THE DECEIVERS - THE FAKE ARTISTS - THE MAGICIANS

There is a hue and cry among the middle aged coaches - THE GAME OF BASKETBALL IS LOSING ITS SHEEN! The very reason for which this game was created is slowly losing ground to PUSH AND PULL WWF type of game. This game was created to unleash the skill of deception of a very high standard and the slightest contact would enable the fake artist an advantage. The magicians were at work and the referee had to allow the magic to go on. Not so, anymore.

I do not know whether this chapter should find its place in this learning manual. I am talking about it because I feel it is important - and it would enable fresh thinking among the people who organize basketball games. That this chapter would be controversial - is the very objective I want to achieve.

There are lot of misconceptions about the game - the chief of which is that a basketball player should be very tall, very powerful and should be able to bull-doze his way into the paint. Watch the videos - the winning shots were almost always outside the paint. Actually, the way NBA rules of three second violation and inside the paint time violations keep changing - looks like the organizers are a confused lot. New rules need to enhance the quality of the game - but because they change so often, indicates lack of clarity. I AM GOING TO BE THE MOST DISLIKED PERSON FROM NOW ON - but I ask you `why the magic of basketball is fading'. The answer lies in this very paragraph.

INJURIES ARE A BIG CAUSE OF CONCERN. After all the game is to be played for fun and competitiveness need not necessarily mean injuries to the players. Some referees allow mayhem and others do not want you to even breathe for the fear that your expanding chest may block an offensive player. THREE REFEREES SEEM TO BE LESS - I am waiting for the FOURTH REFEREE WITH A LAP-TOP.

The deceivers, the fake artists, the magicians - created a web of confusion among the opposition. The arms - the torso - the legs - the ball movement created a `mirage' and poetry comes out. Injuries were rare - because the intentions of the players were evident - they helped the referees. But, today deceit has taken the place of the old time `magic'. I am no authority - yet I have seen the game taking a big fall.

As I enter the basketball courts of SUMPOORNA, I teach my students the game - I teach them respect for the opposition. Injuries are absolutely not permitted. It is a contact-less game - IT IS MAGIC! That is the way the game of basketball should be played.