Higher hoop raises possibilities

SEATTLE – Brayden Billbe caught the pass on the block. He drop-stepped and turned to dunk, just as he usually would.

Nope, not this time. Not with the basket a foot higher.

“All of a sudden, I’m like, ‘Oh, no.’ So I flip it up there and it rolls off the rim,” Billbe said. “I felt like an idiot.”

There were a few of those moments on Saturday during an exhibition basketball game featuring 11-foot rims. Organized by former NBA assistant Tom Newell, the exhibition surely won’t be remembered for the quality of play, but perhaps for sparking a change.

“I think this will open the professional league’s eyes, where they may experiment with it, give it a serious look,” said Jim Harrick, the former UCLA coach who was coaching one of the teams.

For the record, Saturday’s exhibition ended with a 90-60 victory for the “gold” team. But the goal for Newell was to examine how the game was different with the taller rims. Was there more passing and spacing? Was teamwork at more of a premium and less of a focus on individual play? Was a challenge presented to the players, all of which had some college experience, and could they adapt?

The answer seemed to be a resounding yes.

“They represented the game fundamentally as best as I could have expected,” Newell said.

Perhaps the biggest impact was on the interior players. No longer could centers like Billbe catch the ball on the low block, turn and simply extend their arms and lay the ball over the rim.

With the taller rim, if their positioning was too deep, the shot angle was nearly impossible. When they turned, an upward shot was needed.

“I can’t wait to get back to a 10-foot rim,” said 6-8 Adam Zahn, who played at Oregon. “This showed me that I do rely on my athleticism a lot.”

About 1,000 fans turned out for the exhibition on the University of Washington campus, including current Washington coach Lorenzo Romar and former coach Marv Harshman.