Basketball

A

Offense

Playing offense is perhaps the most prominent part of playing basketball, as it allows players to demonstrate and improve upon individual skills necessary to being successful. Many of basketball's best players have exceptional talents on offense. Basic offensive skills are passing, ball handling, shooting, and rebounding.

Passing the basketball is the fastest and often the most efficient way of advancing the ball up the court. A team that passes well will be able to take uncontested shots, to score easy baskets by moving the ball up the court quickly, and to prohibit the defense from initiating its own game plan. There are five types of passes: chest, in which the ball is thrown from chest height; bounce, in which the ball is bounced on the ground on its way to the teammate; overhead, in which the ball is thrown with both hands extended over the head; baseball-style, in which the ball is thrown like a baseball; and behind-the-back, in which the player throws the ball at waist height with one hand whipping the ball around the back. All of these passing styles are used during the course of a game.

Many of basketball's best players are also adept at ball handling. To be a good ball handler, a player must watch the action on the court, keeping the eyes straight ahead and not focused down on the floor. The player must also keep the ball low, protecting it from defenders and bouncing it no higher than the waist. Good ball handlers can use either hand to dribble effectively and can change directions quickly. There are five types of dribbling styles: speed, in which the ball is dribbled while the player is moving; crossover, in which the ball is bounced and crossed from one hand to the other in front of the body; behind-the-back, in which the ball is bounced and crossed behind the back; between-the-legs, in which the ball is bounced and crossed between the legs; and spin, in which the ball is bounced and crossed while the player spins away from the defender.

From the elementary school level to the professional leagues, shooting is the most important part of basketball. There are many types of shooting forms, the basic being the layup, the jump shot, the foul shot, and the hook shot. The layup is the easiest shot in basketball, taken right under the basket using either hand. Over the years, the dunk shot, a different style of layup in which the ball is slammed forcibly through the basket, has become one of basketball's most exciting shots. The jump shot is taken when the shooter leaps in the air and at the top of the jump releases the ball toward the basket. The foul shot is an uncontested shot taken from the free-throw line following a foul. A hook shot is taken when the shooter turns sideways to the basket, places his or her body between the ball and the defender, and releases the ball over his or her head in a high arc toward the basket.

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When a shooter misses a shot, the team that retrieves the ball has recovered a rebound. When a member of the offensive team recovers the rebound, the offensive team regains possession and the shot clock starts over. When the defensive team recovers the rebound, it then plays offense. Strength, natural instinct, and good positioning and timing are important to good rebounding.

Playing good offense requires strategic decisions. One style of offense is to use set patterns to get uncontested shots. The most important technique of a so-called slow-down offense is setting screens. This occurs when offensive players position themselves in a way that impedes the defenders' movement. The screen is often accompanied by the give-and-go, in which one player passes to a teammate and then moves across the court, usually toward the basket in a position to receive a return pass immediately. In comparison to the slow-down offense, a fast-break offense involves quick shots as the ball is either dribbled or passed up the court rapidly.

B

Defense

Defense is just as important to winning basketball games as offense. The goal of defense is simple: to stop the opposition from scoring. The more times a team stops an opponent from scoring, the more likely it is that a victory will be secured. The basic defensive technique involves guarding the opponent while keeping both feet at least shoulder-width apart, with one foot slightly ahead of the other and the knees bent. When defending, a player's weight should be placed on the balls of the feet to ensure quick movement in any direction.

General defensive positioning involves skilled movement. A defensive player should take short, quick shuffle steps when moving side-to-side. Crossing one foot over another is improper defensive technique. Defenders want to force opponents away from the basket and limit the ability to dribble the ball toward the basket. Good defenders use quickness to steal or intercept the ball and are cautious not to foul. One part of playing strong defense is blocking the opposition's attempted shot, because good shot-blocking teams make opponents hesitate about shooting. When defending an opponent who doesn't have the ball, the general rule is to stay between that player and the basket being defended. Good defenders also play team defense, working together and verbally communicating among themselves to ensure that the offense doesn't obtain an easy shot.

There are two types of basic defensive team play, man-to-man defense and zone defense. In man-to-man defense, each player guards a specific opponent, usually one that plays the same position, so that a guard defends a guard, a forward defends a forward, and so on. In a zone defense, each player guards a specific area of the court. The most widely used zone defense is called a 2-1-2 zone, in which the two guards cover the forefront of the defense, the center guards the middle portion of the court, and the two forwards defend the area nearest the basket. A good 2-1-2 zone defense makes it difficult to pass the ball from near the basket back outside, hampers teams from initiating a smooth offense, and is effective in slowing down a fast-break style of offense. Zone defense was once illegal in the National Basketball Association (NBA), but the league changed its rules in 2001 to allow it.

V

Amateur Competition

While basketball gains much of its popularity through spectators watching professional competition, the sport flourishes worldwide at amateur levels for both men and women. Most organized amateur play takes place at the high school and college level, where the season runs from November through March.

