Many times when political debates happen, the question is asked: what would the Founding Fathers think of this? Would they support gun rights? School lunch regulations? The growing national debt? These are all compelling points of discussion, however, I think there is an even more compelling subject on the same lines: what would the founders of basketball think of the game now?

They’d probably start off by saying something like: “what are those capris things that the players are wearing.” Or: “I swear to God that touching the rim like that used to be illegal.” Or maybe even: “In my day, we had to climb up the hoop every time someone scored to get that ball out of the peach bucket.”

But after the original shock, I do not think the founders of basketball would recognize the game they created. Basketball today is a physical game. Defenders are able to make contact with their man outside of the paint. It’s almost like watching a mugging happen on the court on every possession.

As the rules stood, players were allowed to use an arm bar when defending as long as it didn’t extend. They were allowed to have one hand on the offensive player. The game became way too physical. Then, the NCAA made a change to its rules.

The following acts constitute a foul when committed against a player with the ball:

1. Keeping a hand or forearm on an opponent;
2. Putting two hands on an opponent.
3. Continually jabbing an opponent by extending an arm(s) and placing a hand or forearm on the opponent;
4. Using an arm bar to impede the progress of a dribbler.

Finally, basketball players played basketball the way basketball should be played. Instead of making contact with someone to stay in front, now defenders have to actually listen to their coaches and slide with their feet. Basketball is going to be fun to watch again.

But, the NSAA did not make those changes, at least until this year. This year, in high school basketball in Nebraska, some of these rules have finally been implemented.

Throughout the past, there have been attempts to decrease the amount of contact on the perimeter, however, they have been mostly unsuccessful. The NSAA consistently made hand-checks a point of emphasis for officials, but the points of emphasis were not working.

According to the NSAA website, “Rather than continuing to make hand-checking a point of emphasis year after year, [we] simply [added] a brand new rule that requires a personal foul be called any time this type of contact occurs on a player holding or dribbling the ball outside of the lane area.”

And the fans have started to see these rules come into effect this year. During the Benson game against Westside, we saw foul trouble between both teams (both teams got into the double bonus early in the second quarter and then again early in the fourth). The officials were actually paying attention to the rule!

There are some negatives, however. The foul trouble is a prime example. The rule change mean there will be more fouls before the players adjust. But that’s okay. If the officials were not calling fouls, no one would change, and change is necessary.

But once the players do adjust, we will be able to watch basketball again. Actually, we will be able to watch real basketball again.

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