from each team on the court at one time. The players that are not on the court can sit on the bench; the maximum number of players on the bench differs by league. In international play, a maximum of 7 players are allowed on the bench, resulting in a roster of 12 players. The NBA has 13-player rosters; college and high school teams usually have 15-player rosters. When a player wants to substitute for another player on the court they let the score bench know. The referees will signal for the player waiting to come onto the court. The player that went into the game is now playing and the player that was playing is sitting on the bench.
Each team is allowed to have a coach and can have an assistant coach if they want. On the bench with the substitutes, a team is allowed to have up to five team followers, such as a manager, a doctor and an interpreter.
Playing Regulations[change | edit source]
A game of basketball is made up of four quarters, each ten (or in the National Basketball Association 12,) minutes long. At the start of every game the referee throws the basketball up in the air, and one player from each team tries to hit it to their teammates, that is called a "jump ball."
At the start of each quarter the team who has the possession arrow pointing towards their hoop gets the ball. Then the arrow is switched, and the next team gets the ball next quarter.
After four quarters, the team who scores the most points wins. If the two teams score the same number of points, there is a five-minute "overtime" to see who can score more points. "Overtime" can be played over and over until one team finally scores more points.
While playing the game, players on one team try to stop players on the other team from scoring. Each normal score is worth two points; however, if a player throws the ball into the hoop from behind the large arced line on the court, called the "3-point line," the score is worth three points.
If you do something illegal in the game, it is called a "foul." If you foul someone on the other team while he is shooting the basketball, the player who was fouled gets to shoot "free throws" from the "foul line". A free throw is a shot that no one is allowed to try to block. Each successful free throw is worth one point.
If you foul a player who is not shooting, the other team gets the ball, and can throw it "in bounds" from the "sideline." Players can do three things with the ball: "dribble" (bounce) the ball, "pass" the ball to a teammate, or "shoot" the ball at the hoop. The player with the ball tries to keep the ball and not let the other team get it.
Once a player commits five fouls, he is no longer allowed to play in the game, and player on the bench must go in the game immediately.
Officials[change | edit source]
In a game of basketball there are a number of people who are not from either team, that are there to help. They are called officials. Officials are very important because without them the game would not run as efficiently. Here is a list of some of these people:
- Umpire There are either one or two umpires in a game of basketball. It is the umpires' job to make the game more fair by enforcing the rules of the game. The umpires take into consideration the spirit and intent of the player before making any call. In the NBA and WNBA, the term "umpire" is not used; the person who has this role is called the referee.
- Referee The use of this term varies between rule sets.
- Under the rules of FIBA (the worldwide governing body for the sport), the NCAA (U.S. college basketball), and NFHS (U.S. high schools), there is one referee in a game of basketball. He is the "head" umpire. The referee has all the jobs of the umpires along with a couple more responsibilities. He is also the one that makes the final decision for most problems and is the one who throws the ball up for the tip off the start of the match.
- Time Keeper There is one timekeeper whose job is to keep track of the time and to tell the umpires when time for each quarter has run out. He is also in control of adding the scores onto the scoreboard.
- Sco