A.

Description
Basketball is a team sport where two teams, usually consisting of players on each team, play against
each other on a rectangular court. The objective is to get the ball through a hoop mounted high on a
backboard on the opponent's side of the court, while preventing the opponent from shooting it into your
team's hoop. It is a very popular sport worldwide, played with a round and usually orange(orange-
brown) ball that bounces. Basketball players mainly use skills such as dribbling, shooting, running, and
jumping. Each made basket is worth two points, while a basket made from beyond the three-point line is
worth three points. If a player gets into too much physical contact, they may be given free throws which
are worth one point each. The game typically lasts for four quarters and the team with the most points at
the end of the four quarters win the game. If the score is tied at the end of the game, there will be
something called overtime, which is additional play time to allow one team to win the match.
The game is played between men's teams or between women's teams. Basketball has been played in the
Summer Olympic Games since 1936. The shot clock rule started in 1954. The first basketball game took
place in 1892, where the court was half the size of what it is today. In 1891 the game was invented by
James Naismith.
B. History
In early December 1891, Canadian James Naismith, a physical education professor and instructor at the
International Young Men's Christian Association Training School (YMCA) (today, Springfield College)
in Springfield, Massachusetts, was trying to keep his gym class active on a rainy day. He sought a
vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied and at proper levels of fitness during the long New
England winters. After rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-
in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot (3.0 m) elevated track.
In contrast with modern basketball nets, this peach basket retained its bottom, and balls had to be
retrieved manually after each "basket" or point scored; this proved inefficient, however, so the bottom of
the basket was removed, allowing the balls to be poked out with a long dowel each time.
Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball. These round balls from "association football" were
made, at the time, with a set of laces to close off the hole needed for inserting the inflatable bladder after
the other sewn-together segments of the ball's cover had been flipped outside-in. These laces could cause
bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was
invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith. (Whereas in American football, the
lace construction proved to be advantageous for gripping and remains to this day.) The first balls made
specifically for basketball were brown, and it was only in the late 1950s that Tony Hinkle, searching for
a ball that would be more visible to players and spectators alike, introduced the orange ball that is now
in common use. Dribbling was not part of the original game except for the "bounce pass" to teammates.
Passing the ball was the primary means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but
limited by the asymmetric shape of early balls. Dribbling was common by 1896, with a rule against the
double dribble by 1898.
The peach baskets were used until 1906 when they were finally replaced by metal hoops with
backboards. A further change was soon made, so the ball merely passed through. Whenever a person got
the ball in the basket, his team would gain a point. Whichever team got the most points won the game.
The baskets were originally nailed to the mezzanine balcony of the playing court, but this proved
impractical when spectators in the balcony began to interfere with shots. The backboard was introduced
to prevent this interference; it had the additional effect of allowing rebound shots. Naismith's
handwritten diaries, discovered by his granddaughter in early 2006, indicate that he was nervous about
the new game he had invented, which incorporated rules from a children's game called duck on a rock,
as many had failed before it.
Frank Mahan, one of the players from the original first game, approached Naismith after the Christmas
break, in early 1892, asking him what he intended to call his new game. Naismith replied that he hadn't
thought of it because he had been focused on just getting the game started. Mahan suggested that it be
called "Naismith ball", at which he laughed, saying that a name like that would kill any game. Mahan
then said, "Why not call it basketball?" Naismith replied, "We have a basket and a ball, and it seems to
me that would be a good name for it." The first official game was played in the YMCA gymnasium in
Albany, New York, on January 20, 1892, with nine players. The game ended at 1–0; the shot was made
from 25 feet (7.6 m), on a court just half the size of a present-day Streetball or National Basketball
Association (NBA) court.
At the time, football was being played with 10 to a team (which was increased to 11). When winter
weather got too icy to play football, teams were taken indoors, and it was convenient to have them split
in half and play basketball with five on each side. By 1897–1898 teams of five became standard.
