3 man mechanics in 1987?

[daveg144]

Last night, on the Big 10 Channel, I watched a game from 1987 (Purdue at Illinois). It was a good game, but there were two things that made it stand out to me.

One, the players all looked "skinny". I'm guessing that today's players are much more into strength conditioning. The announcers were raving about Ken Norman's (Illinois) body, "he's a real man on the floor!", but honestly, he looked like he was built like Steve Nash.

The other thing I noticed was the positioning of the officials. They were working 3-man (with collared shirts!), but the positioning was totally different than what we work today.

The lead either never rotated or very seldom rotated. Instead, he'd go directly under the basket and hunch over to see the play. When the ball would kick back out to the side, he'd go out about halfway.

The slot and trail were more like two slots & trails. Often, they would both be above the top of the free throw circle or both be halfway down the lane. Bird-dogging must have been required as they all did it.

On some plays, the slot official was as low as the low block and only about two steps outside the lane. He could have grabbed a rebound or played defense!

Another old mechanic was the slot official on free throws administered the free throw, and handed the ball to the shooter.

If anybody on the forum knows anything about the mechanics in 1987, I'd love to know more.