To attend a game:

A ticket

To watch a basketball game on TV:

A TV

A comfortable couch

Optional:

A TV remote control (for turning down the volume on loud, obnoxious basketball announcers)

The uniform of your favorite team (fashion tip: never, never wear a basketball jersey over a collared shirt)

A basketball by your side (if you can afford it, buy a leather ball--but don't bounce it on cement, or it will wear down the skin!)

Shot: a toss of the basketball (aimed at the basket) by a player on the offense, with the intention of scoring (putting the ball through the basket from above).

Rebound: the recovery, of a shot that didn't score.

Free throw line: a line that's painted 15 feet (4-1/2 meters) outwards from either basket. It runs parallel to the backboard and forms the top of the rectangular area known as the key.

Free throws: after a foul, the fouled player will step up to the freethrow line for two freethrows. (Each shot is worth one point.) Free throws are uncontested shots--the fouled player shoots without any defenders guarding them. The rest of the players line up on the side of the key and can only move after the shooter releases the shot.

Slam dunk: perhaps the most dynamic play in basketball. It occurs when a player jumps high enough to get one or both hands (depending on how they hold the ball) above the basket. Then they'll thrust the ball through the basket. Also known as a slam, a dunk, a jam, and a cram.

Fast break: a quick transition from offense to defense, usually after a steal or rebound. The offense usually has an extra player advantage (because the defense is caught by surprise), and as a result, the offense gets an unguarded shot.

Key: a 10- by 15-foot area (roughly 3 by 5 meters) painted on the court in front of both baskets. An offensive player can occupy that area only for a certain length of time, and then must move out of it. If the player remains beyond the certain length of time, the referee calls a penalty on that player. Also known as the paint, since it's an area painted on the floor.

Jump ball or Tip off: every game begins with a jump ball at mid-court (the center of the court), where two concentric circles are painted on the floor. One player from each team faces his opponent in the smaller of the two circles. These two players will often be tallest players on the court. The players who are not jumping must remain outside the perimeter of the larger circle until the ball is tossed in the air by a referee. When the referee tosses the ball in the air, the two players will leap as high as they can and try to tip the ball to a teammate.

The best way to understand and appreciate basketball is to watch it with hardcore fans. Watch a game with a friend who's knowledgeable, and ask them anytime you don't understand a player's movement or a referee's call. But be careful not to ask them too much: it's okay to be a bit confused.