College basketball
Basketball's early adherents were dispatched to YMCAs throughout the United States, and it quickly
spread through the United States and Canada. By 1895, it was well established at several women's high
schools. While YMCA was responsible for initially developing and spreading the game, within a decade
it discouraged the new sport, as rough play and rowdy crowds began to detract from YMCA's primary
mission. However, other amateur sports clubs, colleges, and professional clubs quickly filled the void. In
the years before World War I, the Amateur Athletic Union and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association
of the United States (forerunner of the NCAA) vied for control over the rules for the game. The first pro
league, the National Basketball League, was formed in 1898 to protect players from exploitation and to
promote a less rough game. This league only lasted five years.
James Naismith was instrumental in establishing college basketball. His colleague C.O. Beamis fielded
the first college basketball team just a year after the Springfield YMCA game at the
suburban Pittsburgh Geneva College. Naismith himself later coached at the University of Kansas for six
years, before handing the reins to renowned coach Forrest "Phog" Allen. Naismith's disciple Amos
Alonzo Stagg brought basketball to the University of Chicago, while Adolph Rupp, a student of
Naismith's at Kansas, enjoyed great success as coach at the University of Kentucky. On February 9,
1895, the first intercollegiate 5-on-5 game was played at Hamline University between Hamline and the
School of Agriculture, which was affiliated with the University of Minnesota. The School of Agriculture
won in a 9–3 game.
In 1901, colleges, including the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cornell
University, Dartmouth College, the University of Minnesota, the U.S. Naval Academy, the University of
Colorado and Yale University began sponsoring men's games. In 1905, frequent injuries on
the football field prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to suggest that colleges form a governing
body, resulting in the creation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS).
In 1910, that body would change its name to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The
first Canadian interuniversity basketball game was played at YMCA in Kingston, Ontario on February 6,
1904, when McGill University—Naismith's alma mater—visited Queen's University. McGill won 9–7 in
overtime; the score was 7–7 at the end of regulation play, and a ten-minute overtime period settled the
outcome. A good turnout of spectators watched the game.
The first men's national championship tournament, the National Association of Intercollegiate
Basketball tournament, which still exists as the National Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics (NAIA) tournament, was organized in 1937. The first national championship for NCAA teams,
the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in New York, was organized in 1938; the NCAA national
tournament would begin one year later. College basketball was rocked by gambling scandals from 1948
to 1951, when dozens of players from top teams were implicated in match fixing and point shaving.
Partially spurred by an association with cheating, the NIT lost support to the NCAA tournament.
High school basketball
Before widespread school district consolidation, most American high schools were far smaller than their
present-day counterparts. During the first decades of the 20th century, basketball quickly became the
ideal interscholastic sport due to its modest equipment and personnel requirements. In the days before
widespread television coverage of professional and college sports, the popularity of high school
basketball was unrivaled in many parts of America. Perhaps the most legendary of high school teams
was Indiana's Franklin Wonder Five, which took the nation by storm during the 1920s, dominating
Indiana basketball and earning national recognition.
Today virtually every high school in the United States fields a basketball team in varsity competition.
Basketball's popularity remains high, both in rural areas where they carry the identification of the entire
community, as well as at some larger schools known for their basketball teams where many players go
on to participate at higher levels of competition after graduation. In the 2016–17 season, 980,673 boys
and girls represented their schools in interscholastic basketball competition, according to the National
Federation of State High School Associations. The states of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky are
particularly well known for their residents' devotion to high school basketball, commonly called Hoosier
Hysteria in Indiana; the critically acclaimed film Hoosiers shows high school basketball's depth of
meaning to these communities.
There is currently no tournament to determine a national high school champion. The most serious effort
was the National Interscholastic Basketball Tournament at the University of Chicago from 1917 to 1930.
The event was organized by Amos Alonzo Stagg and sent invitations to state champion teams. The
tournament started out as a mostly Midwest affair but grew. In 1929 it had 29 state champions. Faced
with opposition from the National Federation of State High School Associations and North Central
Association of Colleges and Schools that bore a threat of the schools losing their accreditation the last
tournament was in 1930. The organizations said they were concerned that the tournament was being
used to recruit professional players from the prep ranks. The tournament did not invite minority schools
or private/parochial schools.
