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2torial #0543:
Learn2 Understand Basketball
(Continued)
 Follow the basic concepts
Basketball is a team game. Ten players, five
from each team, compete at the same time. Compete
for what? Most of basketball boils down to one
word: possession. The team that controls the ball
the best during the game will usually be the
winner.
- When a team is in possession of the ball,
it's called the offense. The offense
attempts to score points by tossing the ball
through the basket.
- The team without the ball is known as the
defense. The defense tries to prevent the
offense from scoring on the defense's basket.
- A successful shot (see
Keywords) tallies two or three points,
depending on how far the player was from the
basket. (A freethrow tallies one point,
but that's a special case--see Step 5
below.)
You'll also notice in basketball there are very
specific ways that a player can move the ball
around the court. Pay close attention to how a
basketball passes from one player to the next.
There are two general methods: passing and
dribbling.
- To pass the ball, a player simply
throws it to a teammate--either directly in the
air or by bouncing it off the floor
(usually once). The ball must be passed within
the boundaries of the court, however, otherwise
a violation is called--and often the
coordination of a courtside fan is tested.
- To dribble the basketball, you must
place one hand on top of the ball and repeatedly
bounce it off the floor. The two important
points with dribbling are 1) you can't dribble
with two hands, and 2) you can't hold the ball
and run with it for more than two steps. Note
that a player--when they receive a pass and when
they pick up their dribble--can take two steps
without dribbling. However, after they have
taken those steps, they must either shoot or
pass.
 Step
3
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