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SUMMARY OF MAJOR CHANGES AUTHURIZED BY THE NATIONAL BASK®TBALL /
COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA FOR 1940-1.

NOTE TU MEMBERS: This is a preliminary statement of the major actions of the Com-
mittee at their annual meeting at Kansas City, Missouri, on March 30th and 3lst.
This is issued for your convenience and for the pvurpose of giving the press some
needed information. The detailed actions of the Committee will be included in the
complete minutes which will be sent to each member as soon as they can be made
ready.

H. V. PORTER, Secretary

Court Diagram. No chmge is to be made in the diagram of the court. It will be
made clear that during a free throw the player who occupies the space marked H or
V is entitled to the entire space from the first alley mark to the end line.

Rule 2. The smaller streamlined backboardwhich was outlined for experimental pur-
poses by the Committee last year will be legal at the option of the home team. The
new style board will be as outlined on page 47 of the Interscholastic Edition of the
1939-40 basketball guide. It will have an over-all width of 54 inches, the top
will be an arc having a radius of 32 inches. The lower edge of the board directly
behind the ring will be on a level with the ring. Directly under the extreme left
and right edges of the ring, the board will extend downward three inches below the
ring and from that point the lower edge will slope upward to the corners of the
board which will be on a level with the ring. The edges of the board at each side
will beperpendicular to the floor and will extend upward until they meet. the..arc
which forms the top border. The board will contain no sharp corners or edges.

This board will be considered legal wherever the management may choose to use it.

It should be understood that no organization will be compelled to make the change.
It is felt that no team will be handicapped by practicing on one type board and
playing on tho other. The new board will hrve a plane surface, the same as the old.
The part which has been eliminated has been waste space for many years and, because
of more recent changes in the game, has become a detriment to free use of all the
playing space. It is suggested that when on organization chooses to keep its pre-
sent backboards and finds that they will play some of their games on courts having
the new board, the unused space on the traditional board be blocked out with a dark
paint to give the target the same appearance as that of the new type board.

Rule 4. The rule relative to the size, color and reaction of a leet Will remain
exactly as it was bst yoar. The questionnaire which was nationally circulated indi-
cates an overwhelming satisfaction with the present ball situation. Any difference
in opinion rd ative to which of the various types of official balls is most satis-
factory is a healthy condition which will result in continued improvement of equip-
ment and ultimate use of the best.

Rule 5-3. Several minor changes were made in connection with the proper time and
method for making substitutions. A substitution will be permitted any time the
watch is n& running except during the interval between the time the ball is placed
at the disposal of a free thrower ond the time the free throw is successful or un-
successful. It will also be permitted any time the ball is dead with the watch
running except after a field goal.

Rule 5-6. It is strongly recommended that players be numbered consecutively begin-
ning with the number 3 and that ranking players wear the lower numbers. It will
also be prescribed that wherever possible, the home team wear suits of a light
color and the visitors suits of a dark color.