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ventilated courts. I advise every bas-
ket-ball player to stay outdoors as much
as is possible.

BIG MEN ARE WANTED.

“T haven’t the slightest desire to dis-
courage boys of average height and
weight, but I like big men for every po-
sition on a basket-ball team. Small men
often make competent players, but—
everything else being equal—a big man
is more valuable as a basket-ball player
than is a small man. ~ That’s where the
West holds an advantage over the East
in this game. I don’t think that the
Western colleges play better basket ball
than we do in the East, but they cer-
tainly get bigger men. I’ve been handi-
capped for the past five -years because
I’ve been unable to find-a good, tall cen-
ter. Out West, big, fast men are com-
mon—fellows who stand up six feet
three or four inches in their socks, and
who are really fast on their feet. That’s
the type of candidate that I would like
to see coming out for our squads—but
I don’t get them, so I have to do the best
that I can with the boys I do get.

“A basket-ball team is very seriously
handicapped when it is without the serv-
ices of a tall center—a player who can
be depended on to outjump his opponent
when the ball is thrown up between
them. If the center can do that, four

men at once can enter into offensive
play. If you have a short center, no
matter how good he may be, he is
likely to be outjumped by a taller op-
ponent, and in that case you must de-
pend upon your forwards to get the ball.

“Forwards should be good shots from
under the basket, and good long shots.
They also must be good ball handlers—
good, accurate passers, and sure re-
ceivers. If they have these qualifica-
tions, the bigger they are, the better.

“The qualifications for guards are the
same as for forwards, and in addition
the good guard has an instinctive ability
to follow his-man when he is playing on

Sport Story Magazine

defense. We use one guard as a safety

‘man on many plays, but there really is

no such thing as a purely defensive
player in modern basket ball. Every
player on the team should be equally
good on offense and defense.

SOME OFFENSIVE FORMATIONS.

“Offensive basket-ball formations
were introduced in the Middle West
several years ago, and now are used in
varying degrees by all basket-ball-play-
ing colleges and schools. When you use
formations, each man has a definite as-
signment to carry out, just as each man
has a definite assignment to carry out in
a football play. When you don’t use
formations, the play is allowed to de-
velop naturally, each player using his
Own initiative in working the ball and
a player into a scoring position. Each

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