Backboard

[Steven Tyler]

Is Illinois the only state that uses the half moon backboard anymore? Plus, why do they use in the first place.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Steven Tyler

Is Illinois the only state that uses the half moon backboard anymore? Plus, why do they use in the first place.

That backboard went out in the 80s. Not sure what makes you think that is still used. BTW, that was only when they were at U of I campus and they have not been on that campus for the Finals since the early to mid-90s.

Peace

[Adam]

The only place I see these now is in church gyms.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Steven Tyler

Plus, why do they use in the first place.

If they didn't, there would just be a rim and a net.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Adam

The only place I see these now is in church gyms.

We still have them here in our main MS and several elementary school gyms. One of our Rec Leagues is actually trying to raise money to replace the one in the MS as the schools system won't prioritize the $ for it (which is understandable).

[HawkeyeCubP]

Originally Posted by Adam

The only place I see these now is in church gyms.

And every fourth Wyoming gym.

[Steven Tyler]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

That backboard went out in the 80s. Not sure what makes you think that is still used. BTW, that was only when they were at U of I campus and they have not been on that campus for the Finals since the early to mid-90s.

Peace

I was watching a 30 for 30 piece last night, and they had them I suppose at the University of Illinois, and other high school gyms. I had seen them on WGN when they broadcast the state championships. I was just wondering why they would use them in the first place since the square ones had been around for ages.

Just an oddity I noticed, and was seeking some information for my own personal self.

[Steven Tyler]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

If they didn't, there would just be a rim and a net.

Thank you, Billy Packer. I thought the clothes line pole, and peach basket was still in use.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Steven Tyler

I was watching a 30 for 30 piece last night, and they had them I suppose at the University of Illinois, and other high school gyms. I had seen them on WGN when they broadcast the state championships. I was just wondering why they would use them in the first place since the square ones had been around for ages.

Just an oddity I noticed, and was seeking some information for my own personal self.

Well that was like 1984. That has obviously been over 25 years ago. What was done then has changed drastically over the years. And I would bet that most high schools at that time used those backboards. I cannot speak if there was a rules issue, but I bet it was what most schools used and probably going to other backboards might have cost some money at the time. They probably went with what everyone was used to. But you cannot watch something that old and think that applies today. Heck the IHSA was one of the first in the country to use 3 Person for all levels of their post season in the mid-90s. And a lot has changed since that time too.

Peace

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Steven Tyler

Thank you, Billy Packer. I thought the clothes line pole, and peach basket was still in use.

Wow, you're really out of touch, aren't you?

Happy New Year!

[johnny d]

you were probably watching the one about ben wilson. i think they showed harold washington as the mayor as well.

[stiffler3492]

Originally Posted by Steven Tyler

Is Illinois the only state that uses the half moon backboard anymore? Plus, why do they use in the first place.

They have them in some back gyms. I think I did one game last year on a court with fan shaped backboards. Freshman B game in the back.

[BillyMac]

I've only lived in my little town, in my little corner of Connecticut, for about thirty-five years. Back when I was tending bar part-time, the old timers at the bar told me that my little town's high school had one of the first "glass" backboards in Connecticut. The entrance to the gymnasium was in the middle of the endline, and I've been told that visiting fans would walk into the gymnasium and just stare up at the backboard. Oddly, the rectangular backboard was only "glass" from the rim up, below the rim it was wood. That high school was eventually converted into an elementary school and the half "glass", half wood, backboards are still there. The gymnasium is used for travel team games, and visiting fans still look up at our "odd" backboards thinking that they're kind of old fashioned, when, at one time, they were "cutting edge".

[BillyMac]

In trying to find an image of an old glass backboard, I came across these internet trivia tidbits:

Before backboards, the peach crate baskets were nailed to the gym's balcony. But the fans would get involved by interfering with players' shots. Also, without backboards, rebounding was not a part of the game.

By 1893, the first backboards were created to keep fans from interfering. They were originally made out of chicken wire, as were the baskets. With the addition of backboards, the game changed to include rebounding.

In 1904, wooden backboards became mandatory because of safety reasons, including injuries suffered from the chicken wire. By 1909, glass backboards were becoming common because of their aesthetic appeal. Modern regulated backboards are made of fiberglass. Fiberglass is harder to break and highly transparent

The first glass backboard was used by the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team at the Men's Gymnasium at Indiana University. After the first few games at their new facility in 1917, spectators complained that they couldn't see the game because of opaque wooden backboards. As a result the Nurre Mirror Plate Company in Bloomington was employed to create new backboards that contained one-and-a-half inch thick plate glass so that fans could see games without an obstructed view. As a result, it was the first facility in the country to use glass backboards.

Players initially began to use wire mesh backboards to prevent spectators in the balconies from interfering with play on the court. Wood replaced the easily dented wire mesh backboards in 1904, and leagues finally began approving the usage of plate glass backboards in 1909. However, backboards evolved beyond their initial conception and immediately gave a strategic boon to the game once players attempted to utilize them to bank in lay-ups and direct shots. The glass material is optimal for basketball because it provides plenty of bounce and rebound for the ball. There is a careful balance between the compression of the outer surface and the tension of the inner surface. Glass will not bend or dent and remains smooth even after long protracted use.

Future actor Chuck Connors was the first player known to have shattered a backboard. While playing for the Boston Celtics in 1946, Connors’ pre-game warm-up shot bounced off the rim and broke a backboard that was missing a protective rubber piece. Modern NBA backboards feature a breakaway rim, an innovation inspired by a pair of Darryl Dawkins rim-shattering dunks in 1979.

[Forksref]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Oddly, the rectangular backboard was only "glass" from the rim up, below the rim it was wood. That high school was eventually converted into an elementary school and the half "glass", half wood, backboards are still there.

We used fan-shaped glass almost everywhere in ND in the 70's and 80's. I think it was a cost factor. Abd, remember, the ball can legally pass over the fan-shaped boards.

If I remember right, the movie "Hoosiers", set in the early 1950's, showed rectangular glass backboards but I think they were not authentic for the time because they did not have the wood at the bottom which supported the rim. I am guessing that the glass back then would not handle the stress of dunking. Also, was that the current Butler Field House in the finals of Hoosiers?