On a bank shot in basketball, a player uses the backboard to direct the ball into the hoop. Shots aimed at the rectangular box that frames the basket on the backboard have the highest percentage of going through the hoop. But while baseball has hundreds of books written about its early years, the documented evolution of basketball is limited, and it is not exactly known when the rectangle, called the shooter's square, was first used.
Early Years
Dr. James Naismith created basketball in 1891 in Springfield, Mass., as a sport suitable for play inside during the Massachusetts winter for the students at the School for Christian Workers. By 1896, the game had changed drastically, and in a five-on-five contest between the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa, the first backboards were installed. Chicago won the game 15-12. Backboards were commonly used thereafter, including during the inaugural season of professional basketball, when the National Basketball League began play with six teams in 1898.
Shooter's Square
"Gently kiss it off the glass" is the golden rule to shooting a bank shot, where players try to hit the backboard at an angle, slowing the speed of the ball and increasing its chances of going through the basket. Since players can't use a slide rule on the court or a laser guide to perfect the proper angle, they use the square marked behind the basket as a visual target, and years of practice.
Backboard Evolution
When the backboard was introduced in 1896, it was not to help shooters bank the ball into the basket. The original purpose was to keep spectators, who were seated near the hoop, from meddling with shots. In 1904, wooden backboards replaced the ones made of chicken wire, and by 1909, the first transparent glass backboards started appearing in the better-financed gyms. One of the earliest descriptions of players using angles to improve shooting occurred in 1906, in the tiny Indiana town of Buck Creek. The boys' high school team played in an empty business room with a low ceiling, and they painted a faint line strategically across the ceiling, above the basket. When a player shot the ball directly on that line, it caromed off at a perfect angle into the basket.
Dimensions
The National Basketball Association rule book defines the shooter's square in Section II of the rules on equipment as a white rectangle centered behind the rim with a 2-inch-wide border. The rectangle shall have outside dimensions of 24 inches horizontally and 18 inches vertically. The top edge of its base is to be on an even plane with the top of the ring. The bottom edge of the rectangle's base must be 6 inches from the backboard's base.
References
- "Basketball -- Its Origin and Development", James Naismith; 1941
- NBA: Rules No. 1: Section II -- Equipment
- "The Physics of Basketball," John Joseph Fontanella; 2006
- "Pioneers of the Hardwood: Indiana and the Birth of Professional Basketball", Todd Gould; 1998
- "Cages to Jump Shots: Pro Basketball's Early Years", Robert W. Peterson; 2002
- Library of Congress: First College Basketball Game Jan. 18, 1896
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