BASKETBALL

Rules and Regulations

The rules of basketball can vary slightly depending on the level of play (for example professional
rules differ from college rules) or where the game is played (international rules are different from
USA professional rules). These rule differences, however, are usually just variations on the
basic game of basketball and the majority of the rules discussed below can be applied to most
any game of basketball played.

The winner of a basketball game is the team with the most points. You get points by throwing
the basketball through the opponent's hoop or basket. In regular play a basket made from within
the three point line is worth 2 points and a basket shot from outside the three point line is worth
three points. When shooting a free throw, each free throw is worth 1 point.

Rules for the offense

The basketball team on offense is the team with the basketball. When a player has the
basketball there are certain rules they must follow:

1) The player must bounce, or dribble, the ball with one hand while moving both feet. If, at any
time, both hands touch the ball or the player stops dribbling, the player must only move one
foot. The foot that is stationary is called the pivot foot.

2) The basketball player can only take one turn at dribbling. In other words, once a player has
stopped dribbling they cannot start another dribble. A player who starts dribbling again is called
for a double-dribbling violation and looses the basketball to the other team. A player can only
start another dribble after another player from either team touches or gains control of the
basketball. This is usually after a shot or pass.

3) The ball must stay in bounds. If the offensive team looses the ball out of bounds the other
team gets control of the basketball.

4) The players hand must be on top of the ball while dribbling. If they touch the bottom of the
basketball while dribbling and continue to dribble this is called carrying the ball and the player
will lose the ball to the other team.

5) Once the offensive team crosses half court, they may not go back into the backcourt. This is
called a backcourt violation. If the defensive team knocks the ball into the backcourt, then the
offensive team can recover the ball legally.

Defensive Rules

The team on defense is the team without the basketball.

1) The main rule for the defensive player is not to foul. A foul is described as gaining an unfair
advantage through physical contact. There is some interpretation that has to be made by the
referee, but, in general, the defensive player may not touch the offensive player in a way that
causes the offensive player to lose the ball or miss a shot.

Rules for everyone

1) Although the foul rule is described above as a defensive rule, it applies exactly the same to
all players on the court including offensive players.

2) Basketball players cannot kick the ball or hit it with their fist.

3) No player can touch the basketball while it is traveling downward towards the basket or if it is
on the rim. This is called goaltending. (touching the ball on the rim is legal in some games).

Every player on the court is subject to the same rules regardless of the position they play. The
positions in basketball are just for team basketball strategy and there are no positions in the
rules.

Basketball Court

How long is a basketball game?

Basketball games are played a set amount of time. It's different for different leagues and levels
of play:
  High School - High school basketball games are made up of four 8-minute quarters or
two 16-minute halves.
 College - NCAA college basketball games consists of two 20 minute halves. This is the
same for the WNBA and international games.
 NBA - NBA games are made up of four 12-minute quarters.

When does the clock run?

The clock runs whenever the ball is in play. The clock is stopped whenever the ball goes out of
bounds, a foul is called, free throws are being shot, and during time outs. When the ball is
inbound, the clock starts once a player touches the ball.

In the NBA the clock stops after a made shot during the last two minutes of the game and
overtime. For college it stops during the last minute of the game and overtime.

Overtime

If the game is tied after regulation time, there will be overtime. Overtime is 5 minutes long in
most leagues. Additional overtimes will be added until one team ends up on top.

The Shot Clock

In order to speed up the game and to prevent teams from stalling, a shot clock was added. This
is how long you have to shoot the ball. If the ball changes possession or hits the rim of the
basket, the shot clock starts over. The length of the shot clock is different for different basketball
leagues:

 NCAA College Men - 35 seconds

 NCAA College Women - 30 seconds
 NBA - 24 seconds

Not all states have a shot clock for high school. Where they do, it generally follows the NCAA
rules.

Time outs

30 second time out signal

In order to give your team some rest, call a play, or just stop the game for a while, teams can
call a time out. There are different rules on time outs for different leagues:

High School - Players on the floor or the coach can call a time out. There are five time outs per
game including three 60-second time outs and two 30-second time outs.

NCAA College - There are a different number of time outs depending on whether the game is
on TV or not. This is because during a TV game there are media time outs so the TV channel
can show ads. For a TV game each team gets one 60-second time out and four 30-second time
outs. For a non-TV game each team has four 75-second and two 30-second time outs.

NBA - In the NBA each basketball team has six full time outs and one 20-second time out per
half. Only a player in the game can call a time out.

HISTORY OF BASKETBALL

Basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts. The year

was 1891, and as the story goes, Naismith was asked to come up with an indoor game
that offered fewer injuries than classic American gridiron football. He came up with a 9-
on-9 game that involved shooting a ball into a peach basket.Under those first rules, a
single point was scored for a made basket. The first game would have a final score of 1-
0.The game of basketball grew very rapidly, with college teams forming leagues within
the first decade of the game’s invention. Naismith himself would become a college
coach for the game, joining the University of Kansas in 1898. He would amass a
win/loss record of 55-60.2

OFFICIATING OFFICIALS

Referees

Referees are the main officials of the game. They are the ones who are actually
responsible for enforcing rules and regulations and calling fouls and violations. The
number of referees officiating a game depends on the level of play. In NBA, a crew chief
and two referees are assigned to conduct a game and there official uniform is gray shirt
and black pant. In international basketball  or NCAA game, it can be either one referee
and one umpire or one referee and two umpires officiate a game. They wear typical
black and white stripped shirts and black pants.

Lead Referee
Lead referee (also known as crew chief in NBA) is the in charge of the game. Normally,
all two or three referees are independent in terms of making their decisions but in case
of a dispute, it’s the lead referee whose verdict is considered final.

Scorers

Scorer play supportive role in the game of the basketball. There can be one or two
scorers in a game depending on the rules of the league and their job is to write down
the stats relevant to the game. They keep a running summary of points scored, notify
field goals and free throws made and missed. They also record the fouls called on each
player and informs a referee if sixth fouls is called against a player (to eject him from
game). Also notes the timeouts and let the referee knows if all timeouts have been used
up by a team.

Timers

Timer assists referee in recording time. Generally, two timers are appointed by the
league. One is official timer who operates the game clock and the other is shot clock
operator who operates 24 second clock. Official timer alerts referee when each half is
going to start and stops the clock when any kind of interruption occurs during a game
(fouls, out of bounds, timeouts etc) while shot clock timer informs referee when a player
takes 24 or more seconds to shoot a ball (keeping the ball in possession for 24 seconds
or more is a violation).