A brief out line of basketball is it is a game played with a pumped round ballbetween two teams of five players each on a rectangular court. In professionalor minor competition basketball is usually played indoors, but it does not needto be. Each team tries to score by shooting the ball through the other teamsgoal at each end of the court, above their heads. The goal is a round hoop andnet called a basket. The team scoring the most such throws, through field goalsor foul shots, wins the game.
Equipment used You do not need a lot of equipmentto play basketball all you need is a basketball, a court and one or twobasketball rings. The basketball court is in a shape of a rectangle ranging insize from about 29 m by 15 m to about 22 m by 13 m. At each end of the court isa backboard placed behind the ring, measuring usually about 2 m by 1 m, this isalso in a rectangular shape although in some collages in America it is more in ashape of this. Each normal rectangular backboard is about 2. 7 m (about 9 ft)above the court.
The baskets are attached firmly to the backboards about 3 m(about 10 ft) above the playing surface. Each basket is about 46 cm (about 18in) in diameter and consists of a round hoop, or metal ring, from which awide-meshed white net is hung. The regulation basketball is an inflated,leather- or nylon-covered sphere that weighs from 567 to 624 g (20 to 22 oz. )and has a circumference of about 76-cm (about 30 in). What is involved Aconventional basketball team, which is directed by a coach, is made up of twoforwards, two guards, and a center.
The two forwards are usually the better ofthe shooters and are really quick. In the jump they both stand between thecircle and the opponents basket. The two guards stand in the backcourt. Thecenter, usually the tallest player on the team who stands inside a circle thathas a radius of about 61 cm (about 24 in) and is located midway along a linepainted across the center of the court.
The game commences with the tip-off,when the referee tosses the ball into the air over the center circle, in whichthe opposing centers stand face to face. The centers then leap into the air andattempt, with their hands, to tap the ball to their teammates. The team thatgets the ball attempts to advance it toward the basket defended by the opposingside, in order to try for a field goal, or basket, scoring two or three points,depending on the player’s distance from the basket. A player may advance theball by passing it to a teammate or by bouncing (dribbling) it continually alongthe floor while running toward the basket. After a basket is scored, theopposing team puts the ball into play from behind its end line and in turn triesto move the ball upcourt to score. How is the game structured in the Olympics Inthe Olympics basketball the Officials consist of a referee, one or two umpires,one or two scorekeepers, and one or two timekeepers.
The referee is in charge ofthe game. The referee and umpires operate on the court to ensure that the gameis played by the rules. They both can call any foul or violation they seeanywhere on the court. Usually, one official operates near the offensive team’sbasket and the other near the division line. The officials reverse positionswhen the teams move to the other end of the court. If a second umpire is used,he or she stands near a sideline.
To call a violation or foul, the officialblows a whistle to stop play and the clock. The official explains the violationor foul, usually with a hand or arm signal, and enforces the penalty. The gamethen resumes. Because around the world basketball has little changes from onecountry to the other when the Olympics are played some one has to make thedecisions on how it is going to be played.
No matter how the rules are decidedit would not be much of a change from where ever the basketball players havecome from to make it difficult to play. In the Olympics the games is set out asone big knock out game to decide who plays in the finals to become number one inthe world. All the teams have to try not to get kicked out by loosing gameswhile trying to knock the other teams out of the competition. Which leaves thebasketball players with an enormous amount of pressure on them.
Basic Rules Thebasic rules to basketball are fouls, travelling, double dribbling, the threesecond violation, foot violation and finally out of bounds. To get a foul inbasketball you are usually hit or pushed in some way by the opposing side. Totravell in basketball you will either take to many steps before bouncing theball, or after bouncing and stopping you start to bounce the ball again. Todouble dribble you must jump in the air with the ball in your hands and landagain with out passing or shooting the ball.
Someone playing offence and stayingin the key for longer than three seconds or more causes the three-secondviolation. Foot violation in exactly what it sounds like, it is a violation madeby someone kicking the ball. Last but not least is going over the boundary linewith the ball. All of these things are not allowed in basketball and I shouldknow as I play in real competition.
