Having been invented by James Naismith in the winter of 1891, basketball was not quite thirty years old as the decade of the 1920s began. In its adolescence the game had difficulties that tended to discourage both athletic participation and spectator interest. The interpretation of rules varied from game to game and court to court, thereby resulting in inconsistent officiating and confused players and observers. One set of referees often repeatedly officiated games for a single team and thus became virtually part of that team. As a consequence the phrase "home court advantage" carried real meaning, and few teams were eager to gamble their win-loss record at another school's gymnasium where they would be under the control of another team's officials. With two twenty-minute halves, games were short and extremely low-scoring, and until 1923 only one player from each team was allowed to shoot foul.....
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