2torial #0543: Learn2 Understand Basketball What's all the hoop-la? Basketball is one of the most spectacular, fast-paced sports on the planet. Probably the best thing about basketball is its broad appeal. Its basic rules are easy to learn for a novice spectator, yet the movements of the players are intricate and complex enough to satisfy a seasoned fan. While it's likely you won't receive a lucrative shoe contract from simply reading this 2torial, you will understand a little more about why millions of people get so excited about a bouncing ball and a small metal hoop. To prepare for the action, find out a little information on the teams that are competing. Learn the names of the teams and some key players, and then evaluate their colors and mascots. At that point, you can pick a team to support, cheering at every move they make, and (if you wish) screaming at the opposing team for no reason whatsoever: these are the steps most fans follow anyway. Many find yelling at people they've never met to be a good stress release. Whether the participants are professional or amateur, the game demands participation from the players as well as the fans. If you take your eyes off the action, you may miss a move, a shot, an improvisation that you'll never see again--or not until you see the TV replay 45 times. Grasp the history and primary objective In 1891, Dr. James Naismith invented the game of basketball and defined its primary goal--he nailed a vegetable basket (most people think it was a peach basket) to the wall of an indoor track and directed his students to "put the ball in the basket." And not too much has changed. Today, Dr. Naismith's vegetable basket has been replaced by a circular metal rim with a nylon net hanging from it. There are two of these in today's game, one placed on either end of a regulation-sized court. But the object of the game remains the same: "put the ball in the basket." Nowadays the game is played on regulation-sized court, with baskets at each end. Different shots are rewarded by one, two or three points. The team that gets the most points wins. 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. Observe the offense Basketball players do not move haphazardly. Coaches work long hours developing offensive systems and plays that put their players in position for a good shot, so the players can get the ball in the hoop as often as possible. One good way, coaches find, is to have really big players that can dunk the ball every time. But basketball is actually more intricate than that. To achieve offensive goals there are three main strategies: Good offense controls the movement of the ball on the court. "The team that controls the ball, controls the game" is one of the basic truths of the basketball court, one that coaches drill into their players.   Good offense finds a weakness in the defense--e.g. a slower defender who struggles to guard a faster offensive player. Such a weakness is found by the offense by moving the ball around the court and getting the shot with the highest-percentage of success.   Good offense controls the tempo of the game. They're sensitive to how they run an offensive play, i.e. the speed with which they execute offensive plays. The two extremes of tempo are slow and fast, and tempo is a part of any offensive play, whether a rebound from a team's own basket, or a shot on the opponent's basket. Some examples of tempo: Slow tempo: This involves walking the ball up the court from a team's own basket, followed by patient, careful passes--sometimes ten or fifteen before shooting on the opponent's basket. Even if there's a fast break opportunity (see Keywords), the players might choose to advance the ball in a slower, more controlled fashion--thus maintaining possession, and using up the time remaining in the game. (It's a good strategy if you're winning, but not if you're losing!) Timeouts are also used to stop the clock and slow down the tempo of the game.   Fast tempo: As soon as a team's players have possession of the ball, they sprint up the court, then shoot as soon as there is a good shot, and do this again and again. This is called a fast break (see Keywords) which creates some of the most exciting segments of a basketball game. Observe the defense The objective of the defense is to limit scoring. To achieve this end, it must force the offense to make an error which will result in a turnover--a change of possession--or a bad shot. To increase these possibilties, there are three main strategies: Good defense doesn't allow easy shots. The offensive player with the ball has a defender near them, with the defender's arms waving in their face.   Good defense doesn't allow easy passes. An offensive player who moves towards the basket will be shadowed by a defender, who places their body between the ball and the offensive player.   Good defense just reduces the options of the offense as much as possible. As with human beings in general, a frustrated offense will often make mistakes. The defense implements these strategies through the practice of coverage. When a defender stands near an opponent (zero to five feet (zero to two meters), depending on the situation), the opponent can't easily pass, shoot, or receive the ball--the opponent is covered. Defensive coverage is organized into two basic forms: player-to-player and zone. In a player-to-player defense, each defender guards an opposing player. The farther away the ball is from an opponent, or the father away the offensive ball carrier is from the basket, the looser the coverage is by the defender.   In a zone defense, each player guards an area on the floor. If the ball comes in a player's area, they guard the player with the ball. (In the NBA, zone defense is illegal.) Envision the violations Violations are penalties handed out by referees to teams and players who break the regulations of the game. They are of three basic types: fouls, movement violations, and time violations. The penalties for these violations range from a change of possession, to the award of freethrows (see Keywords), to a player's ejection from the game. There are two types of fouls: Personal fouls are the most common. Referees call fouls on those players who make illegal contact on the court. For instance, if an offensive player shoots the ball and a defender hits the shooter's arm as the ball is released, a referee blows a whistle and calls a foul on that defender. If a player accrues five or six fouls (depending on the level) before a game ends, they "foul out" and must leave the game immediately, for the duration of the game.   Technical fouls are most often called for a show of poor sportsmanship (such as a player kicking a cameraperson) or for breaking certain rules (such as a team playing six at one time). This results in one or two freethrows--in which the rest of the players do not line up on the line--and ensuing possession of the ball. Two technical fouls by one player or coach in one game results in ejection from that game. You make the call: other violations Whether watching the game live or on TV, one of the more satisfying and widespread practices of basketball fans is calling the game, also known as "playing referee." The fan announces uncalled fouls and protests the official referee's mistaken calls: this is possibly a result of a general human desire to influence the outcome of events. If you'd like to join in the fun, you have to know what to shout. Here's a list of the most common violations: Movement violations: Traveling: Traveling is called on a player who advances the ball more than two steps without dribbling it. Note: After a basket is made, the scored-on team's player doesn't have to dribble the ball out of bounds. They can simply collect the ball from the referee and run out of bounds.   Double-dribble: is called on an offensive player who dribbles the ball, picks it up with both hands, and dribbles it again.   Out-of-bounds: a violation in which a player steps outside the court boundaries with the ball, or the ball is passed off the court (sometimes into the face of an unsuspecting fan). Time violations: Shot clock: A clock (often located above the backboard and on the scoreboard) that serves to hasten the offense to shoot the ball, 24 seconds in pro and 35 seconds in college. The clock is reset if the offense rebounds its own shot, or with a change of possession.   Three seconds: Players on offense may stand in the key for three seconds. If they don't leave the key before the referee counts to three, the ball is awarded to the other team. Know the times and measures Basketball games are timed events that last approximately two hours. Each game is divided into two halves, and at the beginning of each half is a jump ball (see Keywords). A half-time period, usually about 15 minutes, divides the two halves. If the score is tied at the end of regulation play, the game will be extended to over-time. Basketball games can't end in a tie. A regulation basketball game involves the following elements: One basketball court: Professional courts measure 94 feet by 50 feet (28 meters by 15 meters). High school courts are about six feet shorter. Indoor courts are usually made of wood and outdoor courts are generally asphalt or cement.   One basketball: Basketballs are made from a variety of materials, most often rubber or leather.   Two baskets: A basket consists of a rim, a net, and a backboard, and one stands at each end of the court. The rim is bolted into the backboard 10 feet (3 meters) above the court. The modern basket goes by many names (a goal, a hoop, a bucket, and a hole--to name a few). Backboards are usually made of glass, wood, fiberglass, or metal.   Two or three referees: The referees-- distinguished by their black- and white-striped shirts--are responsible for upholding the rules of the game. For their hard work they usually get screamed at and abused by players, coaches, and fans... all game long.   Ten players: On each team there are (usually from shortest to tallest) two guards, two forwards, and one center. The same five players cover both defense and offense. -end- Learn More!