Point Guard; "point" itself?

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Tue, Dec 09, 2003 at 10:36:11AM -0500, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
> I'm assuming, without evidence, that this was a positional reference
> to an area of the court behind and to the side of the free throw
> line, where the point guard (not yet so called) positioned himself by
> default to begin the passing process that eventuated in getting his
> team a good shot.  This would have pre-dated the 24 second clock in
> the NBA and the corresponding time limit later adopted in college, so
> that set offenses would have been more frequent and positions on the
> court more stable.  Why that particular area would have been called
> the point I have no idea.  Is there an analogy with hockey, a game
> about which I know very little?  Any Canadians out there?

I'm not Canadian, but the "point" in hockey is either of two
positions in front of the opposing team's blue line and near
each edge fo the rink, where players on offense are often
positioned.

This sense dates to at least the 1950s. No idea how it might relate
to the basketball sense.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED