Play of the game

Court and equipment

The standard American basketball court is in the shape of a rectangle 50 feet (15.2 meters) by 94 feet (28.7 meters); high school courts may be slightly smaller. There are various markings on the court, including a center circle, free throw lanes, and a three-point line, that help regulate play. A goal, or basket, 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter is suspended from a backboard at each end of the court. The metal rim of the basket is 10 feet (3 meters) above the floor. In the professional game the backboard is a rectangle, 6 feet (1.8 meters) wide and 3.5 feet (1.1 meters) high, made of a transparent material, usually glass; it may be 4 feet (1.2 meters) high in college. The international court varies somewhat in size and markings. The spherical inflated ball used in men’s basketball measures 29.5 inches (76 cm) in circumference and weighs 22 ounces (624 grams); the women’s ball is 28.5 inches (72 cm) in circumference and weighs 20 ounces (567 grams). Its covering is leather or composition.

Rules

The rules governing play of the game are based on Naismith’s five principles requiring a large, light ball, handled with the hands; no running with the ball; no player being restricted from getting the ball when it is in play; no personal contact; and a horizontal, elevated goal. The rules are spelled out in specific detail by the governing bodies of the several branches of the sport and cover the playing court and equipment, officials, players, scoring and timing, fouls, violations, and other matters. The officials include a referee and two umpires in college play (two referees and a crew chief in NBA play), two timers, and two scorekeepers. One player on each team acts as captain and speaks for the team on all matters involving the officials, such as interpretation of rules. Professional, international, and high school games are divided into four periods, college games into two.

Since the 1895–96 season, a field goal has scored two points and a free throw one point. When the ABA was founded in 1967, it allowed three points for shots made from outside a boundary line set 25 feet (7.6 meters) from the basket. With varying distances, the change was adopted officially by the NBA in 1979 and, in 1985, by colleges.

Basketball is a rough sport, although it is officially a noncontact game. Players may pass or bounce (dribble) the ball to a position whereby they or a teammate may try for a basket. A foul is committed whenever a player makes such contact with an opponent as to put the opponent at a disadvantage; for the 2001–02 season the NBA approved a rule change that eliminated touch fouls, meaning brief contact initiated by a defensive player is allowable if it does not impede the progress of the offensive player. If a player is fouled while shooting and the shot is good, the basket counts and he or she is awarded one free throw (an unhindered throw for a goal from behind the free throw, or foul, line, which is 15 feet [4.6 meters] from the backboard); if the shot misses, he or she gets a second free throw. If a foul is committed against a player who is not shooting, then that player’s team is awarded either the possession of the ball or a free throw if the other team is in a penalty situation. A team is in a penalty situation when it has been called for a set number of fouls in one period (five in one quarter in professional and international play and seven in one half in the college game). In college basketball, penalty free throws are “one-and-one” in nature (consisting of one free throw that, if made, is followed by a second) until the opposing team commits a 10th foul in a half, creating a “double bonus” situation where all fouls automatically result in two free throws. A pair of penalty free throws are immediately earned when teams enter the penalty situation in both the NBA and international play. Infractions such as unsportsmanlike conduct or grasping the rim are technical fouls, which award to the opposition a free throw and possession of the ball. Overly violent fouls are called flagrant fouls and also result in free throws and possession for the opposition. Players are allowed a set number of personal fouls per game (six in the NBA, five in most other competitions) and are removed from the game when the foul limit is reached.

Other common infractions occur when a player (with the ball) takes an excessive number of steps or slides; fails to advance the ball within five seconds while being “closely guarded”; causes the ball to go out-of-bounds; steps over the foul line while shooting a free throw; steps over the end line or sideline while tossing the ball in to a teammate, or fails to pass the ball in within five seconds; runs with, kicks, or strikes the ball with a fist; dribbles a second time after having once concluded dribbling (double dribble); remains more than three seconds in the free throw lane while the player or the player’s team has the ball; causes the ball to go into the backcourt; retains the ball in the backcourt more than 10 seconds, changed in the NBA to 8 seconds for 2001–02; or fails to shoot within the time allotted by the shot clock (24 seconds in the NBA, the WNBA, and international play; 30 in women’s college basketball; and 35 in men’s college basketball). The penalty is loss of the ball—opponents throw the ball in from the side.

Common terms used in basketball include the following:

• Blocking

  • Any illegal personal contact that impedes the progress of an opponent who does not have the ball.

• Dribble

  • Ball movement by bouncing the ball. A dribble ends when a player touches the ball with both hands simultaneously or does not continue dribbling.

• Held ball

  • Called when two opponents have one or two hands so firmly upon the ball that neither can gain possession without undue roughness. It also is called when a player in the frontcourt is so closely guarded that the player cannot pass or try for a goal or is obviously withholding the ball from play.

• Jump ball

  • A method of putting the ball into play. The referee tosses the ball up between two opponents who try to tap it to a teammate. The jump ball is used to begin games and, in the professional game, when the ball is possessed by two opposing players at the same time.

