The Game

Unlike baseball whose origins are shrouded in the mist of myth and legend, basketball's birth is well documented perhaps more definitively than any other major sport.  Instead of debating Abner Doubleday and Cooperstown, there is no question that basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts in December of 1891.  Naismith, then an instructor at the International YMCA Training School, was challenged to come up with an indoor game that would satisfy a class of 18 "incorrigible" students who had driven two prior instructors away in despair.   Initially Naismith was also unable to solve the problem until, according to an account written many years later, he realized that any viable indoor sport required some kind of ball.  Since games with smaller balls like baseball or lacrosse required a stick or bat to move the ball, Naismith opted to start with a soccer ball.  Next came decisions to prohibit physical contact, running with the ball and to make the objective putting the ball in an elevated goal or basket.  Especially interesting is how Naismith chose 10 feet for the height of the goal - the legendary peach baskets were tied to railings in the Springfield Gym that were - wait for it - 10 feet high.

Dr. James Naismith with ball and peach basket

Since the class had 18 students there were nine on a team for that first game which ended with a final score of 1-0 on a 25 foot toss perhaps anticipating the three point shot.  Not only had Naismith solved the problem of an indoor game for those 18 "incorrigible" students (perhaps basketball fans today owe them a debt of gratitude), he had invented a new game so popular that within two weeks games began attracting fans.  Wisely resisting the suggestion to call his new game "Naismith ball," the inventor chose basket ball which remained two words for many years.  Nor did it take long before the first public game played between teams of students and faculty, on March 11, 1892 in front of a crowd of over 200, won by the students by a 5-1 score (baskets initially counted as one point).  The faculty's one basket was scored by legendary Hall of Fame football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg.  Also noteworthy was that Naismith himself also played on the faculty team, one of only two known times, he played the game he invented.  Since basketball was invented in a YMCA training school, there was a nation wide network of organizations ready and willing to host a new sport.  Basketball arrived in New Jersey only six months after its invention and the first Rutgers team took the court in 1907.

Springfield Republican - March 12, 1892

The rules of basketball began evolving almost immediately so that the game played by the 1920 Rutgers team and their opponents differed significantly from the initial 1891 contest.  But if that first group of players would have a hard time recognizing the 1920 version, we, a century, later would likely be even more confused beginning with the Ballantine Gym court about two-thirds the size of a modern court.  While the center of the court was marked, there was no half-court or ten second line and the free throw lane was a mere six feet wide. Neither absence meant very much since there was no three second restriction in the foul lane and teams could hold the ball in the back court as long as they wanted.  Center court was put to heavy use because every made basket was followed by a center jump, a rule that survived until 1937-38.  Naismith lived along enough to see others change his game dramatically and supposedly he was particularly upset about the elimination of the center jump and the institution of the ten second rule (1932-33).  

As this picture suggests, having a tall center like Bogota High School's Ray Nolte (6'7") was key
     to basketball success.  Not quite so tall was Henry Zinn, second from the right, front row.
                                                    Bergen Record - February 9, 1933

Unfortunately game accounts tell us little about how the game was played, but it appears that after each center jump teams would try to advance the ball, primarily by passing, towards the opponents goal.  Most shots were either layups or two handed both of which took time to set up.  Players had to be especially careful of violations like traveling which were penalized not by a change in possession, but a foul shot for the opposing team.  Such violations were likely to be costly since each team chose a designated foul shooter who took all of the team's free throws.  One thing teams with the ball did not have to worry about were offensive fouls which were not introduced until 1928-29.  Players did however have to be more mindful of personal fouls since the fourth foul resulted in disqualification.  Marvin Riley, an early referee, claimed that fouls were called, not unlike pass interference in football, based on whether the defender was playing the ball or the man. From a strategy standpoint, once the game began, the players were on their own because coaches were not allowed to "coach" during the game, including speaking to the players during time outs.  In game strategy was the responsibility of the team captain who was a coach on the floor both literally and figuratively.

Games were incredibly low-scoring perhaps partially because of player fatigue since once a player left a game there was no re-entry and, as we shall see, in close games starters played the full 40 minutes.  While there were no restrictions on who could shoot, the names of the different positions suggest roles with the forwards chosen for offensive ability while guards focused on defense and the center, the multiple, and all-important center jump.  The ball itself was made of leather with laces which presented its own challenges for shooting and dribbling.  Box scores of the day are very limited and don't provide much in the way of team statistics, but for three 1920 games the Home News provided team field goal shooting percentages which were very low.  In those three contests Rutgers averaged 25% with a high of 34% and a low of 18% and the opposition figures were similar.   Rutgers averaged 55 shots per game compared to 59 attempts per contest by the 2018-19 squad suggesting the problem wasn't getting shots but making them.  As unattractive as the game may seem to us, it had gradually become more popular at Rutgers and was about draw crowds that might have shocked Naismith himself.