Hoopability - Squad Formation

The heart of Short AND Tall -- the allowance of five Tallness Units -- neutralizes the team height advantage both between practice squads and for the star squad representing the club or school. The coach can revise squad membership any time except during a game

To establish Availability for selection, tall players are judged for Units 1, 2, 3 or 4 at four height levels marked on a wall. The remainder are mostly people of ordinary height. A glance decides most who would stand beneath the one-Unit tallness wall mark, at age and gender. They are then classified 0 Units.

One-Unit Wall Marks
Inches		Competition Group
72		Men
71		Boys to Age 17 or Attending High School
70.5		Boys to Age 15
65.25		Boys to Age 13
66.75		Women
66.5		Girls to Age 17 or Attending High School
66		Girls to Age 15
65		Girls to Age 13

After tallness selection, ordinary-height teammates, at 0 Units, complete the 10-player format.. Tallness allows six five-unit arrangements:

4-1
3-2
3-1-1
2-2-1
2-1-1-1
1-1-1-1-1

Any of the full tallness arrangements may be a team goal, but they are far from automatic. In the populace, height clusters near the tallness minimum. Most tall people are "just tall," 1 Unit. A typical practice squad may contain only one or two such single-unit members. A taller clubmate may lack hoopability and be bypassed. Even a totally under-sized squad, all zeroes and no tallness Units, is valid .

A "vacancy" in squad formation means a reduction of one player from format 10. Each "V" incurs payment at halftime of one pair of free throws.
Squad validity of Units and format must be confirmed pre-game by Affirmation or offer of an optional Game List.
Following are typical squad formations:

On this three-tallness squad of 10, the tallest player is 2 units.
Eight teammates are 0-Units. 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

This squad of nine claims the entire five units of allowed tallness. Ttwo players are f 2 Units plus a single, 6 ordinaries and a vacancy. 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 V

Here there's one very tall player, a single, seven ordinaries, and a vacancy.

4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 V

Next, you're a coach whose Available tall men, on practice squads, are Ray, the tallest, 4 Units; Bill and Sam. 2 each, and Fred, who measures just above the 6:00 tallness minimum. The five-Unit allowance prevents you from teaming Ray, 4, along with Bill, 2 or Sam, 2. You must decide for or against 4-1. Weighing abilities and Units, you choose 2-2-1 with 7 ordinaries for format 10.. Why did you omit Ray? (Less hoopability?)

You prepare an optional Game List to exchange with the opponent. Your nine-player list includes a V to certify format 10 and confirms that tallness units are within the allowed 5. Player ID's may be names, nicknames, uniform numbers, or initials.

For this five-player squad, tall players were unavailable or lacked enough hoopability, . The required format of 10 was achieved with only five actual players, all of 0 Units, plus five V's for vacancy.
0-0-0-0-0-V-V-V-V-V

This squad concentrates the allowed five-unit tallness in one very tall player and a single-unit teammate. Eight ordinaries complete the 10 format. 4-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Here the five-unit allowance is spread across the squad. Five "just tall" singles join five ordinary-height teammates. 1-1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0-0

Squad formation principles: (1) most players reflect the population frequency of ordinary height (2) the tallness allowance prohibits a "tall team" (3) the chief criterion is hoopability, enhancing game quality.

FORMING-A-SQUAD GUIDELINES

One-Unit Wall Marks