S BASKETBALL coaches go, Mr.
A Gebdrge Keogan of Notre Dame
is a quiet specimen. Quite unlike
the famous “Piggy” Lambert at Purdue,
it is not necessary to have strong-armed
guards on the bench to keep him from
committing hara-kiri during a close
game. So it was with some amazement
that observers noted words coming from
Mr. Keogan’s lips during a recent
contest. He chewed silently on his un-
lighted cigar and his words were sub-
dued and unheated. What Mr. Keogan
said was:

“A fine game for a herd of buffalo.”

Just that. Nothing more. Just that
little bombshell, left to hang in the air
like the menace of sudden death. It
had the bitterness of desperation, the
sourness of frustration. The point is that,
although the Notre Dame teams go on
winning their share of games, Mr.
Keogan maintains that basketball under
the present rules is a farce.

Now, this is serious business be-
cause basketball has more participants
than any other American sport. There
are grammar-school, kindergarten, high-
school, college and professional teams.
There are factorv teams and church-
league teams; there are High-Y teams
and 4-H teams; there are fat men’s
teams and girls’ teams.

“It was once a game of speed and
cleverness,” says the quiet Mr. Keogan.
“It has now been turned over almost en-
tirely to the giants. They brought this
about by the change in rules that elimi-

nated the center jump and established a
dividing line on the court. The whole
thing is now a parade of goons.”

These are sharp words and the Keogan
gentleman is likely to get sharp looks
from some of his fellow coaches for his
frankness, but it will be difficult for
anybody to deny that the trend toward
taller players has been distinctly marked
in the past few years. Arkansas has a
team that averages six feet six inches.
West Texas Teachers average the same,
with their most important contribution
being a six-foot-ten center. The very
good Oregon team of two years ago
averaged about six-foot-four, with the
three front men averaging six-foot-six.

“If you’ll watch the papers,” says Mr.
Keogan, “you'll see a line like this any
week of the season: ‘The game was
won in the last twenty seconds when
Galumph, the _ six-foot-seven giant,

_tipped in a rebound.’ ”