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We all know that basketball favors tall people more than short
people. This Idea is an attempt to correct that problem. But
first, see the link, that shows how average heights have
changed
over time, and remember that the game was invented in 1891.
The height of the basketball hoop appears
to be 10 feet (3.05m)
even in international competition (where the court length and
width is metric, but ALMOST exactly the same size as the US
measurements).
In 1891 average male height in the USA, where the game was
invented, was about 169cm. Dividing that into 305cm yields the
number (rounded off) of 1.8.
Let us now, before the game begins, measure the heights of all
the players, and enter the data into a special control-computer,
along with the identification numbers being worn by the
players.
The computer is hooked up to multiple cameras around the
court,
and has appropriate recognition software installed.
We want the computer to be always able to find a good-enough
image of whichever player is holding the ball, that it can read
the
number and identify the player --VERY quickly!
With that information the computer multiplies the height of the
player by 1.8 and then sends a signal to some very high-speed
motors mounted on the backboard-supports. The whole
backboard
with hoop is raised and lowered super-fast, to be 1.8 times the
height of whoever is holding the ball.
This will add something of a danger factor for anyone standing
too
close to the hoop. Forming a mob of players in that vicinity
will
probably be discouraged severely (by the hardware if nothing
else).
But the difficulty in getting the basketball through the hoop
should no longer be reduced by an increase in the height of the
player. Someone who is 2.2 meters tall will have to put the ball
through a hoop that is 1.8 times that height, almost 4 meters
above the ground.
-------
An alternate height-adjustment idea is to subtract 305-169 and
get 136. and simply add that number of centimeters to the
player's height, to compute the appropriate hoop-height. I'm
not sure which way is better, but experimentation is welcome!
======
Added June 11, 2015
A safer variation of this would involve a hoop-diameter tube
coming out of the ground. The backboard would be a sort-of
wall that also comes out of the ground. The hardware for
raising and lowering both would be underground. Inside the
tube, perhaps half-a-meter from the top, would be a ball-
ejector gadget --triggered, of course, by any ball that reaches
it.
Height chart
http://www.randalol...ian-male-height.png
As mentioned in the main text. [Vernon, Jun 09 2015]
(?) Basketball Manufacturers and Suppliers
http://www.exporter...ment/basketball.htm
Find Basketball manufacturers, exporters and suppliers business listings. Rubber Basketball manufacturers companies products classifieds with detailed catalogs [Exportersindia, Jun 15 2015]
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Annotation:
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This would change the ideal basketball player from someone who is very tall to someone who is short enough to be nimble and agile and 'dribble' the ball close to the floor but still run fast - i.e. it just changes one physical attribute based selection criteria with another. |
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[hippo], I'm pretty sure that physically fit tall players could
still compete well. Blocking, for example, isn't affected by
this Idea. But they shouldn't dominate the sport. |
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Why not just have a series of different height hoops, and allow the players to use whichever is most convenient? |
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In addition, you could give additional points for using an inconvenient hoop. |
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So, as long as you had a midget on your team, you
could just wait until the tallest member of the
opposing team was under the hoop and... |
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That linked graph is interesting - it shows a very
significant and sustained decline in US heights over
the last three decades. |
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The average American is almost 4 inches shorter than
they would have been, had they continued to follow
the same upward trend as other countries. This is
presumably a nutritional thing. |
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In about 1900 years time, the average American will
be smaller than a coffee mug. |
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// The average American is almost 4 inches shorter than they would have been, had they
continued to follow the same upward trend as other countries. This is presumably a
nutritional thing. // |
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For most countries that have a relatively homogeneous population, one might be able to
assume that. But the difference is more likely explained by shifting demographics due to
immigration (note that other countries with more diverse populations, such as Canada and
the United Kingdom are not shown on this graph). |
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// In about 1900 years time, the average American will be smaller than a coffee mug. // |
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Yes, but that doesn't tell the whole story. It would stand to reason that the adult height of
children growing up in the United States follows the trend of other first world countries,
and so it must simply be that not only is the number of immigrants increasing, but they're
getting shorter. Eventually, you'd expect to see a country that is largely made up of
microscopic immigrants whose children are all over thirty feet tall. |
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Oh, you've been to Australia then ? |
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Change the height of the hoop such that it is a very large percentage difference from the average height of the players, rendering the difference effectively the same for all players. |
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I propose a hoop 10 inches above the playing surface would be equally reachable by all players. |
