“It has been debated, analyzed, proposed and shot down by the National Federation High School Basketball Rules Committee (Obert np).” Each year, there is a renewed debate on adding a shot clock to high school basketball games. Many people believe that the shot clock would improve the game, while others believe that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. The game of basketball is changing rapidly, and the rules need to adapt to the new styles of the game. The addition of a shot clock to the high school basketball game is a necessity for the progression and well-being of the game. The rules of basketball have evolved throughout time, consequently shaping the game of basketball as we know it today. When James Naismith invented basketball in 1891, he declared 13 rules …show more content…
Back then, the game could be played with as many as 50 players, but since Naismith had 18 kids in his gym class the games were most often played with nine kids on each team. By 1897, the participants were limited to five players per team, which is where the rule has remained ever since (Evolution np). The early games did not allow players to dribble, so the only way to move the ball up the court was by passing. In 1901, the rule was changed to allow players to dribble the ball one time, before having to pass. Dribbling as we know it today was added in 1927 (Evolution np). Initially, the game was played with peach baskets hanging from the walking tracks that were up above the court. The ball had to be retrieved from the peach basket after every basket was scored, thus slowing down the game immensely. The basket evolved greatly in the first 20 years, and by 1912, open-ended nylon nets were approved for use (Evolution np). Early on, when a ball went out of bounds, the first person to touch it was allowed five seconds to throw it back into play. This often created chaos and teams would fight and try to block each other off from getting to the ball. Eventually, the game progressed into a chain link fence