The National Catholic Interscholastic Basketball Tournament ran from 1924 to 1941 at Loyola
University. The National Catholic Invitational Basketball Tournament from 1954 to 1978 played at a
series of venues, including Catholic University, Georgetown and George Mason. The National
Interscholastic Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools was held from 1929 to 1942 at Hampton
Institute. The National Invitational Interscholastic Basketball Tournament was held from 1941 to 1967
starting out at Tuskegee Institute. Following a pause during World War II it resumed at Tennessee State
College in Nashville. The basis for the champion dwindled after 1954 when Brown v. Board of
Education began an integration of schools. The last tournaments were held at Alabama State
College from 1964 to 1967.
Professional basketball
Teams abounded throughout the 1920s. There were hundreds of men's professional basketball teams in
towns and cities all over the United States, and little organization of the professional game. Players
jumped from team to team and teams played in armories and smoky dance halls. Leagues came and
went. Barnstorming squads such as the Original Celtics and two all-African American teams, the New
York Renaissance Five ("Rens") and the (still existing) Harlem Globetrotters played up to two hundred
games a year on their national tours.
In 1946, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was formed. The first game was played
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between the Toronto Huskies and New York Knickerbockers on November
1, 1946. Three seasons later, in 1949, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to
form the National Basketball Association (NBA). By the 1950s, basketball had become a major college
sport, thus paving the way for a growth of interest in professional basketball. In 1959, a basketball hall
of fame was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts, site of the first game. Its rosters include the names
of great players, coaches, referees and people who have contributed significantly to the development of
the game. The hall of fame has people who have accomplished many goals in their career in basketball.
An upstart organization, the American Basketball Association, emerged in 1967 and briefly threatened
the NBA's dominance until the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. Today the NBA is the top professional
basketball league in the world in terms of popularity, salaries, talent, and level of competition.
The NBA has featured many famous players, including George Mikan, the first dominating "big man";
ball-handling wizard Bob Cousy and defensive genius Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics; charismatic
center Wilt Chamberlain, who originally played for the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters; all-around
stars Oscar Robertson and Jerry West; more recent big men Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille
O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Karl Malone; playmakers John Stockton, Isiah Thomas and Steve Nash;
crowd-pleasing forwards Julius Erving and Charles Barkley; European stars Dirk Nowitzki, Pau
Gasol and Tony Parker; more recent superstars LeBron James, Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant; and the
three players who many credit with ushering the professional game to its highest level of popularity
during the 1980s and 1990s: Larry Bird, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, and Michael Jordan.
In 2001, the NBA formed a developmental league, the National Basketball Development League (later
known as the NBA D-League and then the NBA G League after a branding deal with Gatorade). As of
the 2018–19 season, the G League has 27 teams.
International basketball
FIBA (International Basketball Federation) was formed in 1932 by eight founding nations:
Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland. At this time, the
organization only oversaw amateur players. Its acronym, derived from the French Fédération
Internationale de Basket-ball Amateur, was thus "FIBA". Men's basketball was first included at the
Berlin 1936 Summer Olympics, although a demonstration tournament was held in 1904. The United
States defeated Canada in the first final, played outdoors. This competition has usually been dominated
by the United States, whose team has won all but three titles. The first of these came in a controversial
final game in Munich in 1972 against the Soviet Union, in which the ending of the game was replayed
three times until the Soviet Union finally came out on top. In 1950 the first FIBA World Championship
for men, now known as the FIBA Basketball World Cup, was held in Argentina. Three years later, the
first FIBA World Championship for women, now known as the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup,
was held in Chile. Women's basketball was added to the Olympics in 1976, which were held
in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with teams such as the Soviet Union, Brazil and Australia rivaling
the American squads.
