Essay on Basketball – A Sport of Agility and Endurance
Basketball is a sport of agility and endurance that develops by hand and eye co-ordination. Dr. James Naismith of Ontario, Canada invented the game in 1891. Basketball even overtakes baseball as the unofficial American pastime.
Though the basketball rules have been modified over time, the essential principles remain the same. The team that has the ball is the offence and the opposing team becomes the defence. The offence has to get the ball through the opposing team’s basket as much as possible and the defence has to stop them from doing so. That’s the basketball rule in a nutshell. The offence positions the players to take a shot, that is, throw the ball through the hoop. In the defence positions players block these shots. The dimensions of the basketball court and other equipment vary based on the level of play.
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An organised basketball game has two teams consisting of 5 players each. 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 coloured jerseys with their mascot name, while the visiting teams wear dark coloured jerseys displaying the name of the city or college.
The ball can be thrown or passed in any direction, but once die ball has crossed mid-court, it cannot be passed behind the mid-court line unless touched by a defensive player first. The ball can be batted away with one or both hands. 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 has to be held in die hands or the arms of the player.
The player cannot use his body to hold the ball or to obstruct 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 shoots two free throws. A player cannot touch the rim when the ball has been shot and is on its way into the basket.
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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.
Games that are tied as time expires go into a five- minute overtime period. 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.