Basketball

Basketball is one of the most popular game in the world.

Basketball, sport, usually played on an indoor court in which two competing teams of five players where each try to score points by throwing a ball so that it descends through one of two baskets. If team has not a ball they try to defend his basket and recover a ball. To score point are three way: to throw from three points zone, two points zone or if opponent fouled ttwo fouls shooting. The team scoring the most points, wins the game.

Basketball was invented in December 1891 in USA in Training School in Springfield, where one men organized a strong and fast game suitable for indoor winter play. US servicemen in World War II popularized the sport in many other countries.

The game involved elements of American football, Association football, and hockey, and the first ball used was a football. Teams had nine players, and the goals were wooden peach bbaskets affixed to the walls. By 1897-1898, teams of five became standard. The game rapidly spread nationwide and to Canada and other parts of the world, played by both women and men; it also became a popular informal outdoor game. UUS servicemen in World War II popularized the sport in many other countries.

The game commences with the tip-off, when the referee tosses the ball into the air over the centre circle, in which the opposing centres stand face to face. The centres then leap into the air and attempt, with their hands, to tap the ball to their teammates. The team that gets the ball attempts to advance it towards the basket defended by the opposing side, in order to try for a field goal, or basket, scoring two or three points, depending on the player’s distance from the basket. A player may advance the ball by passing it to a teammate or by bouncing (dribbling) it continually along the ffloor while running towards the basket. If a player walks or runs with the ball without dribbling it—a violation called travelling—that player’s team surrenders possession of the ball. After a basket is scored, the opposing team puts the ball into play from behind its end line and in turn tries to move the ball upcourt to score.

A Penalties and Free Throws

A player subjected to illegal body contact, termed a personal foul, receives one or two free throws, from a ffoul line about 4 m (15 ft) from the basket. Each successful free throw counts for one point. Typical fouls include pushing, holding, charging, and tripping. A player fouled in the act of shooting, but scoring the basket, receives one free throw in addition to the basket; this is called a three-point play. In professional basketball, excessive fouls are penalized by granting the opponents extra free-throw chances. A player who exceeds the maximum number of personal fouls allowed (in amateur play, five; in professional play, six) is eliminated from the game. Interference with certain shots that are near or about to drop through the basket is called goaltending on defence, and basket interference on the attack. The basket is ruled good after goaltending and disallowed after basket interference.

Amateur games usually are divided into two halves, each containing 20 minutes of actual play; professional games are divided into four quarters, each containing 12 minutes of play. An added feature of college and professional games is the rule that a team must shoot at the basket within a certain time limit after putting the ball in play. In college basketball, the time limit is 35 seconds in men’s games and 30 seconds iin women’s games. Professional games have a 24-second limit.

B Attacking Skills

Rebounding Rebounding involves competing for possession of the basketball when it rebounds, or bounces, off the backboard or rim after a missed shot. Defensive rebounds occur off the missed shot of the opposition, while attacking rebounds are retrieved from the errant attempts of teammates. Here, two members of the Dallas Mavericks compete for a rebound.Jim Zerschling/Photo Researchers, Inc.

The principal attacking skills necessary to any ...