Back in the 1970s when large carnivorous reptiles roamed the earth and the only word man could say was “Ug” – again, according to my offspring – basketball was a far different game than it is today.
Yes, we used a round ball made from a farm animal when I played in high school. The backboard was its usual rectangular shape and the referees were just as vision-impaired as always. But much of the rest of the game looked nothing like it does now.
For starters, the rules were practically primordial.
 |
| Naismith invented basketball in 1891 B.C -- er, A.D. |
There was no three-point shot. Until the mid-1980s you could launch a Spaulding at the basket from the other end of town and you’d earn no more for putting it through the net than if you laid one up from a foot away. That is, if those sight-challenged guys with the zebra print shirts didn’t whistle you out of bounds first.
In the prehistoric era of James Naismith’s invention, long-range field goal attempts were usually considered bad shots. Normally, only short guys who didn’t have the skills to dribble through the tall timber to get to the rim dared try one from distance. Nowadays, every guard, forward, center, team manager, mascot and hot dog vendor with a half-second to get one off steps behind the arc to let fly, and we hold up as virtuosos those whose failure rate is only six out of 10.
The alternating possession rule was a mere twinkle in the rules maker’s eyes in the 1970s, too. Back then, every tie up resulted in a jump ball, which apparently so slowed the action when it happened once or twice a game that a rule change just had to be made in 1981. The two-shot double bonus on the 10th team foul was not yet adopted, either – a 1990 rule addition that has greatly sped up the action when it happens in 90 percent of all halves. Countless clock stoppages for free throws always put fans in the seats.
Also, dunking was illegal at the amateur level for much of the ‘70s. Basketball’s regulatory body removed that prohibition late in the decade, introducing fans to such game improvements as hanging on the rim and the shattered backboard.
 |
| The rim is a hang out place these days |
Oh, and then the breakaway rim.
Style of play also has evolved substantially in the 30-plus years since my scholastic hoops career. Set plays were the norm back in the day. We had to memorize six or eight basic plays, with four or five shooting options available for each.
The modern game is all about motion. Everyone moves. They go here, there and everywhere. The spectacle takes on almost a Swan Lake quality, as five guys wearing one color prance about the court while five guys wearing another color chase them around. Every so often one of the guys whose team has possession of the ball steps in front of a chaser, sending the unfortunate slob into a collision reminiscent of those TV crash test dummy PSAs. They call it a “pick.” Short for “pick-him-up-off-the-floor.”
Then there are the team uniforms. Today’s basketball players are adorned in moisture-wicking muscle shirts, shorts easily able to double as gas grill covers and calf-length sneakers engineered to both add three inches to the athlete’s vertical jump and garner a $500 price tag without so much as causing the buyer to grunt in disgust.
Hoops fashion in the 1970s included:
 |
| That ‘70s fashion |
* A form-fitting tank top that, in female apparel parlance, was held up by spaghetti straps. A large block numeral appeared on the back with a smaller block number on the front, along with the word “Eagles,” which was placed there because everyone named their team after our national bird.
* Shorts cut high enough to reveal the entire fibula, tibia, knee, thigh and the athletic supporter washing instructions tag.
* Sneakers minus logos with swoops, stripes, slashes, check marks and predatory felines. In their place, an autograph from a guy named Chuck Taylor.
We had cheerleaders in the 1970s, too. I can almost hear their chant now:
“Ug!”
No comments:
Post a Comment