I’m old enough to remember when basketball rules-makers introduced the 3-point line and the shot clock. Back in the 1980’s, I was sitting beside my girl friend (now my wife of 38 years) in Assembly Hall, watching Iowa play Bobby Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers. Toward the end of the game, Coach Knight decided to hold the ball to maintain a slim lead over the Hawkeyes. After 7 minutes of stalling, there was little Coach Lute Olson could do than to order his players to foul Indiana, since the college game had not introduced a shot clock.
Indiana went on to win that game, and my future wife was furious. “That wasn’t fair,” she exclaimed as we walked out of the arena. Instead of agreeing, I calmly retorted, “If I’m ahead of you in a basketball game, why can’t I hold the ball and make you try to gain possession of it through either legal or illegal means?” She stared at me – fuming.
Well, soon thereafter, I found out the rules-makers agreed with my girlfriend and created a shot clock for college basketball. And then, the next year, the college rules-makers introduced the 3-point line.
Even though those two changes probably impacted the game of basketball the most in my time, a review of how the basketball rulebook has changed over the years is an interesting endeavor, at least for this referee.
In his book, The Cavalcade of Basketball, Colonel Alexander M Weyand wrote a chapter titled “Development of the Game.” Below are excerpts from that chapter:
“…Naismith preferred a nine-man team but he also recognized teams of from three to forty. …in 1893, [he] cut out the absurd extremes and agreed upon teams of five or nine. The following year a seven-man team was also authorized. The option depended upon the size of the hall and the desires of the rival captains. For the season of 1897-98, a five-man team was made mandatory and that caused the elimination of the divided courts which had been used when larger teams were employed.”
“The initial rules provided that, for two personal fouls, a player was suspended (without substitution) until a goal was scored by either team. Then he went back with a clean slate and could start fouling all over again. In 1894-95, a second foul called for disqualification for the remainder of the game but a substitute could be used. When the colleges made their own rules in 1905-06, a player could be ejected from the game only for a flagrant violation, but, in 1908-09, five personal fouls were considered sufficient grounds for disqualification. The number was reduced to four in the reform movement of 1910-11. For several years a player was allowed an additional foul if the game went into overtime and, in 1944-45, five was prescribed regardless of the length of play.”
“A player, not disqualified for fouls, could re-enter the game once in 1920-21, twice in 1933-34 and any number of times in 1944-45.”
“At first the only real method of scoring was by means of a basket from the field. Naismith’s edict that, if a team made three consecutive fouls (that is, without its opponent fouling), the opponents received a point, was something of a farce. When both teams played it rough, as they usually did, it was practically impossible for one team to go pure long enough for the other to sin thrice. This weakness was recognized in the 1983-94 revision and a team received a point for every foul committed by an opponent, while a field basket was given a value of 3 points. This did not work out either and, for 1894-95, a team that had been fouled, instead of receiving a bonus point, was granted a free throw from a mark 20 feet from the basket. If successful, it counted as a field basket, so each type of scoring was now worth 1 point. The distance of the free throw was lowered to 15 feet in the 1895-96 season and a lane was provided from the foul line to the wall behind the basket. The rules of 1896-97 quotes 2 points for a field basket and 1 for a successful free throw. The ‘key hole’ around the foul mark was created in 1897-98 and a 10-second limit in which to make a free throw was ordered in 1912-13. Prior to 1924-25, a specialist did all the foul shooting for his team but, beginning that year, the man who was fouled had to do his own shooting. In 1955-56, the foul line lane was widened from 6 to 12 feet for college teams in an effort to even up the advantages that accrued to the oversized players.”
“The size of the playing field was first mentioned in 1896-97 when the maximum was fixed at 3500 square feet. This was increased to 4000 square feet by the A.A.U. (American Athletic Union) in 1910-11. In their 1906-07 rules the collegians gave the size in dimensions: maximum, 90 by 55 feet and minimum, 70 by 35 feet. The maximum width was reduced to 50 feet in 1915-16. A 2-foot end zone, under and in the rear of the basket, was authorized in 1917-18 and, the following year, was extended the width of the court. It became part of the laying surface in 1923-24. A 4-foot end zone was made optional in 1938-39 and compulsory, if space permitted, in 1939-40.”
“In the early days when halls were usually small and all available space had to be utilized, walls frequently formed part of the boundary. Maneuvers unknown now could be worked out by bouncing the ball off the walls or ceiling. Opponents could also be bounced off the walls. Many of the halls were studded with pillars which also figured largely in local tactics. Heating equipment was often located in the field of play and many an old-time recalled a scorched bottom when he was backed against a hot stove or radiator. In 1894-95 it was suggested that a boundary line be at least 3 feet from all walls or other objects, but it was not until 1903-04 that boundaries were required to be straight lines. End walls were placed ‘out of bounds’ in 1916-17 thus eliminating the practice of ‘running up the wall’ to shoot when the basket was set in the wall. That was long before the time of the 7-foot basketball player who could ‘stuff’ the ball.”
In Part 2, we’ll explore Weyand’s history about cages, referees, dribbling, how the basketball came to be, timing rules, uniforms, and other elements of the game of basketball.