Gregory’s
Sport -
Gossip

 

 

Putting the Snap Into Bas-
ketball; Apologies to Mr.
Houston; ShrineGame Wow

 

 

 

BY L. H. GREGORY.

_JFOW long will basketball con-
tinue to put the stress on nega-
tive rather than on positive en-

deavor? By that I mean how long will
it be quite the rezular thing for teams
to win important games, even cham-
pionships, on penalties rather than on
offensive excellence? The outstanding
present characteristic of varsity bas- |
ketball certainly is its glorification of
the free throw. |
Consider the game in Seattle Siur-
day night, in which the University of
Washington defeated Idaho, 31-25, |
thereby taking the lead in the north-
ern division’s championship race. I|
don’t dispute that Washington prob-|
ably had the better team, and would
have won on merit, though it was
very close. Washington made 12 field
baskets to 11 for Idaho, and right.
there is a two-point winning margin.
on offensive strength.

But it was on free throws from)

fouls, not on baskets from the field,

‘that Washington piled up its lead.

‘|
|
A

Seventeen fouls—just count ’em!—|
were called.on Idaho, every one of)
the 17 giving at least one free toss to
Washington, and of these free tosses
the Huskies caged nine. Of seven
fouis charged against Washington,
Idaho shot one.

If that is not a glorification of the:
free throw, a deification of penalty |
as against fire superiority in compe-.
tition, will you kindly name it? Even)
had Idaho made the 12 field baskets|
and Washington only the 11, this free-
throw emphasis would still have made
it impossible for Idaho to win.

as as zs

‘At this juncture someone, of course, |
‘will say, disgustedly: “But Idaho!
evidently violated the rules 17 times,
consequently should have been pen-|
alized. What do you want to do—!
encourage rule violation and make the
game a slaughter house, with no pro-
tection for clean play?’’

Not by a full jugful of the best
repeal stuff. That’s not the argument
at all. If the rules are violated—we

‘are not now discussing the extreme

technicalization of so many of them—
go ahead and call the violation. My
point is that in giving a free shot as
the penalty on every such infraction,
minor as well as major, the basketball
rules have just about managed to!
negativize the game.

They make basketball penalty-top-
heavy. They put the free shot on such!
a’ pedestal that it becomes too much!
the determining factor of any close
game. :