Basketball hoop with shield

A basketball hoop or goal associated with a backboard in a conventional manner with the hoop including a laterally extending, downwardly inclined shield terminating in a peripheral ring located outwardly of the annular ring defining the hoop or goal through which the ball passes to score points when playing basketball. The shield requires that players release the ball at a point spaced peripherally of the rim of the hoop thereby eliminating the capability of the players "dunking" the ball through the hoop. The replacement of the conventional hoop and net with the hoop and shield reduces the advantages that tall players have while increasing emphasis on speed, team work, long range shooting ability and finesse while decreasing slam dunking, hanging on baskets and contact fouls by spreading the players out rather than having them concentrated in a very small area under the conventional basket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention generally relates to a basket ball goal which 
replaces the conventional hoop and net with a hoop forming the inner ring 
of a downwardly and outwardly inclined shield oriented peripherally of the 
hoop with an outer rim being rigidly fixed to the backboard and defining 
the outer periphery of the shield with the length and angle of the shield 
being such as to preclude the ball from being dunked through the hoop and 
providing a varied trajectory to the ball as it rebounds when the ball 
misses the hoop. 2. Disclosure Statement 
In recent years, basketball has evolved into a contact between large tall 
players capable of dominating the area under the basket and slam dunking 
the ball through the hoop. Various rule changes have been made with 
respect to penalties for certain actions but the structure of the 
basketball hoop and net itself has not materially altered for many years. 
Many injuries have resulted from players' arms and heads coming into 
contact with the hoop and basketball hoops have been bent and backboards 
destroyed by virtue of the player's arms coming into contact with the hoop 
when slam dunking the ball. As basketball teams have concentrated on 
scoring points with tall players, there has been a reduced emphasis on 
team work, team speed, running plays and finesse to the extent that 
shorter players are more or less excluded from basketball even though they 
may have considerable speed, agility and other talents for playing 
basketball. The following U.S. Pat. Nos. relate to this field of endeavor: 
2,889,149, 2,918,283, 3,134,594, 3,233,896, 3,342,486, 3,602,505, 
3,948,516. 
Of the above patents, U.S. Pat. No. 3,134,594, issued May 26, 1964 to 
Crowley, is relevant since it discloses a circular net for the purpose of 
compelling a player to shoot at the basket from a distance spaced from the 
rim of the hoop. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide a basketball hoop and 
shield which replaces the conventional hoop and net but is associated with 
the backboard in the same manner as a conventional hoop and net so that 
players must release the ball before the ball enters the hoop thereby 
preventing a player from dunking the ball through the hoop. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a basketball hoop and shield 
in which the shield includes a peripheral rim at the outer edge of the 
shield oriented in a manner that the shield varies in its downward 
inclination from a rather steep angle at the front of the hoop to a rather 
shallow angle at the sides of the hoop adjacent the backboard so that the 
trajectory of rebounds toward the sidelines adjacent the base line will be 
a relatively high or short trajectory whereas rebounds towards the center 
of the court will be relatively flat and longer thus keeping the ball in 
play more often when rebounding toward the sidelines and providing greater 
opportunities for fast breaks when rebounded towards the center of the 
court. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a basketball hoop and 
shield which is mounted on a conventional backboard as a replacement for a 
conventional hoop and net which requires that shots be taken towards the 
hoop from a greater distance and substantially eliminating the slam dunk 
or tip in shot from under the basket which reduces the advantages of tall 
players and increases the emphasis on team play, speed and shot accuracy. 
These together with other objects and advantages which will become 
subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation 
as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to 
the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals 
refer to like parts throughout.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now specifically to the dawings, the basketball hoop and shield 
of the present invention is designated generally by reference numeral 10 
and is associated with a conventional basketball backboard 12 which is 
oriented in vertical position and is of conventional shape, either 
rectangular or provided with angulated bottom edge portions and an arcuate 
top edge portion and supported in any suitable manner in a vertical 
position with the support structure for the backboard being generally 
designated by numeral 14 and forming no particular part of the present 
invention. 
