HISTORY

Basketball: Origin of the Sport

In 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.

BASIC SKILLS

Players advance the ball by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling) or by

passing it to a teammate, both of which require considerable skill. On offense, players may use
a variety of shots—the lay-up, the jump shot, or a dunk.

3 BASIC SKILLS

1. SHOOTING FUNDAMENTALS

This is the proper shooting mechanics:

 Square your shoulders to the basket

 place the fingers of your shooting hand under the ball
 tuck your elbow close to your body and balance the ball lightly with your non-shooting
hand
 Extend your shooting arm toward the hoop and flick your wrist to release the shot
 Shoot with your fingers and generate most of the power with your wrist, not your arm
 Follow through directly toward the target with your shooting hand. You’ll typically aim
for a spot above the middle of the rim.

Types of Shooting the Basketball

 Jump shot
  Set shot/Free Throw
 Lay up
 Post Shots
 Dunk

2. PASSING- A Basic Skill in Basketball that needs precision and accurate target of
moving the ball from one side to the other without even dribbling.

4 Basic Passes

Chest Pass
The chest pass is named so because the pass originates from the chest. It is thrown by
gripping the ball on the sides with the thumbs directly behind the ball. When the pass is
thrown, the fingers are rotated behind the ball and the thumbs are turned down. The
resulting follow through has the back of the hands facing one another with the thumbs
straight down. The ball should have a nice backspin.

When throwing a chest pass, the players should strive to throw it to the receiver's chest
level. Passes that go low to high or high to low are difficult to catch.

Bounce Pass
The bounce pass is thrown with the same motion however it is aimed at the floor. It
should be thrown far enough out that the ball bounces waist high to the receiver. Some
say try to throw it 3/4 of the way to the receiver, and that may be a good reference point
to start, but each player has to experiment how far to throw it so it bounces to the
receiver properly. Putting a proper and consistent backspin on the pass will make the
distance easier to judge.

Overhead Pass

The overhead pass is often used as an outlet pass. Bring the ball directly above your
forehead with both hands on the side of the ball and follow through. Aim for the
teammate's chin. Some coaches advise not bring the ball behind your head, because it can
get stolen and it takes a split-second longer to throw the pass.

Baseball Pass
A baseball pass is a one-handed pass that uses the same motion as a baseball throw. This
is often used to make long passes.
3. DRIBBLING - a essential skill in basketball that involves player movement and control in
handling the ball.
3 Basic Dribbling Skills

Crossover
If your defender is making a strong attempt to prevent you from going right or left, using a
crossover dribble can be effective. For example, if your defender is trying to prevent you
from going to your right, you would perform a crossover dribble to your left. To do so, flick
the ball across your body from your right hand to your left hand, while simultaneously
moving your right foot across your body to your left. It is important to keep your body low;
your dribble should be no higher than your knees. Accelerate past your defender by
pushing off with your left foot.

Between the Legs

The between the legs dribble is used to go past a defender who is overplaying you. If you
are going left, begin with rapid low dribbles with your right hand. Take a deep step
forward with your left foot and flick the ball through your legs to your left hand. Keep your
body low as you move forward to your left.

Behind the Back

If you want to change directions while keeping a good view of the entire court, a behind
the back dribble can be effective. If you want to move to your left, begin dribbling with
your right hand. To execute this dribble you need to place your hand on the side of the
ball. Step forward with your left foot while simultaneously wrapping the ball behind your
back, across the back of your thighs, and flick the ball toward your left hand. Be sure to
plant your right foot before stepping forward with your left foot.

STANCES

Offensive Stances

Triple Threat - A stance occurs when an offensive player squares up a defender. They must
be in an athletic position, meaning their knees are bent and their body is ready to move,
and the ball must be held on their right or left hip. The player can now decide what to do
including 3 options: Pass, Dribble & Shoot.

Defensive Stances
 A good defensive stance allows you to be ready to move in any direction, to contest shots,
and to have active hands, ready to steal the ball, tip passes or simply make the offense
work harder to do what they want to do.

