for basketball fans

[Zitin, Abigail]

I had thought drafting an entry for "point guard" was going to be
simple (my first quot is December 1970, from proquest, if anyone's
interested in finding an antedating). To a certain extent, it was;
what I'm stuck on is the (apparently) subsequent use of "point" in the
same (or a closely related) sense.

Webster's Sports Dict. (1976) has "a player position in the frontcourt
in the area roughly between the division line and the free throw
circle which is occupied by a guard who directs the team's offense."
My first contextual quot, however, is the following:

1978 N.Y. Times 16 Jan. C12/4 John Moore, a junior guard...played the
point in the zone defense that forced 19 Razorback turnovers.

Does this quotation indicate that John Moore is playing a position in
the zone defense referred to as the "point"? or is he defending the
other team's point guard? The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, to
complicate matters, has "a frontcourt position, usu. manned by the
guard who sets up the team's defence."

My sense is that "point" is not used in basketball as a purely spatial
designation (as it is in hockey), and while it is frequently just
short for "point guard" (1999, XXL Basketball, Aug: "You shouldn't
play two-guard, you should play the point"), it has a somewhat looser
application (as Webster's Sports Dict. implies with "a player
position") insofar as another player could take over the function of
the point guard.

So: any thoughts on this? offense vs. defense, spatial vs. personal,
etc... all musings welcome (including likely contexts in which one
might hear this: all I've been able to find is "play the point", but
could you have someone "at point"? shooting "from [the] point"? etc.)
All antedatings too, as ever.

Many thanks, from the athletically impaired

Abigail Zitin
OED