Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-02-04
Center Position and Teamwork

CHEF BENDER

In this article, the last Of tho series.
VIII touch on The center position of
q basketball team aud upon team pl-y.
To begin with, the man who should he
chosen for center must have all tho
speed az forward. the guarding .,hili-
tics of guard ability to score bas
kcts and ~ addition height.
OF course. am speaking uf m ideal
rcnter. lie must il. ,uan Of cool
head. with the ability IL si2c NJ situa
lions thu, come up in Games. and must
at quickly. ilc Also must he ailc TO
Civ" signals and tap I'll. ball correctly.
50 that his combinations Viii take all
advantage "t tho weak points II his
opponents.
In fact he must ho about She best
"il-around man on the team. II" must
bc iast on his feet. as To tax. proper
advantage OF his height. and this,
should enable him TO he one OF the hes,
point gamers OF the quiut lie mus,
be man who is cntirel! devoted to
team play. tapping. passing ur Shoot-
ing, as may t' necessary tn secure a
goal.
Like D guard, :. center must be man
who can stand hard knock ana not
lose his temper. Ills position j. one OF
great importance To team. ana Very
often unfair means are taken TO pr. :
Vent him from starting combination
and scoring goals. He must he ready
to accept these conditions when they
come and YET remain cool. for his ac-
curacy viii determine tho effectiveness
Of most az the combinations started
from the center position.
Considering tcamwor;<. lot me say -
begin with that 10 round out Sur-
cessful team. and fact 10 b. rcn!,u-
bcr"d. thei" must be absolute. harmony
among tho players. aud that they must
play together at ali times and bc viii
ing - sacrifice Their own "Ianc, 60
score 50 as 10 ALLOW another m..lbcr
at the team - do 50. provided hc has
Il better chance.
rccmw'nk must b. I'll. mott" from
the start. y Grand-Staud mayer is
likely to he successful IN some Of his
ah0ts. but in tho ma jorii: II cas's hc
dcprivcs ono az his teammates III - Tar
@ursr opportunity TO S"or" from a
point nearer the goal have for a
Number Of y"grs taken ain absolute
stand against Players Of this type and
have made il practi,e - weed them
out nf my squads.
The modern method for workiu-;
combinations usually IS to endcavor
10 score from point close TO the
goal. BY this We moan tohinG tho bal
down the moor 10 81 point which brings
The ball TO within d short DISTANCE of
the goal. and Thus greatly incr"a in
the chance for q successful shot. How
e,er. this must not b' understood a.
discouraginS long shots Whenever :,
player is in his section OF the playing
surface and thor" is no one Of his team
mates free or there !. little possibility
of any one of them becoming free.
advocate absolutely the taxing Of tho
long shot. for TIA. player in possession
q! the ball has chance To score n goal
without brea King up t"an y ork. beside:
advancing tho ball further dow,! III,
:luor into the region OF his oIvii goal
III II. En- +.
one OF his teammates 81 himself has an
opportunity To recover tn" ball on III.
rebound and att"nD; basket.
No team can afford to u" without u
repertoire Of we'll learned formations
drilled by hard. carly season pruciic.
into it's guards. forwards aud center
When y team without such foruatio
~ pittrd against a trained STuaC. II.
matter what individual stars the former
may POSSESS. Inc lcamMOrii Of Tic lat