In 1989, FIBA allowed professional NBA players to participate in the Olympics for the first time. Prior
to the 1992 Summer Olympics, only European and South American teams were allowed to field
professionals in the Olympics. The United States' dominance continued with the introduction of the
original Dream Team. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, the United States suffered its first Olympic loss
while using professional players, falling to Puerto Rico (in a 19-point loss) and Lithuania in group
games, and being eliminated in the semifinals by Argentina. It eventually won the bronze medal
defeating Lithuania, finishing behind Argentina and Italy. The Redeem Team, won gold at the 2008
Olympics, and the B-Team, won gold at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey despite
featuring no players from the 2008 squad. The United States continued its dominance as they won gold
at the 2012 Olympics, 2014 FIBA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
Worldwide, basketball tournaments are held for boys and girls of all age levels. The global popularity of
the sport is reflected in the nationalities represented in the NBA. Players from all six inhabited
continents currently play in the NBA. Top international players began coming into the NBA in the mid-
1990s, including Croatians Dražen Petrović and Toni Kukoč, Serbian Vlade Divac, Lithuanians Arvydas
Sabonis and Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Dutchman Rik Smits and German Detlef Schrempf.
In the Philippines, the Philippine Basketball Association's first game was played on April 9, 1975 at
the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. Philippines. It was founded as a "rebellion" of several
teams from the now-defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association, which was tightly
controlled by the Basketball Association of the Philippines (now defunct), the then-FIBA recognized
national association. Nine teams from the MICAA participated in the league's first season that opened on
April 9, 1975. The NBL is Australia's pre-eminent men's professional basketball league. The league
commenced in 1979, playing a winter season (April–September) and did so until the completion of the
20th season in 1998. The 1998–99 season, which commenced only months later, was the first season
after the shift to the current summer season format (October–April). This shift was an attempt to avoid
competing directly against Australia's various football codes. It features 8 teams from around Australia
and one in New Zealand. A few players including Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Chris
Anstey and Andrew Bogut made it big internationally, becoming poster figures for the sport in
Australia. The Women's National Basketball League began in 1981.
Women's basketball
Women's basketball began in 1892 at Smith College when Senda Berenson, a physical education
teacher, modified Naismith's rules for women. Shortly after she was hired at Smith, she went to
Naismith to learn more about the game. Fascinated by the new sport and the values it could teach, she
organized the first women's collegiate basketball game on March 21, 1893, when her Smith freshmen
and sophomores played against one another. However, the first women's interinstitutional game was
played in 1892 between the University of California and Miss Head's School. Berenson's rules were first
published in 1899, and two years later she became the editor of A. G. Spalding's first Women's
Basketball Guide.[28] Berenson's freshmen played the sophomore class in the first women's
intercollegiate basketball game at Smith College, March 21, 1893. The same year, Mount
Holyoke and Sophie Newcomb College (coached by Clara Gregory Baer) women began playing
basketball. By 1895, the game had spread to colleges across the country, including Wellesley, Vassar,
and Bryn Mawr. The first intercollegiate women's game was on April 4, 1896. Stanford women
played Berkeley, 9-on-9, ending in a 2–1 Stanford victory.
Women's basketball development was more structured than that for men in the early years. In 1905, the
Executive Committee on Basket Ball Rules (National Women's Basketball Committee) was created by
the American Physical Education Association.[31] These rules called for six to nine players per team and
11 officials. The International Women's Sports Federation (1924) Included a women's basketball
competition. 37 women's high school varsity basketball or state tournaments were held by 1925. And in
1926, the Amateur Athletic Union backed the first national women's basketball championship, complete
with men's rules. The Edmonton Grads, a touring Canadian women's team based in Edmonton, Alberta,
operated between 1915 and 1940. The Grads toured all over North America, and were exceptionally
successful. They posted a record of 522 wins and only 20 losses over that span, as they met any team
that wanted to challenge them, funding their tours from gate receipts. The Grads also shone on several
exhibition trips to Europe, and won four consecutive exhibition Olympics tournaments, in 1924, 1928,
1932, and 1936; however, women's basketball was not an official Olympic sport until 1976. The Grads'
players were unpaid, and had to remain single. The Grads' style focused on team play, without overly
emphasizing skills of individual players. The first women's AAU All-America team was chosen in 1929.