The basketball hoop and shield 10 includes an annular inner ring 16 which 
is identical to the shape and size of a conventional basketball hoop with 
the inner periphery thereof being supported from the backboard 12 by a 
conventional bracket structure 18 which spaces the inner periphery of the 
hoop from the backboard a standard distance. Rather than having a net 
suspended from the hoop 16 as in a conventional basketball hoop, the net 
along with its attachment structure has been eliminated. In lieu of the 
net, a laterally extending and downwardly inclined shield 20 is attached 
to or formed integrally with the periphery of the hoop 16 with the shield 
extending throughout the periphery of the hoop 16 and along the side edges 
of the bracket 18 and terminating against the face of the backboard 12. 
The outer periphery of the shield 20 is formed by an outer rim 24 of 
generally U-shaped configuration as observed in the plan view of FIG. 1 
and angulated as disclosed in FIGS. 2 and 3 with the terminal ends of the 
rim 24 being attached to the lower corners of the backboard 12 by suitable 
bracket structure 26. As illustrated, the inner periphery of the shield 20 
is disposed at the bottom edge of the hoop 16 so that the inner rim which 
forms the hoop through which the ball passes will always be visible to the 
players so that it can be used as a fixed reference point as a target for 
the ball. A plurality of radially extending bars 28 extend from the hoop 
16 to the outer rim 24 and are rigidly fixed thereto in a suitable manner 
to provide support for the shield 20 and where the shield 20 engages the 
backboard 12, the bars 30 include bracket 32 secured to the backboard with 
the upper ends of the bars 30 extending to and connecting to the side 
edges of the standoff bracket 18. Additional bracing 34 may be provided 
between the bottom of the backboard and the periphery of the hoop 16 to 
provide better support for the hoop 16 and the outer rim 24 may be padded, 
if desired, to protect players who come into contact with the outer rim. 
The shield 20 may be constructed of heavy wire mesh adequately supported 
by supporting rods or framework or it may be constructed of a rigid 
framework of intersecting rigid rods or tubes welded together to provide a 
rigid shield capable of effecting rebounding the ball and capable of long 
periods of use by basketball players. The backboard may actually be 
constructed larger than conventional since a greater area of the backboard 
can be positioned below the hoop to provide added support therefore. 
When using the basketball hoop and shield of the present invention, the 
hoop 16 is actually the top edge of the shield and defines the hole 
through which the ball must pass in order to score points. Since any ball 
passing outwardly of the hoop 16 will rebound from the shield 20, there is 
no need for a net suspended from the hoop 16. The shield 20 is at a 
greater angle at the front of the hoop as compared to the sides thereof 
with the front angle being generally in the area of 45.degree. and the 
side angle being generally in the area of 10.degree. so that balls 
rebounding toward the sidelines, especially adjacent the baseline, will 
rebound in a high arc or high trajectory and a shorter distance thereby 
eliminating many out of bounds rebounds, thus keeping the ball in play for 
a greater proportion of the playing time. The greater angle toward the 
center of the court causes a rebound to move in a shallow trajectory or a 
longer distance toward the center of the court, thereby increasing fast 
break opportunities and also keeping the players spread out so that they 
do not concentrate under the basket and fight for rebounds which causes 
considerable fouling and excessive and unnecessary contact. Thus, with 
this invention, the incidents of slam dunking and hanging on baskets will 
be eliminated and there will be a decrease in the dominance of extremely 
tall players and a corresponding increase in emphasis on speed, team work, 
long range shooting ability, team position for defensive rebounding, 
running plays which develop away from the usual post-type supports for the 
basket thus reducing player injury, fast break opportunities and finesse 
of the players regardless of their height. There will be a substantial 
decrease in the fouls as the players will be spread apart in a larger area 
especially when rebounding and the variation in the angle of the shield 
retains rebounded balls within the court and increases the possibility of 
fast breaks especially if the rebound is toward the center of the court. 
All of these factors increase the speed and continuity of the game and 
increase the capability of spectators following play of the game thereby 
increasing their interest and enjoyment of the game. 
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the 
invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily 
occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the 
invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and 
accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted 
to, falling within the scope of the invention.