The Fundamentals of a Defensive Stance

Footwork
• Both feet should be slightly wider than shoulder width apart
• With the entire foot on the ground, focus on shifting weight onto the front balls of each
foot
Lower Body Position
• Knees are bent and legs are flexed
Upper Body Position
• Upper body will be slightly forward and the back remains straight
• Shoulders remain square to the offensive player
Head and Eyes Position
• Head is up, centered in the stance and slightly over the feet
• Eyes are focused on the midsection or chest of the offensive player with the ball
Arm Position
• Arms are fully extended out to the side
Hand Position
• Hands remain up and out

Keeping the weight on the balls of the feet while the knees are bent and legs are flexed
puts the player in the best position to push off with the instep of one foot while striding
with the other. The outstretched arms take away passing angles and gives the player the
potential to deflect passes.

PLAYING COURT AND EQUIPMENT

Playing Court

The playing court shall have a flat, hard surface free from obstructions with dimensions of 28 m
in length by 15 m in width measured from the inner edge of the boundary line.
Backboard is a piece of basketball equipment. It is a raised vertical board with an attached
basket consisting of a net suspended from a hoop. It is made of a flat, rigid piece of, often
Plexiglas or tempered glass which also has the properties of safety glass when accidentally
shattered. It is usually rectangular as used in NBA, NCAA and international basketball. In
recreational environments, a backboard may be oval or a fan-shape, particularly in non-
professional games.

The top of the hoop is 10 feet (305 cm) above the ground. Regulation backboards are 72
inches (183 cm) wide by 42 inches (110 cm) tall. All basketball rims (hoops) are 18 inches
 (46 cm) in diameter. The inner rectangle on the backboard is 24 inches (61 cm) wide by 18
inches (46 cm) tall.

Ball
- size 7 for men's (29.5 to 30 inches of circumference)
- size 6 for women's (28.5 inches of circumference)

Traditional eight-panel basketball

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.

BASIC RULES

Basketball game

Basketball is played by 2 teams of 5 players each. The aim of each team is to score in the
opponents' basket and to prevent the other team from scoring.

Substitutions can be made as many times as they wish within the game.

Playing Time

The game shall consist of 4 quarters of 10 minutes each.

Each team has 24 seconds to at least shot at the basket. A shot constitutes either going in the
basket or hitting the rim of the basket. If after the shot is taken and the ball fails to go in the
basket, then the shot clock is restarted for another 24 seconds.

There shall be an interval of play of 20 minutes before the game is scheduled to begin.

There shall be the intervals of play of 2 minutes between the first and second quarter (first
half), between the third and fourth quarter (second half) and before each overtime.

If the game is tied at the End of Regulation, there shall be an overtime game with and 5
minutes extended time.

Fouls

A foul is an infraction of the rules concerning illegal personal contact with an opponent and/or
unsportsmanlike behavior.
 Any number of fouls may be called against a team. Irrespective of the penalty, each foul shall
be charged, entered on the score sheet against the offender and penalized according to these
rules.

Kinds of Fouls:

 Guarding a player who controls the ball or ON THE BALL

 Guarding a player who does not control the ball or OFF THE BALL
 player who is in the air
 Screening: Legal and illegal
 Charging
 Blocking
 Holding
 Pushing

Personal Foul

A personal foul is a player’s illegal contact with an opponent, whether the ball is
live or dead.
A player shall not hold, block, push, charge, trip or impede the progress of an opponent
by extending his hand, arm, elbow, shoulder, hip, leg, knee or foot, nor by bending his
body into an 'abnormal' position (outside his cylinder), nor shall he indulge in any rough
or violent play.

Penalty

A personal foul shall be charged against the offender. Another foul and the team as
well. 5 fouls only is the limit of the fouls otherwise there on the Penalty situation.

Technical foul

The proper conduct of the game demands the full and loyal cooperation of the players,
coaches, assistant coaches, substitutes, excluded players and accompanying delegation
members with the officials, table officials and commissioner, if present.

A technical foul is a player non-contact foul of a behavioral nature including, but not limited to:

• Disregarding warnings given by officials.

