gZames in every “world’s series “wore
won on penalty shots, these penalties
being permitted to overshadow of-
fensive merit?

Or in football, if after every one of.
its many penalties the teams paraded
up or down the field to the 15-yard)
lines to give the offended side a free
field. goal attempt which, if kicked,
would count half as much as a touch-
down?

“Ask syourself if it wouldn’t make
football a madhouse. Yet the parallel
is not so far-fetched. That’s almost
exactly what ere does.

e-

I keep eh es to oe matter of
basketball penalties and free. shots
for constructive, not destructive rea-
sons. Basketball is intrinsically too
fast, too exciting, too good a game
to have the black spot of negation
hung on it permanently.

This brings up the test game Wil-
Jamette and Oregon played at Eugene
the other night to demonstrate what
pasketball would be like with the
emphasis placed positively, where it
belongs, not negatively—with free
shots limited to those fouls that pre-
vent a field goal attempt, the penalty
on all other fouls except those call-
ing for instant disqualification to be
merely having them counted as per-
sonals, with the full four to bring dis-
qualification, just as at present.

Everyone who saw this game speaks
enthusiastically of the possibilities
such a style of play open up to bas-

') ketball. The coaches, Billy Reinhart

of Oregon and Spec Keene of Willam-|
ette, liked it. The referee, Ralph Cole-
man, was for it. Slats Gill of Oregon
State was egreatly impressed. The
spectators showed not only their in-
terest, but ALTORE pene

F-7

‘Being an ecaceimantal game, quite
naturally a few little points came up
that would have to be ironed out, but
they were all strictly minor.

-And speed! It made such a lightning
contest that the game was all over in
57 minutes.

That, incidentally, brought up one
of the minor matters requiring
amendment. The game actually was
played so fast that the coaches and
gradulate managers feared the pub-
lic might object that it didn’t last
long enough, which is certainly one
for the book.

“But this could be -corrected very
simply,’ commented Billy Reinhart
of Oregon. ‘‘Instead of playing
basketball games in two 20-minute
halves, as at present, make it three
15-minute quarters. That would add
five more minutes of play and with
_ five-minute rests in between undoubt-

edly would stretch the game out to
about the present elapsed time of)
one hour 10 to 15 minutes.

“Another suggestion is that a free
throw go to the offended team on
any foul calling for instant disqualifi-
cation, by which I mean such ob-
viously intentional fouls as tripping
and slugging. These would be few
and far between.

“T consider the test game a great
success, and it was certainly an in-
teresting demonstration of what
_. basketball could so easily he made.
The contest, incidentally, was very
clean, with every point on both sides
really earned. Oregon was called six|
times on fouls, none of them being |
against an opposing player in the act)
of shooting, hence not: resulting in!
free throws. Willamette players had}
seven personals, four being against |
Oregon players in the act of shooting
and thus giving two-free shots, seven
of which were. made.’’

7 as zs

Referee Coleman called it one of
the easiest games he ever worked. He
said there was Jess strain on the
referee, and that when he did call a}
foul he did not have the feeling he!
was giving points on a personal deci- |
sion—that everything was either
earned or lost by the players them-
selves.