A

Organization of High School and College Play

High school basketball’s governing body is the National Federation of State High Schools (NFHS). The NFHS does not crown a national champion. Instead, high school teams compete to win their state championship, with each state having its own guidelines for determining titles. Most states have several state champions, each in a category determined by school size.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the most important organization governing major college competition. The NCAA is divided into three separate divisions, with the largest schools generally participating in Division I play. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) oversees competition for smaller four-year schools. The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) governs play for two-year and community colleges throughout the country. Under the jurisdiction of these national governing bodies are individual conferences and leagues. Well-known NCAA conferences include the Atlantic Coast and the Big East on the East Coast, the Big Ten in the Midwest, and the Pacific 10 in the West.

B

Collegiate National Championship

The NCAA, the NAIA, and the NJCAA all sponsor postseason national championship tournaments. The men’s and women’s Division I NCAA championship basketball tournaments are the most high profile of these. They are also two of the premier sporting events in the United States. Both tournaments are held over three weeks in March and early April, using the same format to determine a national champion. Each tournament involves 64 teams in a single-elimination competition, meaning that one loss knocks a team from the tournament.

The selection process for deciding which teams will participate in the tournament is complex. Teams are invited either as automatic qualifiers or through at-large bids. Automatic qualifiers gain a spot in the tourney field by winning their conference tournament at the end of the season, or if the conference does not hold a tournament, by posting the best conference record.

After the automatic qualifiers are determined, a special NCAA committee fills out the 64-team field by choosing teams using a number of factors. These include a team’s final record for that season, the strength of its schedule, and the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), which uses statistics to analyze each squad compared to other teams. Sometimes these choices can be controversial, sparking debate about which teams should or should not have been invited.

The 64 teams are placed into four regional tournaments: East, West, South, and Midwest in men’s play; East, Mideast, Midwest, and West in women’s play. The 16 teams assigned to each regional draw are a mix of colleges and universities from across the country. In each region they are seeded, or ranked, from 1 to 16 according to their strength and season schedule (with the 1 seed the strongest team). A seeded team assigned to a specific region should be on par with its corresponding seed in the other three regional draws. For example, a team given the 10 seed in the Midwest regional draw should be of equal strength to the 10 seed in the East regional draw.

In each region, the higher-ranked teams play the lower-ranked teams: the 1 seed plays the 16 seed, the 2 seed plays the 15 seed, and so on. Winning teams advance and continue to play until only one unbeaten team in each region remains. These teams then advance to the Final Four for the national semifinals and finals. There is no seeding in the Final Four. Instead, it is predetermined which two regional winners will meet in each semifinal game. The championship game pits the winners of these two games against each other. The team that triumphs is crowned the national champion.

Fan support is intense throughout the tournament, and visiting fans provide an economic windfall for the various cities hosting tournament games. Cities bid for the right to host games and the sites are chosen several years in advance to allow the cities time to prepare for the tournament. The tournament has produced a unique vocabulary over the years. The excitement generated is referred to as March Madness; teams that are thought to be potential (but not certain) entrants before the field is determined are said to be “on the bubble”; and the entire event is often called the Road to the Final Four or the Big Dance.

In the men’s tournament, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has won the championship 11 times, with John Wooden coaching UCLA to 10 of those victories. The University of Kentucky has won seven championships, while Indiana University and the University of North Carolina have each captured five. Other teams that have had a significant impact during the tournament’s history include the University of Kansas and Duke University.

The University of Tennessee and the University of Connecticut have dominated the women’s NCAA tournament. Coached by Pat Summitt, Tennessee has won eight titles since the women’s tournament began in 1982, including three consecutive titles from 1996 to 1998. The University of Connecticut, coached by Geno Auriemma, has won six national championships. In winning its sixth title in 2009, the Connecticut Huskies completed a perfect season without any losses, the third time it has accomplished this feat in the team’s history. Several other schools—the University of Southern California (USC), Stanford University, and Louisiana Tech University—have won two titles each.

Although the NCAA tournament is the most widely recognized of collegiate postseason tournaments, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is the oldest and was originally the most prestigious. The NIT was first held in 1938, with Temple University winning the championship. The NCAA held its first tourney a year later, with the University of Oregon capturing the title.

At first, college teams could compete in both the NIT and the NCAA tournament. Beginning in the 1950s, however, teams began participating in either the NIT or NCAA tournament, based on their season record, with the better teams generally accepting invitations to the NCAA tournament. This tendency became stronger over time, and now the NCAA tournament winner is regarded as the national collegiate basketball champion. The NIT, however, remains an important postseason activity for both men’s and women’s teams that do not qualify for the NCAA tournament. (The Women’s NIT began in the late 1990s.) The NIT now also holds important tournaments for men and women at the beginning of the college season. The City College of New York (CCNY) is the only school to win both the NIT and the NCAA tournament in the same season, accomplishing this feat in 1950. Shortly after this the rules were changed to make it impossible for a team to play both tournaments.

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