• Disrespectfully dealing and/or communicating with the officials, the commissioner, the table
officials, the opponents or persons permitted to sit on the team benches.

• Using language or gestures likely to offend or incite the spectators.

• Baiting and taunting an opponent.

• Obstructing the vision of an opponent by waving/placing his hand(s) near his eyes.

• Excessive swinging of elbows.

• Delaying the game by deliberately touching the ball after it passes through the basket or by
preventing a throw-in from being taken promptly.

• Fake being fouled.

• Hanging on the ring in such a way that the weight of the player is supported by the ring,
unless a player grasps the ring momentarily following a dunk shot or, in the judgment of an
official, is trying to prevent injury to himself or to another player.

• Goaltending during the last free throw by a defensive player. The offensive team shall be
awarded 1 point, followed by the technical foul penalty charged against the defensive player.

Unsportsmanlike foul

An unsportsmanlike foul is a player contact foul which, in the judgement of an official is:

• Not a legitimate attempt to directly play the ball within the spirit and intent of the rules.

• Excessive, hard contact caused by a player in an effort to play the ball or an opponent.

• An unnecessary contact caused by the defensive player in order to stop the pro-gress of the
offensive team in transition. This applies until the offensive player begins his act of shooting

Timeouts

A time-out is an interruption of the game requested by the coach or assistant coach

Each time-out shall last 1 minute.

A time-out may be granted during a time-out opportunity.

A time-out opportunity begins when:

• For both teams, the ball becomes dead, the game clock is stopped and the official has ended
his communication with the scorer's table.

• For both teams, the ball becomes dead following a successful last free throw.

• For the non-scoring team, a field goal is scored.

A time-out opportunity ends when the ball is at the disposal of a player for a throw-in or for a
first free throw.
Each team may be granted:

• 2 time-outs during the first half.

• 3 time-outs during the second half with a maximum of 2 of these time-outs when the game
clock shows 2:00 minutes or less in the fourth quarter.

• 1 time-out during each overtime

VIOLATIONS

A violation is an infraction of the rules.

Player out-of-bounds and ball out-of-bounds

Definition

A player is out-of-bounds when any part of his body is in contact with the floor, or any object
other than a player above, on or outside the boundary line.

The ball is out-of-bounds when it touches:

• A player or any other person who is out-of-bounds.

• The floor or any object above, on or outside the boundary line.

• The backboard supports, the back of the backboards or any object above the playing court.

Travelling

Travelling is the illegal movement of one foot or both feet beyond the limits outlined in this
article, in any direction, while holding a live ball on the playing court.

A pivot is the legal movement in which a player who is holding a live ball on the playing court
steps once or more than once in any direction with the same foot, while the other foot, called
the pivot foot, is kept at its point of contact with the floor.

3 seconds

A player shall not remain in the opponents' restricted area for more than 3 consecutive
seconds while his team is in control of a live ball in the frontcourt and the game clock is
running.

8 Seconds

Whenever:
• A player in the backcourt gains control of a live ball, or

• On a throw-in, the ball touches or is legally touched by any player in the back-court and the
team of that player taking the throw-in remains in control of the ball in its backcourt,

that team must cause the ball to go into its frontcourt within 8 seconds.

SCORING SYSTEM

There are three scoring numbers for basketball players. Any basket scored from outside
the three (3) point arc will result in three points being scored. Baskets scored within the
three point arc will result in two (2) points being scored. Successful free throws will result
in 1 point being scored per free throw. The number of free throws will depend on where
the foul was committed.

Winner of a game

The team that has scored the greater number of game points at the end of playing time shall be
the winner.

PLAYER POSITIONS AND FUNCTIONS

The five players on each side at a time fall into five positions player positions: the tallest player
is usually the CENTER, the tallest and strongest is the POWER FORWARD, a slightly shorter but
more agile big man is the SMALL FORWARD, and the shortest players or the best ball handlers
are the SHOOTING GUARD and the POINT GUARD, who implements the coach's game plan by
managing the execution of offensive and defensive plays (player positioning)