Women's industrial leagues sprang up throughout the United States, producing famous athletes,
including Babe Didrikson of the Golden Cyclones, and the All American Red Heads Team, which
competed against men's teams, using men's rules. By 1938, the women's national championship changed
from a three-court game to two-court game with six players per team.
 The NBA-backed Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) began in 1997. Though it had
shaky attendance figures, several marquee players (Lisa Leslie, Diana Taurasi, and Candace
Parker among others) have helped the league's popularity and level of competition. Other professional
women's basketball leagues in the United States, such as the American Basketball League (1996–98),
have folded in part because of the popularity of the WNBA. The WNBA has been looked at by many as
a niche league. However, the league has recently taken steps forward. In June 2007, the WNBA signed a
contract extension with ESPN. The new television deal ran from 2009 to 2016. Along with this deal,
came the first ever rights fees to be paid to a women's professional sports league. Over the eight years of
the contract, "millions and millions of dollars" were "dispersed to the league's teams." In a March 12,
2009 article, NBA commissioner David Stern said that in the bad economy, "the NBA is far less
profitable than the WNBA. We're losing a lot of money among a large number of teams. We're
budgeting the WNBA to break even this year. "
C. Equipments
The only essential equipment in a basketball game is the ball and the court: a flat, rectangular surface
with baskets at opposite ends. Competitive levels require the use of more equipment such as clocks,
score sheets, scoreboard(s), alternating possession arrows, and whistle-operated stop-clock systems.
A regulation basketball court in international games is 91.9 feet (28.0 meters) long and 49.2 feet (15
meters) wide. In the NBA and NCAA the court is 94 by 50 feet (29 by 15 meters). Most courts
have wood flooring, usually constructed from maple planks running in the same direction as the longer
court dimension. The name and logo of the home team is usually painted on or around the center circle.
The basket is a steel rim 18 inches (46 cm) diameter with an attached net affixed to a backboard that
measures 6 by 3.5 feet (1.8 by 1.1 meters) and one basket is at each end of the court. The white outlined
box on the backboard is 18 inches (46 cm) high and 2 feet (61 cm) wide. At almost all levels of
competition, the top of the rim is exactly 10 feet (3.05 meters) above the court and 4 feet (1.22 meters)
inside the baseline. While variation is possible in the dimensions of the court and backboard, it is
considered important for the basket to be of the correct height – a rim that is off by just a few inches can
have an adverse effect on shooting.
The size of the basketball is also regulated. For men, the official ball is 29.5 inches (75 cm) in
circumference (size 7, or a "295 ball") and weighs 22 oz (623.69 grams). If women are playing, the
official basketball size is 28.5 inches (72 cm) in circumference (size 6, or a "285 ball") with a weight of
20 oz (567 grams). In 3x3, a formalized version of the halfcourt 3-on-3 game, a dedicated ball with the
circumference of a size 6 ball but the weight of a size 7 ball is used in all competitions (men's, women's,
and mixed teams).
D. Positions
Although the rules do not specify any positions whatsoever, they have evolved as part of basketball.
During the early years of basketball's evolution, two guards, two forwards, and one center were used. In
more recent times specific positions evolved, but the current trend, advocated by many top coaches
including Mike Krzyzewski is towards positionless basketball, where big guys are free to shoot from
outside and dribble if their skill allows it. Popular descriptions of positions include:
Point guard (often called the "1") : usually the fastest player on the team, organizes the team's offense by
controlling the ball and making sure that it gets to the right player at the right time.
Shooting guard (the "2") : creates a high volume of shots on offense, mainly long-ranged; and guards the
opponent's best perimeter player on defense.
Small forward (the "3") : often primarily responsible for scoring points via cuts to the basket and dribble
penetration; on defense seeks rebounds and steals, but sometimes plays more actively.
Power forward (the "4"): plays offensively often with their back to the basket; on defense, plays under
the basket (in a zone defense) or against the opposing power forward (in man-to-man defense).
Center (the "5"): uses height and size to score (on offense), to protect the basket closely (on defense), or
to rebound.
