR OF BASKETBALL .GUIDE
COMMENTS ON COURT SITUATION

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+ By: Oswald Tower ~

Many suggestions ‘have been advanced for the annual
coaches and officials meeting, but I believe that moving .
pictures of basketball: situations might, be extremely helpful,
and probably the’ most valuable: work could be done with a series
on screening and’ blocking, togather. with a few on held: balls
showing situations in which held balls are: called: when none:
should have been called, The ‘series on screening and blocking
should cover both scoring plays: and out-of-bound plays..

[tis hard for me, to make.a-list of: the most frequent, _
‘questions ‘that come to me because they vary greatly from year
to year and from month.to month, During the fall, before ‘the
Seuson opens, most of the questions are, about the changes in
the rules, My correspondents have been studying the book and
“Have thought up all manner of things that might happen and
“want to Know what to-do if they.do happen, Many of ‘the 'si tu=
ations are ‘of minor importance and would arise so rarely that
“my correspondents would forget my interpretation long before

there came a chanee to apply its Hea ery? Ak
hen the season gets under way, the type of questions.
change from the hypothetical to actual incidents in games,
“Most of the latter are covered in the rules, but there are a
always unusual and unforeseen things which the rules cannot
be expected to cover all the answers to which cre a matter of
personal opinion, On many of these my opinion is no better than
_ that.of the next man...” y @oTy OM o. hat Oe :

i Toward the end of the’ season when.the competition gets
hotter and when the’ tournements are under way, come the pro-
tested games, In many of théesé [I have the doubtful honor of

being the court of last resort and am told. that the parties

' to the controversy have agreed to abide by my decision, In

such cases I try to get a ststement of the’ circumstances |

Signed by both parties or a statement from a neutral source.
“In general, it is my policy not to uphold protests; that the

_ game should stand as played, Most protests are bused on: the

' claim that an official made an error, sometimes a trivial one.

iy attitude’ is ‘that mistakes are made by officials in every

game, that the law of. averages. divides them pretty well in

the course of a season, and that if a protest is upheld when-

ever a mistcke is maue by an official, there will be no end of

protested gumes,