An Overview of the Game of Basketball

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Table of Contents

Introduction
History
Rules
Player positions
Fouls and violations
Conclusion

Introduction

Basketball is a healthy game played on an indoor court. The game is played by throwing a puffed-up ball over the heads of the players; the ball goes down through one of the two baskets dangling at each end of the court. The participating teams are usually made up of five players each and the winning team is that which gets many shots. If both teams have equal points, overtime is issued to get a winning team (Bonsor 2).

The game is played for recreational purposes in colleges, high schools and in other institutions. In addition, it is played professionally especially in Europe and the United States; some of professional leagues formed are the Olympic Games, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Basketball Association. Basketball has grown to be one of the most popular and commonly viewed sports globally (“basketball basics” 2).

History

Basketball game was invented by James Naismith in 1981 when he was working as an instructor at a Springfield college, the YMCA training school. The first game was played using a soccer ball, the basics of playing hockey, soccer and football were used, peach baskets were wooden and fixed on the walls and each team had nine players. Basketball started as an indoor game for the students during winter and later it became a fashionable and a relaxed outdoor game. Later, the game spread to other United States colleges and countries all over the world, during the World War II, the sport was introduced to many countries (“History of Basket Ball” 2).

In 1934, basketball became popular in United States colleges during the first college sports at the Madison square garden and by the 1950s it became major games which lead to the growth of professional basketball leagues.

Rules

Basketball is basically a team sport. This game is played on a court rectangular in shape with a ring at each end. Usually, the court has two main sections divided by a line at the mid-court. This sport is played is played by two teams, each team is made up of five players. The team in possession of the ball is known as the offence and the other team is the defense. In the course of a game, when the offensive team places the ball at the back of the mid-court line, the team has to get the ball to the other side of the mid-court line in 10 seconds, when this happen, the team cannot possess the ball at the region at the back of the mid-court line. If the offensive team does not cross the ball in 10 seconds cross, defense gets the ball (Reimer 40).

The game is played by dribbling and passing the ball moving it down the defenders basket. The defense team always tries to get the ball from the offensive team, by making challenging shots, stealing and redirecting passes, bouncing back. When a team scores a field goal, usually known as a basket, is given two points and the ball is taken by the defending team. If the goal is made from a spot outside the three-point arc, it is worth one more point. In the case of a free throw, the team earns one point (Reimer 41).

A basketball game is divided into halves. The halves are of 20 minutes, each half is further divided into quarters of eight, six or twelve minutes depending on the level of the game. When the two teams earn same points at the end of the game, time is added until a winner is determined.

However, when a foul or a violation is committed in the course of a game against a shooter, the shooter is granted two or three free throws of which a free fall is worth one point. This depends on the type of the foul, the point at which it was done and the number of the fouls committed. If the shooter was outside the three-point line, then he is given three free throws. There are other fouls that do not consequently give free throws to the shooter, not until the fouls accumulate to a certain number in the course of an half. When that number is attained, the player fouled against is given the chance, given that, if the player makes a basket in his first free throw, he goes to the second free throw. In a case where the player misses the first shot, the defense gets the ball.

At the start of a game, each team is allocated a basket/ a field goal to defend whereby the other basket belonging to the other team is their goal. After halftime, the teams get to switch their baskets. The sport starts with a player from each of the teams at center court. The referee throws the ball up between the players and the one that catches the ball tosses it to a teammate, this is also known as a tip-off. When a player violates an opponent, the other team gets the ball.

Player positions

In a game, players are divided into centers, forwards and guards. The centers are usually placed near the baskets and are the tallest players.

In the offensive side, centers aim is to block the defenders and open a pass, then shooting the basket; they get rebounds and put backs in order to get a shot. The defenders keep the offenders from scoring a basket and get rebounds. Forwards are required to play at the corners and wings, they play under the hoop. For offenders, they get outside passes and play rebounds while the defenders attempt to prevent these goal passes and also play rebounds for their teams. The guards work is to dribble and pass balls fast aiming the court, setting offensive plays to get a shot from the perimeter. The defense steals shots, preventing passes away from the hoop to the other side (Bonsor 2).

Fouls and violations

A foul occurs when a player makes an unacceptable physical conduct to a player from the other team; this can be by slapping, hitting, sticking out a hand or leg and pushing the opponent. When a player is fouled when shooting a three point goal and the ball misses the basket, the player is given three free throws. In the case when the ball gets the basket, he is given one free throw. The penalty for fouling a player when not shooting is that, the ball goes to the fouled team which is granted five seconds to pass it to the court. If a team commits seven or more fouls, the fouled player is given a free throw; on scoring the player is given a second free throw. In addition, when a team commits ten or more fouls, the other team gets two free throws. In cases involving a violent foul, the team fouled gets to retain the ball even after the free throws (Bonsor 6).

Violations involved are a player moving his pivot foot while not dribbling which is termed as travelling, palming which is dribbling the ball over the arm, doubling dribbling, and when the ball is held by two or more opposing players in an instance. If a player gets in the way of a ball on its way to the basket after it touches the backboard, it is a violation and this is counted as a score for the shooting team. The violation is referred to as goaltending. When a team has the ball over the mid-court line, they cannot go back in possession of the ball, if it happens, it is a backcourt violation and the ball is given to the defense (Laughead 4).

When a participant is passes the ball inbounds, he is given a time frame of five seconds. If he takes a longer time then the ball is given to the defense team. Nevertheless, there is usually the rule in basketball that a player cannot hold the ball for over five seconds and in some instances these time limitations entails the team to try a shot in the set time limit (Laughead 6).

Conclusion

To be a good basketball player, one needs to have the skills and fundamentals necessary in a game. These include proper hand and foot positioning, leg bend, angle of the arm and the knowledge of the proper game techniques. This is critical in making a successful basketball team (“basketball basics” 5).

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