Basketball
History
James
Naismith, M.A., M.D., D.D, (November 6, 1861 – November
28, 1939) was the inventor of the sport of basketball and
the first to introduce the use of a helmet in American
football. He was also the first basketball coach to assemble
a team of 5 players.
He was
born in Almonte, Ontario, the eldest son of Scottish immigrants
who had arrived in the area in 1851 and worked in the mining
industry.
Invention
of basketball
In 1891,
while working as a physical education teacher at the YMCA
International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts,
and coaching football at McGill University, Naismith was
asked to look for a way to relieve his students' boredom
during indoor winter gym classes.
Inspired mostly
by a Canadian game he played as a child in Ontario, Canada
called Duck-on-a-Rock, Naismith's basketball started December
15, 1891 with thirteen rules (modified versions of twelve
of those are still used today), a peach basket nailed to
either end of the school's gymnasium, and two teams of
nine players. On January 15, 1892 Naismith published the
rules for basketball. The original rules did not include
what is known today as the dribble. They initially only
allowed the ball to be moved up the court via a pass. Following
each "goal" a jump ball was taken in the middle
of the court. Although it wasn't a rule, players would
commonly use the dust of coal to cover the palms of their
hands, allowing them to get a better grip on the ball.
The coal palm was used up until the early 1930s. Also interesting
was the rule concerning balls out of bounds - the first
player to retrieve the ball received possession.
Basketball became
a popular men's sport in the United States and Canada very
quickly, and spread to other countries as well. Additionally,
there were several efforts to establish (under modified
rules) a women's version; this met with great resistance
in some circles and was consequently far slower to become
truly widespread.
The men's sport
was officially added to the Olympic Games program at the
1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. There, Naismith handed
out the medals to three North American teams; United States,
for the Gold Medal, in a game that was played outdoors
in rain with Naismith's native country of Canada, for the
Silver Medal, and Mexico, for their Bronze medal win. Women's
basketball finally became an Olympic event in Montreal
during the 1976 Summer Olympics. Previously, there had
been a men's basketball competition, in connection with
the 1904 Games at St. Louis, USA.
Coaching
Career
Naismith
moved to the University of Kansas, in 1898, following his
studies in Denver, becoming a professor, and the school's
first basketball coach. University of Kansas went on to
develop one of the nation's most storied college basketball
programs.
Naismith is the
only Kansas coach to have a losing record (55-60) during
his tenure at the school. Nevertheless, Naismith has one
of the greatest coaching legacies in basketball history.
Naismith coached Forrest "Phog" Allen, who then
became one of the coaches with the most wins in U.S. college
basketball history, and his eventual successor at Kansas.
Phog Allen was the college basketball coach of Dean Smith
and Adolph Rupp, who are the two winningest of men's college
basketball and won a combined total of six NCAA championships.
Adolph Rupp was the college basketball coach of Pat Riley
who is one of the winningest coaches in NBA history and
six NBA championships. Dean Smith went on to be the college
basketball coach of hall of fame coach Larry Brown, current
North Carolina coach Roy Williams (who also coincidentally
coached for 15 seasons at the University of Kansas previous
to that), and basketball great Michael Jordan.
In the late 1930s
Naismith played a role in the formation of the National
Association of Intercollegiate Basketball, which later
became the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
In August 1936,
while attending the Berlin Olympics, he was named honorary
President of the International Basketball Federation.
13
Rules of Basketball - Written by James Naismith
1. The
ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.
2. The
ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands,
but never with the fist.
3. A
player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw
it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be
made for a man running at good speed.
4. The
ball must be held by the hands. The arms or body must not
be used for holding it.
5. No
shouldering, holding, pushing, striking or tripping in
any way of an opponent. The first infringement of this
rule by any person shall count as a foul; the second shall
disqualify him until the next goal is made or, if there
was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole
of the game. No substitution shall be allowed.
6. A
foul is striking at the ball with the fist, violations
of Rules 3 and 4 and such as described in Rule 5.
7. If
either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count
as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without
the opponents in the meantime making a foul).
8. A
goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from
the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing
those defending the goal do no touch or disturb the goal.
If the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves
the basket, it shall count as a goal.
9. When
the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the
field and played by the first person touching it. In case
of dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the
field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he holds
it longer, it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists
in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on them.
10. The
umpire shall be the judge of the men and shall note the
fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls
have been made. He shall have power to disqualify men according
to Rule 5.
11. The
referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when
the ball is in play, in bounds, to which side it belongs,
and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has
been made and keep account of the goals, with any other
duties that are usually performed by a referee.
12. The
time shall be two fifteen-minute halves, with five minutes
rest between.
13. The
side making the most goals in that time shall be declared
the winner.
Copyright (c) Wikipedia.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU
Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.
James Naismith. (2006, November 30). In Wikipedia,
The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:07, December 1, 2006,
from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Naismith&oldid=91216265
|
