Is Basketball More Exciting Today?
Swen Nater

Is the game of basketball more exciting today than ever before? Many say, “Yes,” because more points are being scored. Is it true, the sight of a ball going through the basket, popping the net and adding points to the scoreboard, is the most exciting part of a basketball game? Is 200 points scored by both teams more thrilling than 100?

If that is true, then today’s game is more exciting than the original game when, after each score, the ball was taken out of the basket and brought back to half-court for another jump ball. You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I think a case can be presented that strongly suggests, basketball was even more exciting before the jump ball (after each score) was eliminated, beginning with the 1938-1939 season. And, Dr. Naismith, the inventor of basketball would agree.

When the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) was considering the change, the group was divided. Not everyone thought it was a good idea. Coach Forrest “Fog” Allen, in his book, Better Basketball: Technique, Tactics, Tales, written in 1937 right after the final decision, gives us an account of a session, where the inventor of basketball, himself, gave his opinion. 

The proponents of the retention of the center jump contend that the tip-off added many additional thrills to the game. Dr. James Naismith, the originator of the game, in attendance at a  meeting of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, asked a group which of the following situations gave them the greater thrill: 1. When the ball was in the air about 2 ft. above the basket; 2. When the ball went through.

Most of them said, “When the ball went through the basket.” “You are wrong,” quoth Dr. Naismith, “Your highest pitch of expectancy or interest was when the ball was just above the cylinder of the basket and you wondered, “Will it go through or not?”

“And so with the tip-off,” says Dr. Naismith. “When the ball is tossed up at center there is the same intense interest and the same parallel question is asked, “Will it go to the team controlling the tip-off or will the opponents get the tip-off from the controlling team?”

Tell me if this is not exciting. At the jump ball, both teams were prepared with an offensive play. (Yes, in those days, the only designed offensive plays were from the tip-off.) It was a science. If a team got the ball, the play looked like a five-man organized sprint toward the basket. They fanned out across the half court, looking over their shoulders as they darted away from half court. The first pass usually went to a player by the sideline who received an immediate screen so he could dribble to the middle of the court. He threw a hard pass to the other side of the court and that player would throw another pass to a player going full speed at the basket. “Score.”  In those days, basketball was fast.

The team with the tallest player usually “controlled the tip-off,” meaning that tall center tipped the ball first. The exciting thing that Dr. Naismith is talking about is, the team that “controlled” the tip-off didn’t always get possession. The other team, often, stole the ball. In that case, because the players on the “controlling” team were already moving down the court, they would be caught off guard and the other team would get an easy score. Also, the first player to touch the ball after the tip didn’t always come away with it. Many times, the ball was tipped, grabbed, lost, grabbed, and tipped again until someone finally got it. Then, it was off to the races.

To me, that’s exciting basketball. No wonder Dr. Naismith believed the thrilling part of the game was when the ball was in the air, after the official threw it up. No one knew what team was going to get the ball, including the players. Today, when a team gets control of the jump ball, they walk it over the half-court line and run a play. That’s boring. Hey, maybe the game isn’t more exciting today. Perhaps Dr. Naismith was right. But why listen to the inventor of the game? What does he know?