For almost all off the rules the refereeshave made some kind of body signal to tell everyone what just happened with outyelling it so everyone can hear. Below you can see some of the following signsthe referees make. When it began in the Olympics The success of internationalbasketball was greatly advanced by Forrest C. Allen, a Naismith disciple and aformer coach at the University of Kansas, who led the movement for inclusion ofbasketball in the Olympic Games in 1936 and from then onwards.
Details of anyAustralians who has competed at the Olympics in this event One Australianbasketball player who has not only participated in one Olympics is Andrew Gaze. Andrew Gaze has played with the Melbourne Tigers for his whole carrier in theNational Basketball League the NBL. At one stage of his long and successfulcarrier he decided to up grade him self by competing in the National BasketballAssociation the NBA. This did not really work out for him so he came back toAustralia and continued playing with the Melbourne Tigers. To say the most Ithink a lot of his fans and also his team preferred it this way.
Andrew Gaze ismore of a offensive player as he is known for his pure shooting skills as hiswas voted best pure shooter in 1994 yet did not get a single vote for hisdefense. Changes that have occurred over time Changes in the Game. Soon afterNaismith invented basketball, changes were adopted to improve the sport. In1893, metal hoops with net bags attached replaced the wooden baskets.
Officialspulled a cord attached to the net to let the ball drop out. Baskets withbottomless nets came into general use about 1913. The backboard was introducedin 1894. That year, larger balls replaced soccer balls.
In 1932, the 10-secondrule was adopted. This rule stated that the offensive team must advance the ballacross the division line within 10 seconds or lose possession. Once the ballcrossed the line, the offensive team lost possession if a player took the ballback over the line. This rule eliminated wasting time with the ball in thebackcourt. Until 1937, a center jump was held after every field goal.
Beginningin 1937, the defensive team received the ball out-of-bounds after a field goal. In 1935, a rule was adopted that stopped any offensive player from standing inthe free throw lane for more than three seconds. In 1955, the foul lane waswidened to 12 feet (3. 7 meters) from the previous 6 feet (1. 83 meters). Thesechanges resulted in more offensive movement and less rough physical contact nearthe basket.
Early basketball had little scoring. Players basically used twoshots; the lay-up and a two-handed set shot. Hank Luisetti revolutionized thegame by popularizing a one-handed shot. Luisetti was a star for StanfordUniversity from 1935 to 1938. His one-handed shot could be released quicker thanthe two-handed shot and was more difficult to defend. The one-handed shot wasthe most popular shot in basketball until Joe Fulks popularized the jump shot.
The jump shot became the most popular shot in basketball and greatly increasedscoring. Any other interesting facts James Naismith, a Canadian, inventedbasketball in 1891. Naismith was a physical-education instructor at the Schoolfor Christian Workers (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts. Luther H.
Gulick, head of the school’s physical-education department, askedNaismith to create a team sport that could be played indoors during the winter. For his new game, Naismith decided to use a soccer ball because it was largeenough to catch easily. He then asked the building superintendent for two boxesto use as goals. The superintendent had no boxes but provided two peach baskets.
The baskets were attached to a gymnasium balcony railing 10 feet (3 meters)above the floor. The first game took place between members of Naismith’sphysical-education class in December 1891. Details of successful internationalcompetitors The most successful international competitors these days and for thelast so many years is the American basketball team and for the last threeOlympics known as the Dream Team. The American team is not only the best in theworld it also the most popular as it is known right round the world. The reasonfor winning basketball in the Olympic game is because of the great players likeMichael Jordan, Karl Malone, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, John Stockton, ScottiePippen, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, David Robinson and so many more whatdo you expect.
Another country that always does well in the Olympics isYugoslavia. Just the last Olympics they came second in the world loosing againstAmerica. Yugoslavia might have a little bit more experience then some othercountries lets say us, because players like Toni Kukoc have played for the NBAwith the Chicago Bulls for some of his carrier and been able to go no and havegreat success. If it weren’t for Americas team, Yugoslavia would be the bestteam in the world now until proven different. Details of any Olympic recordholders or current Gold medallists Unlike swimming or running basketball is nota sport that tries to break records, as its only objective is to win the finals.
The only true record holders could be America as they have won in the Olympicsin a row for the longest time ever. Longer then any other country has yetproven. To tell you the truth I don’t think any one will ever either.
