"I saw another type of decision in last night's game",
continued Dr. Naismith. "A guard was planted with outstretched
arms. His opponent tried.an underhand swing shot. As his upward
moving arms came in contact with the stationary arm of the guard
you fouled the defensive man and allowed the shooter two freethrows.
What in the world must the guard do? Must he always back away and
permit unhindered shots? Personally, I feel that he is entitled to
his position in this case and is not responsible for the contact."

The embarrassment written on the face of the official
was quickly erased as Dr. Naismith continued with some details
covering the otherwise fine work done in handling the game.

In reply to a question of game improvement, Dr. Naismith
mentioned several moves that might help.

"On the whole we have a pretty good game as it stands.
However, I am of the firm conviction that it was a mistake to in-
stall the center line and the ten second rule. The general plan
of the game is simple: First, a team must score points; and,
second, it must try to prevent its opponents from scoring as many
points as possible. Thus, a team which has a lead is entitled to
use any or all parts of the floor in any legal tactics which will
conserve its margin, and the team which is behind is obligated to
go after the ball if it wants to score enough points to win. The
ten second rule requires the leading team to risk its lead by bring-
ing oe ee up to the defense when obligations actually should be
reversed.

"In addition the rule has. cut the floor space in half
which is bound to encourage congestion and lead to more roughness
and fouls. For these reasons I am opposed to the center line and
the ten second provisions."

"Agreed", spoke one of the listeners, "but retreated
defenses and stalling tactics were hurting the game, and something
had to be done to force more action. What would be your suggestions
to accomplish this?"

"Only some well-formulated experiments will tell us the
solution. The Coaches Association is to be complimented for the
work it is doing along research lines. Continuation of this may
provide the answer. The enlarged basket may help by reducing the
risk on longer shots. I doubt if changes in the location of the
basket will help much. If you can make it easier to score over a
retreated defense or make such scores more valuable, then it will
become futile to retreat, and the winning team will be the one
which is aggressive defensively.

"For sometime I have been thinking of a scheme which
might have the desired effect. Draw an arc on the floor with the
basket as the center and use a 30-foot radius or thereabouts. Count
all field goals made from inside this zone the customary two points,
but score all field goals made from.outside as worth three or four
points. Such a plan might make it less of a gamble for a player to
try longer shots knowing that a few successful ones could build up
a winning margin. Conversely, a defense could not afford to con-
gregate under the rim, but would have a spread to hinder the longer
trials, Perhaps, by placing a greater value on longer shots, com-
bined with an enlarged basket, might be better still. I am convinced