Heightened basket deters dunks in exhibition game

"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."

The taller rim also impacted outside shooting. Players who weren't square to the basket with their feet set had trouble early on getting the ball over the front rim. Shots improved later in the game, but fadeaways and contested attempts often didn't have a chance.

About a 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. Newell's experiment came from a belief that today's game relies too much on dunking, 3-point shooting and the pure athleticism of players bigger, faster and stronger than the past.

"On offense, a player still has to use their athleticism, you just use it in a different way," said Ryan Rourke, who played at Cornell and now plays in Europe.

Added Andrew Zahn, Adam's brother who plays professionally in Japan, "Kids are dunking now in eighth grade, freshman year in high school. You go back to this, the court is a lot more spread, there are more fundamentals."

Early on, there weren't many fundamentals. The teams combined for 16 turnovers in the first quarter and finished with 43 combined. Yet, the court opened up, proving lanes for cutting and passing. Players who usually would hoist 23-foot 3-pointers, passed up the deep shot to take a couple of dribbles and instead shoot an 18-footer.

Ultimately, Newell was pleased, but realizes any change will depend on public reception to a game that would be less about entertainment and more fundamental.

"I can definitely see this happening again," Andrew Zahn said. "To be involved with the first one is kind of cool."

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.