The Cultural Significance and Early History of Basketball

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The Cultural Significance and Early History of
Basketball

• Origins and Unique Features of Americas
  Post-Industrial Game

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I. The Post-Industrial Game

• Parallels to post-industrial production
• --The knowledge worker
• Far removed from climate and topography
• The role of systematic innovation
• --First Game December, 1891
• --Founder James Naismith

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I. The Post-Industrial Game (cont.)

• Less rigidly defined and specialized
• Organization of authority less hierarchical
• Continuous action in basketballnot as sequential
  as baseball or football

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II. The Latecomer

• Naismiths background
• Context for the invention of basketball
• The original 13 rules of the game
• Spread of the game into foreign countries

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II. The Latecomer (cont.)

• Roots in institutions of education
• --January, 1896 University of Iowa vs.
  University of Chicago
• Naismiths philosophy toward competition
• Forrest Phog Allen

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II. The Latecomer (cont.)

• Adolph Rupp
• --University of Kentucky, 1930-1972
• Dean Smith
• --University of North Carolina, 1962-1997
• Conference organization and similar abuses to
  college football

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II. The Latecomer (cont.)

• Way game was played changed over time
• Cagers
• The freethrow
• The origins of dribbling
• Mid-court line and the center jump

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II. The Latecomer (cont.)

• Traditional offensive strategy
• Origins of the jump shot
• --Angelo Hank Luisetti, Stanford University
• Stanford defeats Long Island University,
  45-31December 30, 1936
• Higher scoring games result from jump shot

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II. The Latecomer (cont.)

• Tall players begin to make their mark in the
  1940s
• --Bob Kurland, Oklahoma AM
• --George Mikan, DePaul University
• Lane changes and goaltending

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II. The Latecomer (cont.)

• Evolution of the game and its local appeal
• National appeal raised in the 1930s as NYC
  became basketball capital of the world
• --Ned Irish
• --NIT born in 1938

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II. The Latecomer (cont.)

• New York eclipsed as the center of the basketball
  world
• -- point shaving scandals in 1951
• --creation of the NCAA tournament in 1939
• UNC over Kansas in triple overtime, 55-54, in
  1957
• Emergence of ACC as basketball power

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III. The Grass Roots

• Enthusiasm for basketball in Indiana
• Origins of basketball in Indiana
• Basketball at Purdue and IU
• Hoosier Hysteria High School basketball

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III. The Grass Roots (cont.)

• Reasons for basketballs special status in
  Indiana
• State High School Basketball Tournament (1911)
• Milan defeats Muncie Central 32-30 in 1954
• Butler Field House (1928)
• The rise and decline of the nostalgic myth of
  Indiana high school basketball

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III. The Grass Roots (cont.)

• Indianapolis Crispus Attucks defeats Gary
  Roosevelt, 97-74, in 1955
• Two famous participants in Indiana high school
  basketball
• --John Wooden
• --Oscar Robertson

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III. The Grass Roots (cont.)

• Popularity of basketball in large inner-city
  areas
• Waves of immigrants invade these areas and take
  up basketball
• --St. Johns Universitys Wonder Five
• --Eddie Gottlieb
• Urban Catholics contribute to the sport
• --Bob Cousy, Al and Dick McGuire

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III. The Grass Roots (cont.)

• Impact of the Great Migration on northern
  inner-city basketball
• --Texas Western University defeats Kentucky,
  1966
• Role of basketball for inner-city culture
• Significance of these playground games

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III. The Grass Roots (cont.)

• Distinctive style of play on inner-city
  playgrounds
• The significance of the dunk
• Playground basketball as a source of
  self-expression

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III. The Grass Roots (cont.)

• Playground basketball compared to Jazz
• Significance of age and gender of playground
  players
• Role of lack of space on playground courts
• Individual versus collective ethic in playground
  basketball