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Trends in Interscholastic Basketball

by H. V. Porter

A Non-Contact Game

Interscholastic basketball has become a game with little contact so that fast
footwork and clever headwork are determining factors. The non-contact
game can be fast and free from excessive fouls if several fundamentals are
kept in mind. If an offensive player is clever enough to obtain a good posi-
tion for a try while having possession, he must be protected from a defensive
player who has erred in allowing him to gain possession in such a position.
When a player has possession out in the court, the defense must depend on
intercepting or batting a pass rather than on charging in to push the ball
holder off balance to secure a held ball. The various time limitations and
the second clause of Section 3 of Rule 7 are designed to give some assistance
to a defensive player to compensate for his inability to make contact in those
situations. At the present time the small court is the greatest deterrent to the
playing of a non-contact game. On such a court it is almost an impossibil-
ity for an Official to prcperly administer the rules. He is compelled to allow
more contact than is desirable and to use his own judgment as to how much
or how little contact may be used. Unless he does this the game on a small
court suffers from too many interruptions.

The Intentional Foul

Intentionally fouling an opponent to prevent a try or to gain a chance to
secure possession after a free throw is definitely unsportsmanlike conduct.
Such a foul is never justified. The rules make it mandatory for the Official to
award an extra free throw for such a foul if it is committed against a player
who is not in the act of throwing for goal. If such a foul is against a player
who is in the act of throwing, it is flagrant unsportsmanlike conduct and the
guilty player must be disqualified. Coaches can perform a real service by
instructing their piayers to adhere to the spirit of the rules.

Unitormity

It is essential that there be uniformity in the administration of the rules.
Increased attention to this by the various state high school athletic associ-
ations has resulted in better training facilities for coaches and officials. The
increased number of large playing floors, the publication of such material as
the state association bulletins and the National Federation Interpretation
books, and the sponsoring of well planned state-wide and section-wide inter-
pretation and experimentation programs have been of assistance. Groups ‘of
coaches and officials can promote further progress by giving a reasonable
amount of time and effort to work of this kind under direction of their
respective state athletic associations.

Experimentation

Basketball has not yet become static as far as rules and equipment are
concerned. Improvements are probably possible and the nature of these
can only be determined through scientific study by progressive coaches and
administrators. To encourage team work in this experimentation the follow-
ing projects are suggested:

1. On courts with at least 68 feet between the backboards, the end lines
should be placed 4 feet behind the backboard. The end out of bounds space
can be made less than has been necessary in the past. Data on comparative
number of out of bounds at the end, on extent to which the additional court
space behind the backboards is used and the effect on tendency to spread
the defence should be collected.

2. Several conferences have been authorized by the committee to replace
present free throw lanes with a rectangular lane 10 or 12 feet wide and
extending only to the free throw line. Additional data are needed.

3. More experimentation is desirable on backboards of a smaller size and
with the corners eliminated.

4. The new molded type ball is rapidly replacing the sewed type ball. Its use
makes two lines of experimentation desirable. The new 29 inch ball which
is now legal below the senior high school, should be tried in some senior
high school games. It is possible that the new type of construction makes
such a ball desirable for all high school play. Also data should be collected
on what constitutes the best reaction of a ball. The resilence of molded
balls can be controlled and only experimentation will enable rules author-
ities to properly fix this.