The Rules of Basketball-Jake

         For my last blog of this semester, I would like to focus on the rules of basketball for those of you do not know about the basketball. Many people think that the rule of basketball is really difficult. However, it is not difficult if you just read my blog post.

         The basketball rules have been changed over time. However, the important principles remain the same. The team that has the ball is the offense and the opposing team is the defense. The offense has to get the ball through the opposing team’s basket as much as possible and the defense has to stop them from getting the ball into their basket. The offense positions the players to take a shot, that is, throw the ball through the hoop. In the defense positions players block these shots. The dimensions of the basketball court and other equipment vary based on the level of play.

         There are 5 players each playing on the court. Though the team can have more than five players, only five of them are allowed on court at a time. Reserve players basketball can enter the game through a process called substitution.

         There are five positions on a traditional basketball team: point guard, shooting guard, power forward, small forward, and centre. Traditionally, home teams wear light colored jerseys with their mascot name, while the visiting teams wear dark colored jerseys displaying the name of the city or college.

         The ball can be thrown or passed in any direction, but once ball has crossed mid-court, it cannot be passed behind the mid-court line unless touched by a defensive player first. Defensive players can block a shot while it is on its upward path to the basket. A player must dribble or pass the ball and not run with it. The ball can be held in hands or the arms of the player.

         The player cannot use his body to hold the ball or to block the ball from getting to a player or going in the net. A player can be thrown out of a game for intent to injure. After five fouls in a quarter a team is in the penalty and the fouled team can shoot two free throws. A player cannot touch the rim when the ball has been shot and is on its way into the basket.

         If a player does not throw the ball within five seconds, the ball is turned over to the other team. A player who is in-bounds must pass, shoot or dribble within five seconds or he will lose possession of the ball. Separate timekeepers monitor the game clock and check substitute players into a game. A scorekeeper keeps the statistics of a game, such as the score, individual statistics and fouls. More importantly, Offense players can possess the ball within 24 seconds once they got a ball to offense. Basketball games are divided into 4 quarter and every quarter include 12 minute to play.

The duration between the first-second and third-fourth periods is about 130 seconds. The halftime break is 15 minutes between the two halves. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

If a game is tied, it goes into overtime, which continues until one team has more points at the end of a five-minute overtime period. The player foul limit is 6. The fifth foul per period is a bonus free throw. Five players, three defensive and two offensives are permitted on the free throw lane. There are 6 full and 120 second per half timeouts both in a televised and non-televised game

        This is much about the basketball game. Many of you will not have an interest on basketball. But I want to tell many of you that basketball is not just a game that we are just watching. It is something that we can learn the cultures all over the world. In my opinion, I honestly learned lots of cultures and made lots of friends through this basketball especially when I was in Singapore. I was in school basketball team and I learned something that I did not expect at all which is friend. I hope you can have more interest in basketball or any other sports to learn something new that you have never experienced in your life.