【正文】 s rival, the National Basketball League, had exist。M was almost seven feet tall and Gee Mikan at DePaul was six feet ten inches. While Kurland had perhaps the better college career and played in two Olympics, he chose not to play professional ball, whereas Mikan became the first dominant star in the pros. Their defensive play inspired the rule against goal tending (blocking a shot on its downward flight). Adolph Rupp, who played under Phog Allen, also coached the first of his many talented teams at Kentucky in that decade. However, in 1951, Rupp and six other coaches suffered through a pointshaving scandal that involved thirtytwo players at seven colleges and seriously injured college basketball, particularly in New York, where four of the seven schools were located. While the game survived, the NCAA moved its tournament away from Madison Square Garden to different cities each year and the NIT39。s development: zone defenses, the weave, the passing game, and the fast break. In the decade preceding World War II, five events changed college basketball and allowed it to bee a major spectator sport. In 1929, the rules mittee reversed a decision that 8 would have outlawed dribbling and slowed the game considerably. Five years later, promoter Edward Ned Irish staged the first intersectional twin bill in Madison Square Garden in New York City and attracted more than 16,000 fans. He demonstrated the appeal of major college ball and made New York its center. In December 1936, Hank Luisetti of Stanford revealed the virtues of the onehanded shot to an amazed Garden audience and became the first major collegiate star. Soon thereafter, Luisetti scored an incredible fifty points against Duquesne, thus ending the East39。s Harlem Globetrotters, which was actually from Chicago. While these teams had some notable players, no superstars, such as Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, or Red Grange, emerged to capture the public39。s Philadelphia SPHAs (South Philadelphia Hebrew Association)。 the Cleveland Rosenblums, owned by Max Rosenblum。s World Basketball Association, before the WNBA debuted in 1997 with the support of the NBA. James Naismith, originally from Almonte, Ontario, invented basketball at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. The game was first played with peach baskets (hence the name) and a soccer ball and was intended to provide indoor exercise for football players. As a result, it was originally a rough sport. Although ten of Naismith39。s professional leagues were attempted and failed, including the Women39。s basketball league in the United States was the National Basketball League (NBL), which debuted in 1898. Players were paid on a pergame basis, and this league and others were hurt by the poor quality of games and the everchanging players on a team. After the Great Depression, a new NBL was anized in 1937, and the Basketball Association of America was anized in 1946. The two leagues came to agree that players had to be assigned to teams on a contract basis and that high standards had to govern the game。s game. Television interest followed the women as well with broadcast of NCAA championship tourneys beginning in the early 1980s and the formation of the WNBA in 1997. Internationally, Italy has probably bee the leading basketball nation outside of the United States, with national, corporate, and professional teams. The Olympics boosts basketball internationally and has also spurred the women39。s basketball. Until World War II, basketball became increasingly popular in the United States especially at the high school and college levels. After World War II, its popularity grew around the world. In the 1980s, interest in the game truly exploded because of television exposure. Broadcast of the NCAA Championship Games began in 1963, and, by the 1980s, cable television was carrying regular season college games and even high school championships in some states. Players like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Lew Alcindor (Kareem AbdulJabbar) became nationally famous at the college level and carried their fans along in their professional basketball careers. The women39。 and Japan in 1900. From 1891 through 1893, a soccer ball was used to play basketball. The first basketball was manufactured in 1894. It was 32 in (81 cm) in circumference, or about 4 in (10 cm) larger than a soccer ball. The dedicated basketball was made of laced leather and weighed less than 20 oz (567 g). The first molded ball that eliminated the need for laces was introduced in 1948。 England in 1894。 smaller gyms used five players on a side, and the larger gyms allowed seven to nine. The team size became generally established as five in 1895, and, in 1897, this was made formal in the rules. The YMCA lost interest in supporting the game because 1020 basketball players monopolized a gymnasium previously used by many more in a variety of activities. YMCA membership dropped, and basketball enthusiasts played in local halls. This led to the building of basketball gymnasiums at schools and colleges and also to the formation of professional leagues. Although basketball was born in the United States, five of Naismith39。s five basic principles center on the ball, which was described as large, light, and handled with the hands. Players could not move the ball by running alone, and none of the players was restricted against handling the ball. The playing area was also open to all players, but there was to be no physical contact between players。s bounce. Inside the covering or casing, a rubber bladder holds air. The ball must be inflated to a pressure sufficient to make it rebound to a height (measured to the top of the ball) of 4954 in ( m) when it is dropped on a solid wooden floor from a starting height of 6 ft ( m) measured fro