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In case that appears to advantage extremely little players, alternatively the hoop could be mounted 150 feet above the surface. |
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//In about 1900 years time, the average American will be
smaller than a coffee mug// |
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What about people who are 1/2 American? |
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They will be smaller than Two Mugs Of Coffee |
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This issue is minimised in wheelchair basketball. Also they keep the hoop at 10 feet too to make it more interesting |
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I think the basket mechanics will probably be too slow. There should be a gradually falling height restriction as the game wears on. |
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Eliminate the basket altogether. Give each player a google glass or somesuch that projects two baskets, one where their ideal basket height is, and one where the player currently handling the ball is. When the ball is thrown with the right arc or bank shot potential, then points are scored. |
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Might be a tad boring for the fans to watch. |
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Make the court like a chessboard with each square a different height (perhaps in 10cm increments). Pad each player's shoes to the nearest 10cm. Colour each square and colour each player's shoes. Players are only permitted to stand on squares the same colour as their shoes. |
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//This is presumably a nutritional thing.// |
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Well, the immigration of millions from S.E. asia and latin
america is probably a more likely cause. |
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Clearly the answer is to make the basket so high (e.g. 30
metres above the ground) that the relative differences in
height between the players makes no difference |
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Surely the obvious solution is to make a few minor
modifications to basketball? |
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To begin with, lower the hoop to near ground level, so that
height has no significant advantage. Of course, this means
that the referee will not always have a clear view of the
hoop, so it will be hard to tell if someone has scored. |
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Therefore, the traditional circular basket could be replaced
which something which is knock-overable when hit by the
ball, to make it easier to tell that someone has scored. For
example, you could stick two or three wooden rods in the
ground, balance some other shorter rods on top of them,
and then anyone scoring would knock the little rods off the
big rods. |
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The only problem with this is that you'd have to drill holes
in the floor of the court to put the sticks in. However,
conducting the game outside on grass would solve this
problem, as the ends of the sticks could just be poked into
the ground. |
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Mind you, it may be chilly out, so the players will probably
want to wear something warmer - white is always good for
visibility. |
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Then again, grass is not a good surface for bouncing a
normal basketball on, so it might be as well to put more
emphasis on the throwing part of the game, and less on the
bouncing. This, in turn, suggests that a smaller, denser ball
would be an advantage. Players might want to wear some
sort of protective shin-pads (and perhaps something in the
groinal area) to protect them from the smaller, denser ball.
It might even be worth letting them use a stick or bat of
some sort to intercept and strike the ball. |
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Of course, with all this extra equipment, players would tire
sooner, so long tea-breaks would need to be introduced. It
might also be worth spreading the game over several days. |
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With these small changes and a few others, basketball
could be greatly improved. |
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I dunno, sounds like an unnecessarily English version of
baseball. |
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Sounds like you've confused this with highly-irrelevant
basketball. |
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//an unnecessarily English version of baseball//
Given that baseball was invented in England... |
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Just make a basket for shorties that's under a low shelf. You
have to bend real low to succeed. Both baskets provide
points to all the players. |
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And an "average basket" for the average guys n gals is a
basketball sized hole in the newly installed basket board at
the height of the average sized player. No rebounds but also
cannot be thrown to or blocked from inside a confined area
around it. |
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What about having the basket on top of a hat worn by one player on each team? Teams would be free to switch the hat-basket from one player to another throughout the game. |
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Or, have the requirement that the ball must bounce off the floor and go through the bottom of the hoop. |
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Or change it from being a hoop, to being a vertical slot in the wall of the basketball court rising from the floor to a height of about 3 metres, and just a few millimetres wider than the ball. |
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Suppose the rim stays in the same spot, but players who can jump higher than the standard 10' 6" vertical are given a weight vest with enough weight to hold them under that limit. The shortest players are given helium balloons and/or jetpacks. |
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The difficulty of putting the ball through the hoop is far
more than a function of player size. |
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