A few months ago, we talked about the invention of the game of basketball and how its history has led us to where we are today. Now, we want to take a closer look at the intricacies of the sport that keep fans coming back for more each and every game.

As March Madness is gearing up, let’s take a look at some of the inventions that shaped the game of college basketball.

Shot clock- This invention puts a time limit on how long a team can hold the ball on offense. In order to keep the tempo of the game steady and in the hopes of having a higher scoring game, the 35-second shot clock was established. In the 1985-86 season, the NCAA instituted a 45-second shot clock. However, the clock instilled fear among coaches that it would be harder for the underdogs to stay in the game since they couldn’t control the clock when they had the ball. It turned out that the change didn’t dramatically affect the way the games were played, because 45 seconds was plenty of time for teams to execute their plans. As we always say, just like any invention, the invention of the shot clock went through a couple of tweaks until a better way to make it work was found. These tweaks happened in the 1991-92 season when the shot clock was reset, only when the ball hit the rim. Until that time, it was reset only when the ball left the shooter’s hands. But, the biggest tweak came in the 1993-94 season when the shot clock was reduced from 45 seconds to 35 seconds.

Three-point line- Many of the most memorable NCAA moments are from behind the three-point arc! Countless buzzer beaters and sharp shooting are all products of the invention of the three-point line and this addition forever altered the game of basketball.

It all began in the 1980-81 season when the Southern Conference began experimenting with the three-point line. By the 1986-87 season, a 19-foot, nine-inch arc was established; and, again in the 2008-09 season, the arc was extended to 20 feet, nine inches. Like most changes to the game of basketball, the newest rule was not universally embraced by coaches, but it couldn’t be ignored; thus it made an immediate impact on the game.

Basketball- A man by the name of A.G. Spalding was approached by James Naismith, the inventor of the game of basketball, to produce a ball specifically designed for the new game. Mr. Spalding then went on to develop a basketball design, which has stayed relatively the same throughout the century, except for some minor changes. The invention that Spalding developed included an inner rubber air bladder that was surrounded by leather panels, which were stitched together. The addition of a cloth liner offered extra strength and uniformity for the basketball. Now, today’s basketballs are constructed, for the most part, in the same way with the inner bladder surrounded by either traditional leather or synthetic composite material.

Now that your favorite college basketball team has received its ‘March’ing orders, these three basketball inventions will be put to use in the next few weeks to help determine who will be crowned the kings of the NCAA!

Copyright Davison 2014

Media:

http://basketball.about.com/od/collegebasketball101/a/nbavsncaa.htm

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2012-04-15/two-simple-rules-how-the-shot-clock-and-the-3-pointer-changed-college-hoops

http://youth.usab.com/classroom/history-of-basketball/The-History-of-the-3-Pointer.htm

http://www.electro-mech.com/team-sports/basketball/who-invented-the-basketball/

Images:

http://mgoblog.com/category/tags/shot-clock

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2012/0222/mag_g_ripmidrange-mt_576.jpg

http://www.psal.org/images/Articles/2014/201403121437142122.jpg

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With the 68^th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA) underway, we thought that we would take a look at the history of basketball, dating all the way back to its humble beginnings in Massachusetts.

There are some people who enjoy the winter, while others find it to be nothing but a nuisance. James Naismith was one of those people who found winter to be nothing more than a hindrance to his athletic endeavors.  He found that the winter kept him from playing outdoors, which resulted in weight gain and loss of strength.

Naismith was born in the Ontario village of Almonte and made the move to Massachusetts to escape those long Ontario winter months. Even though winters are long and cold in Massachusetts, it was a definite improvement from Ontario.

As time progressed, Naismith became a physical education teacher at a small Christian college. Since he knew that winter in New England wasn’t much better than the winter in Ontario, he decided to look for a bright side.  This opportunity arose at the school where he was teaching.  There was an assembly hall with moveable benches and a hardwood floor that would eventually become the birthplace of his invention.

The blueprint for the game that we know today was designed during this time. Naismith created a game that was well-suited to the room’s high ceiling and rectangular floor plan. The original game combined characteristics of soccer, football and baseball, all of which supported and placed an emphasis on teamwork and friendly competition.

So, how were the sports previously listed infused in the original blueprint of the game? For starters, the ball that was used at the time was a regulation soccer ball that, instead of being kicked, was bounced or passed by hand, much like a football or baseball, from one end of the room to the other and was thrown into a peach basket that was hung at either end, thus giving birth to its name: basketball.

Originally, basketball was played with nine members on each team. The idea of the game quickly spread throughout New England and eventually throughout the United States. By 1896, there were enough colleges that had formed their own basketball teams that the first extramural competition was held, but instead of nine players, each team had five.

Two years later, the first professional basketball league was created. Within the next few years, with Naismith’s approval, new rules were implemented to ensure that the game would be played in a friendly-competitive spirit. Among the new rules, the most important were those that defined what a foul or penalty was and gave the person that was fouled the opportunity to take possession of the ball or the chance to throw the ball without opposition. Additional rules included those that would help the speed of the game by incorporating a clock and not basing the game solely on the accumulation of points.

Here is a little fun fact: did you know that when the game of basketball was first played, players could only shoot the ball with two hands? It wasn’t until decades later that the rules allowed for players to shoot the ball with one hand. Could you imagine if this rule hadn’t been instituted and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s classic hook shot never existed? We couldn’t either!

Innovation went hand-in-hand with the invention of the sport. For instance, the addition of nets to the basket allowed for the ball to fall through and be retrieved on the court rather than a referee or player having to climb a ladder in order to retrieve the ball from the wooden basket.

Other innovations included adding a backboard to the basket, which was added to keep fans of the defending team from interfering with the opposing team’s shot or, in 1901, allowing players to bounce the ball once; before that time, players couldn’t dribble the ball at all!

All of these additions and more gradually improved the game in its early stages and slowly became pieces of the puzzle of the sport that we know today. Now, basketball has become popular not only in America, but also around the world, attracting the most talented athletes as well as offering entertainment to fans and competition to players. From its humble beginnings in Massachusetts, the game of basketball that was invented by James Naismith back in 1891 continues to thrive from its inception of using nothing more than a soccer ball and peach basket.

Copyright Davison 2013

Sources:

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2013/04/history-basketball-time-final/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball

Media:

http://www.nba.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1111/james-naismith/content.1.html

http://ionenewsone.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/kareem-abdul-jabbar.jpg

http://www.tucsonhoops.com/resources/history-classroom/basketball-origins

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