• Pass

  • Throwing, batting, or rolling the ball to another player. The main types are (1) the chest pass, in which the ball is released from a position in front of the chest, (2) the bounce pass, in which the ball is bounced on the floor to get it past a defensive opponent, (3) the roll pass on the floor, (4) the hook pass (side or overhead), and (5) the baseball pass, in which the ball is thrown a longer distance with one hand in a manner similar to a baseball throw.

• Pivot

  • A movement in which a player with the ball steps once or more in any direction with the same foot while the other foot (pivot foot) is kept at its point of contact with the floor.

• Pivot player

  • Another term for center; also called a post player. A pivot player may begin the offensive set from a position just above the free throw line.

• Rebounding

  • Both teams attempting to gain possession of the ball after any try for a basket that is unsuccessful, but the ball does not go out-of-bounds and remains in play.

• Screen, or pick

  • Legal action of a player who, without causing more than incidental contact, delays or prevents an opponent from reaching the opponent’s desired position.

• Shots from the field

  • One of the main field shots is the layup, in which the shooter, while close to the basket, jumps and lays the ball against the backboard so it will rebound into the basket or just lays it over the rim. Away from the basket, players use a one-hand push shot from a stride, jump, or standing position and a hook shot, which is overhead. Some players can dunk or slam-dunk the ball, jamming the ball down into the basket.

• Traveling (walking with the ball)

  • Progressing in any direction in excess of the prescribed limits, normally two steps, while holding the ball.

• Turnover

  • Loss of possession of the ball by a team through error or a rule violation.

Principles of play

Each team of five players consists of two forwards, two guards, and a center, usually the tallest player on the team. At the beginning of the first period of a game, the ball is put into play by a jump ball at center court; i.e., the referee tosses the ball up between the opposing centers, higher than either can jump, and when it descends they try to tap it to one of their teammates, who must remain outside the center circle until the ball is tapped. Subsequent periods of professional and college games begin with a throw in from out-of-bounds. Jump balls are also signaled by the officials when opposing players share possession of the ball (held ball) or simultaneously cause it to go out-of-bounds. In U.S. college games the alternate-possession rule is invoked in jump ball situations, with teams taking turns getting possession. After each successful basket (field goal) the ball is put back in play by the team that is scored on, by one player passing the ball in from behind the end line where the score was made. The ball is put in play in the same manner after a successful free throw or, if two have been awarded, after the second if it is successful. After nonshooting violations the ball is awarded to the opposing team to be passed inbounds from a point designated by an official.

A player who takes possession of the ball must pass or shoot before taking two steps or must start dribbling before taking a second step. When the dribble stops, the player must stop moving and pass or shoot the ball. The ball may be tapped or batted with the hands, passed, bounced, or rolled in any direction.

As basketball has progressed, various coaches and players have devised intricate plays and offensive maneuvers. Some systems emphasize speed, deft ball handling, and high scoring; others stress ball control, slower patterned movement, and lower scoring. A strategy based on speed is called the fast break. When fast-break players recover possession of the ball in their backcourt, as by getting the rebound from an opponent’s missed shot, they race upcourt using a combination of speed and passing and try to make a field goal before the opponents have time to set up a defense.

Some teams, either following an overall game plan or as an alternative when they do not have the opportunity for a fast break, employ a more deliberate style of offense. The guards carefully bring the ball down the court toward the basket and maintain possession of the ball in the frontcourt by passing and dribbling and by screening opponents in an effort to set up a play that will free a player for an open shot. Set patterns of offense generally use one or two pivot, or post, players who play near the free throw area at the low post positions (within a few feet of the basket) or at high post positions (near the free throw line). The pivot players are usually the taller players on the team and are in position to receive passes, pass to teammates, shoot, screen for teammates, and tip in or rebound (recover) missed shots. All the players on the team are constantly on the move, executing the patterns designed to give one player a favorable shot—and at the same time place one or more teammates in a good position to tip in or rebound if that player misses.

Systems of defense also have developed over the years. One of the major strategies is known as man-to-man. In this system each player guards a specific opponent, except when “switching” with a teammate when that teammate is screened or in order to guard another player in a more threatening scoring position. Another major strategy is the zone, or five-man, defense. In this system each player has a specific area to guard irrespective of which opponent plays in that area. The zone is designed to keep the offense from driving in to the basket and to force the offense into taking long shots.

A great many variations and combinations have been devised to employ the several aspects of both man-to-man and zone defensive strategies. The press, which can be either man-to-man or zone, is used by a team to guard its opponent so thoroughly that the opposition is forced to hurry its movements and especially to commit errors that result in turnovers. A full-court press applies this pressure defense from the moment the opposition takes possession of the ball at one end of the court. Well-coached teams are able to modify both their offensive and defensive strategies according to the shifting circumstances of the game and in response to their opponents’ particular strengths and weaknesses and styles of play.