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By Whi they. Martin
(Asioctated ? Press: maerts Writer.)

- ee Ye Teri's g = LA sais of: “thie averaze mm of ‘basketball: scores. these
at nights, with the. totals leaving. the impression that naybe- tho teams should try

- outa, defensé- sometime, if only for thenovelty of it, >rings up the memory that

such shooting affairs are a. comaratively recent | develonmont.

ae) prior. to 1922, rhen. the rules: ‘committes: “rade: probably the to most
“impor tant. changes..in the code since the exibryo period of the game, a fen hada
pretty fair chance of seeing two quintets battle. in a furiows em duel which
- bignt-end in a ‘one-sided 9 to 7 or: 13 to 10. decision. =o

ws: The oles. if. question were’ ‘the. 10-second rulé,. hekins it necessary for an
offensive team: to advance beyond the: center of. thé floor in that period, and the

- elimination, or wodification, of. the. pivottpost. play. , in which a team with on

Eiffel towcr conter ae anchor him at the foul line’ and foed hin the sald like
it was. tossing. herring. B Seale oy al A
RULE. PREVENTS Sra. op | 3
The 10-second rae was. by far ‘efi naljor ay rover tent, in that it eliminated
i stalling. It. vas. not .an. uncommon sight to sce a team in the lead, even a one or
tro point lead, get the. ball in the back court and dofy its” opponent. to come and
gzet it, ie !
ft TF the opnonent. ves Segue Ty. stubborn, a.  aree rate ‘dovoloped and the zane
became something of a minuet in. G, In fact, the back-court tonr often not only
- held the. ball: shen it sot tired lobbing it around. It sat on. it, 4 Wd it-vas such
a travesty on the LNG “that the rules committee WES pron spt ed: ‘to ‘take steps making
it necessary for the referees to learn to count, | |
HATIONAL TITLE Of 25-POINTS, |
~ In contrast. to this bountiful scoring, every fon of the ¢ 20's ov before can
recall games which ended with the total score of oo teans | ‘thi rty, or even twenty,
points or less...
dn .1932, just before: ee new adie; was adopted, — Wichita cove won the
National AAU. title by:defeating the. Maryville, Mo, Teachers 15 to 14. In 1928
Ashland, ‘Ky, , high school won the “national intercollegiate tournament at Chicago,
.and: most, if not..all, its wimiing scores were twenty noints’ or léss.
» In 1922 the arny army quintet. lost two games. to oponents , vho failed to register
a, single’ field goal. That. was the year before the rule was adopted requiring the
Tan fouled to shoot his ow freo throw , and a team which haa an expert in the free-
throwing department was: sitting pretty. ie ew ee
NOT ALL SCORES REN LOW, aS * e
st coes not follow that all scores.in that prehistoric neriod were puny,
Passiac, §.J,, high school ran up a phenomenal strinz of 159 victories before it
was: defeated. Dy Hackensack in 1925, and some of, ‘the Passiac scores were whopnoers.
We were-a substitute on < a Cedar Ranids , Ta.., high school team back in the
yates that won a game 108 to a? but such a score tat only was wmsual thon. at
would ve astonisHins today.
~..... The 3-second. rule as.applied to the pivot-post play tended to take some of
- the advantage away. from a teat which had a: ‘towering nlayer. The bean nole might
not be able to get out of his.orm way, but if he could catch a ball, wheel around
like ‘an: engine on a: ea and + POR at the. basket that. was all that was neces~
. aah
The. ota nntson ‘of the center fa. vas. a later develomnent, tending to speed
up a “game that already was virtually tated motion, but the real reason for the
large scores of today is tho rule which made the players do their’ sitting on the
bench, not on the ball.