The above descriptions are flexible. For most teams today, the shooting guard and small forward have
very similar responsibilities and are often called the wings, as do the power forward and center, who are
often called post players. While most teams describe two players as guards, two as forwards, and one as
a center, on some occasions teams choose to call them by different designations.
E. Types of Shooting
Shooting is the act of attempting to score points by throwing the ball through the basket, methods varying
with players and situations.
 Typically, a player faces the basket with both feet facing the basket. A player will rest the ball on the
fingertips of the dominant hand (the shooting arm) slightly above the head, with the other hand supporting
the side of the ball. The ball is usually shot by jumping (though not always) and extending the shooting arm.
The shooting arm, fully extended with the wrist fully bent, is held stationary for a moment following the
release of the ball, known as a follow-through. Players often try to put a steady backspin on the ball to
absorb its impact with the rim. The ideal trajectory of the shot is somewhat controversial, but generally a
proper arc is recommended. Players may shoot directly into the basket or may use the backboard to redirect
the ball into the basket.
The two most common shots that use the above described setup are the set shot and the jump shot. The set
shot is taken from a standing position, with neither foot leaving the floor, typically used for free throws, and in
other circumstances while the jump shot is taken in mid-air, the ball released near the top of the jump. This
provides much greater power and range, and it also allows the player to elevate over the defender. Failure
to release the ball before the feet return to the floor is considered a traveling violation.
Another common shot is called the lay-up. This shot requires the player to be in motion toward the basket,
and to "lay" the ball "up" and into the basket, typically off the backboard (the backboard-free, underhand
version is called a finger roll). The most crowd-pleasing and typically highest-percentage accuracy shot is
the slam dunk, in which the player jumps very high and throws the ball downward, through the basket while
touching it.
Another shot that is becoming common is the "circus shot". The circus shot is a low-percentage shot that is
flipped, heaved, scooped, or flung toward the hoop while the shooter is off-balance, airborne, falling down,
and/or facing away from the basket. A back-shot is a shot taken when the player is facing away from the
basket, and may be shot with the dominant hand, or both; but there is a very low chance that the shot will
be successful.
A shot that misses both the rim and the backboard completely is referred to as an air ball. A particularly bad
shot, or one that only hits the backboard, is jocularly called a brick. The hang time is the length of time a
player stays in the air after jumping, either to make a slam dunk, lay-up or jump shot.
F. Regulations
Games are played in four quarters of 10 (FIBA) or 12 minutes (NBA). College men's games use two 20-
minute halves, college women's games use 10-minute quarters, and most United States high school varsity
games use 8-minute quarters; however, this varies from state to state. 15 minutes are allowed for a half-
time break under FIBA, NBA, and NCAA rules and 10 minutes in United States high schools.
Overtime periods are five minutes in length except for high school, which is four minutes in length. Teams
exchange baskets for the second half. The time allowed is actual playing time; the clock is stopped while
the play is not active. Therefore, games generally take much longer to complete than the allotted game
time, typically about two hours.
Five players from each team may be on the court at one time. Substitutions are unlimited but can only be
done when play is stopped. Teams also have a coach, who oversees the development and strategies of the
team, and other team personnel such as assistant coaches, managers, statisticians, doctors and trainers.
For both men's and women's teams, a standard uniform consists of a pair of shorts and a jersey with a
clearly visible number, unique within the team, printed on both the front and back. Players wear high-
top sneakers that provide extra ankle support. Typically, team names, players' names and, outside of North
America, sponsors are printed on the uniforms.
A limited number of time-outs, clock stoppages requested by a coach (or sometimes mandated in the NBA)
for a short meeting with the players, are allowed. They generally last no longer than one minute (100
seconds in the NBA) unless, for televised games, a commercial break is needed.
The game is controlled by the officials consisting of the referee (referred to as crew chief in the NBA), one
or two umpires (referred to as referees in the NBA) and the table officials. For college, the NBA, and many
high schools, there are a total of three referees on the court. The table officials are substitutions,
team possession arrow, and the shot clock.