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Basketball is more than the slam-dunks shown on television ,sports shows. It is a sport of agility and endurance that develops hand-eye coordination among its participants. At its essence, basketball requires only a basket, a ball, and at least two players. The simplicity of the sport is credited to Dr. James Naismith, who invented basketball in 1891 by nailing two peach baskets to the balconies on opposite ends of a YMCA gym in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Since then, basketball has overtaken baseball as the unofficial American pastime. In 2001, more than 28 million Americans participated in basketball, which is more than any other team sport, according to the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA). Internationally, more than 300 million people participate in basketball worldwide, according to the International Federation of Basketball (FIBA).
In this article, you'll learn about the equipment used to play a basketball game, how players score points, and the rules that players must follow. You will also learn how to identify players by the position they play and the numbers they wear.



Rules To be followed:






It may seem like there is no more to basketball than putting a ball in a basket. However, there are certain rules that teams must play by in order to create a fair game. Referees police the action of the game and blow a whistle to indicate violations. Referees also use hand signals to indicate the type of violation that has occurred.
College vs. ProThe rules of play for the NCAA are not exactly the same as for the NBA. For instance, a college game is divided into two 20-minute segments, while a pro game is broken into four 12-minute segments. And while a college team gets 35 seconds to shoot the ball before turning it over to the opposing team, a pro shot clock runs out in just 24 seconds! For more information on the distinctions between organizations, see USA Basketball.com.An official game is played for a set amount of time, and the team that scores the most points at the end of that time is declared the winner. If the two teams are tied at the end of the game, the teams play overtime periods until a winner is determined. Each overtime period last five minutes, and when one team is ahead at the end of an overtime period, the game is over.
Within the game, there are certain rules that players have to follow. Here are some of basketball's most commonly noted ones:
If an offensive team allows the ball to go behind the midcourt line and touches it before the opposing team touches it, it is called for a backcourt violation and the opposing team is awarded the ball.
A player must bounce the ball on the court, also called dribbling, in order to move around the court. A player can move only two steps after he stops dribbling. If a player dribbles, stops, and then dribbles again, the referee calls a double-dribble violation, and the opposing team gains possession of the ball.
Basketball, by rule, is a non-contact sport. Of course, if you've seen a basketball game, you know that there is actually a great deal of contact involved. Personal fouls are called when too much contact is made. A foul is called when a player gains an unfair advantage by making contact with the opposing player. In the NBA, players are eliminated after committing six fouls. In college, five fouls eliminates a player.
If a player is not dribbling, that player can move one foot, as long as he keeps the other foot, called his pivot foot, in contact with the floor. The pivot foot must remain constant. If a player moves both feet without dribbling, the referee will call a traveling (or walking) violation.
If a player or coach displays poor behavior, such as using profanity, referees can call technical fouls at their discretion. In the NBA, players and coaches are ejected after being called for two technical fouls.
Time!
24-second clock - In the NBA, teams must shoot the ball and make contact with the rim within 24 seconds of taking possession of the ball. If they don't, then the other team is awarded the ball. The 24-second clock restarts each time a shot is made or the ball hits the rim. It also starts over if the opposing team kicks the ball. In college, teams are given 35 seconds.
10-second violation - This refers to the rule that a team must advance the ball beyond the midcourt line within 10 seconds of taking possession of the ball. If it does not, the opposing team is awarded possession of the ball.
5-second possession violation - If a player is guarded and doesn't advance the ball within five seconds, the opposing team is awarded the ball.
5-second in-bound violation - If a player cannot pass the ball to an in-bounds player within 5 seconds of taking possession of the ball out of bounds, the opposing team is awarded the ball.
3-second rule - If an offensive player remains in the lane for three seconds, the opposing team is awarded the ball. The three seconds resets after every attempted shot.
For comprehensive information on rules and violations, see Official Rules of the National Basketball Association , Official Rules of the Woman's National Basketball Association and NCAA Playing Rules and Officiating Books.
These rules allow for a fair game and enjoyable experience for fans, so that teams continue to play even when leading by large margins. Rules also allow players to concentrate on the fundamentals of the game: passing, dribbling and shooting.
For more information on basketball and related topics, check out the links on the next page.

Basketball can be played anywhere as long as there is a hoop mounted to a pole or wall and a ball to shoot through it. The basic idea could hardly be simpler. The two teams want to do two things:
Get the ball through the opposing team's basket as much as possible (offense)
Stop the opposing team from doing the same thing (defense)
As soon as one team has the ball, that team is the offense and the other team is the defense. The offense tries to position players to take a shot (throw the ball through the hoop). The defense players position themselves to block these shots. Offense players move around the basket and cut past defense players (abruptly changing direction to get past the defense) until they can set up a reasonably clear shot.
The way all this plays out largely depends on the court. Dimensions of the court and other equipment vary depending on the level of play. For our purposes, we will look at the National Basketball Association's (NBA) regulation equipment.
In its original form, when peach baskets were used, contestants climbed up a ladder to retrieve the ball after making a basket. Baskets are still used in basketball, but have evolved to eliminate the manual retrieval of the ball. Today's basket is an 18-inch-diameter (46 cm) metal rim, with a 15- or 18-inch-long (38 or 46 cm), open-ended nylon net extending below it.
The rim is actually about twice the diameter of a regulation basketball. In the NBA, the official ball is made of leather and has a circumference of 30 inches (76 cm) and a diameter of 9 inches (23 cm). Prior to play, the ball must be inflated to 7.5 to 8.5 pounds of pressure (0.51 to 0.57 atm).
An official basketball court, where competitive games are played, is a rectangle divided into two halves by the midcourt line. On each end of the court, baskets are mounted to a backboard and raised to a height of 10 feet (3 m). The backboard is a rectangle that is 6 feet (1.8 m) wide and 3.5 feet (1 m) tall. Players often shoot the ball at an angle so that it ricochets off the backboard and into the basket.
The court, in this case an NBA court, is 94 feet long and 50 feet wide (29 x 15 m).

As possession alternates between teams, the teams run to opposite ends of the court. When a team's players are on offense, they are said to be in their frontcourt. If the team's players are on defense, they are in their backcourt.
Along the midcourt line is the center circle, which is 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter. This circle is used for the tip-off, which starts the game. In a tip-off, a referee throws a ball into the air and one player from each team jumps to tip the ball to his/her respective teammates. The players jumping for the ball can tip, but not grab, the ball.
On each half of the court, there is a three-point line, which is an arced line painted on the floor. Within the three-point line, you find the key, which consists of the free-throw line and free-throw lane. The lane is sometimes called "the paint."
Behind the free-throw line there is a semicircle. The top of this semicircle is referred to as the top of the key. Along each side of the lane, there are four hash marks. These are called blocks, and designate spots where players must stand during foul shots.

posted by sakthivel @ 5:21 AM