Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one or more one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.
Charles Wade Barkley is an American former professional basketball player who is an analyst on Inside the NBA. Nicknamed "Chuck", "Sir Charles" and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominant power forwards. An All-American power forward at Auburn University, he was drafted as a junior by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 5th pick of the 1984 NBA draft.
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon, formerly Akeem Olajuwon, is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. Listed at 7 feet 0 inches (213 cm), Olajuwon is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He was nicknamed "the Dream" during his basketball career after he dunked so effortlessly that his college coach said it "looked like a dream." From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets and the Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 2016, he was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.
Christopher Wesson Bosh is an American former professional basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, Bosh played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech before declaring for the 2003 NBA draft. He was selected fourth overall by the Toronto Raptors.
The center (C), also known as the five, or the big man, is one of the five positions in a basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well. In the NBA, the center is usually 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 m) or taller. They traditionally have played close to the basket in the low post.
Whirlyball is a team sport that combines elements of basketball and jai alai with players riding Whirlybugs, small electric vehicles similar to bumper cars. Because play requires a special court, it is played in only a handful of locations in the United States and Canada.
A shot clock is used in basketball to quicken the pace of the game. The shot clock times a play and provides that a team on offense that does not promptly try to score points loses possession of the ball. It is distinct from the game clock, which times the entire game. The shot clock may be referred to by its initial value. For example, in the National Basketball Association (NBA), it may be called the "24-second clock".
In basketball, a block or blocked shot occurs when a defensive player legally deflects a field goal attempt from an offensive player to prevent a score. The defender is not allowed to make contact with the offensive player's hand or a foul is called. In order to be legal, the block must occur while the shot is traveling upward or at its apex. A deflected field goal that is made does not count as a blocked shot and simply counts as a successful field goal attempt for shooter plus the points awarded to the shooting team. For the shooter, a blocked shot is counted as a missed field goal attempt. Also, on a shooting foul, a blocked shot cannot be awarded or counted, even if the player who deflected the field goal attempt is different from the player who committed the foul. If the ball is heading downward when the defender hits it, it is ruled as goaltending and counts as a made basket. Goaltending is also called if the block is made after the ball bounces on the backboard.
There are five positions in basketball. These positions are employed by all organized/unorganized basketball teams. They are defined as the point guard (PG), the shooting guard (SG), the forward (F), the power forward (PF), and the center (C).
Arch Rivals is a basketball arcade game released by Midway in 1989. Billed by Midway as "A Basket Brawl", the game features two-on-two full court basketball games in which players are encouraged to punch opposing players and steal the ball from them.
Basketball moves are generally individual actions used by players in basketball to pass by defenders to gain access to the basket or to get a clean pass to a teammate to score a two pointer or three pointer.
Double Dribble, known in Japan as Exciting Basket, is a basketball arcade game developed and released in 1986 by Konami. It was the second basketball arcade game by Konami, following Super Basketball. Much of the game's popularity came from its animation sequences showing basketball players performing slam dunks, as well as "The Star-Spangled Banner" theme during attract mode, which was the first arcade game to feature the national anthem. These were uncommon in video games at the time of Double Dribble's release. While successful in the arcades, the game became and remained popular and remembered when it was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987.
Fast break is an offensive strategy in basketball and handball. In a fast break, a team attempts to move the ball up court and into scoring position as quickly as possible, so that the defense is outnumbered and does not have time to set up. The various styles of the fast break–derivative of the original created by Frank Keaney–are seen as the best method of providing action and quick scores. A fast break may result from cherry picking.
In basketball, a rebound, sometimes colloquially referred to as a board, is a statistic awarded to a player who retrieves the ball after a missed field goal or free throw.
This glossary of basketball terms is a list of definitions of terms used in the game of basketball. Like any other major sport, basketball features its own extensive vocabulary of unique words and phrases used by players, coaches, sports journalists, commentators, and fans.
Variations of basketball are games or activities based on, or similar in origin to, the game of basketball, in which the player utilizes common basketball skills. Some are essentially identical to basketball, with only minor rules changes, while others are more distant and arguably not simple variations but distinct games. Other variations include children's games, contests or activities intended to help the player practice or reinforce skills, which may or may not have a competitive aspect. Most of the variations are played in informal settings, without the presence of referees or other officials and sometimes without strict adherence to official game rules.
In basketball, small ball is a style of play that sacrifices height, physical strength and low post offense/defense in favor of a lineup of smaller players for speed, agility and increased scoring. It is closely tied to the concepts of pace and space, which pushes the speed of the offense and spreads out the defense with extra shooters on the court. Many small ball lineups feature a non-traditional center who offers skills that are not normally found from players at that position. Teams often move a physically dominant player who would typically play the small forward position into the power forward position. Examples of players who have been used in this role include Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and LeBron James. That individual would play alongside either a traditional power forward, or alongside a center.
In basketball, a stretch four (sometimes called a stretch big) is a player at the power forward position that can generate offense farther from the basket than a conventional power forward. "Stretch" describes the effect such a player has on the opposition defense, and the power forward position is also known as the "four"; hence "stretch four". The stretch four is a fairly recent innovation in the NBA, but is still becoming increasingly common in today's game, as many NBA coaches now use the "small-ball" line-up/tactical play.
Basketball is a ball game and team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules. Since being developed by James Naismith as a non-contact game that almost anyone can play, basketball has undergone many different rule variations, eventually evolving into the NBA-style game known today. Basketball is one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the world.
Player tracking refers to technologies used to track players and the ball in various sports. The National Basketball Association (NBA) first tracked all games at the start of the 2013-14 NBA season. Second Spectrum is the current Official Optical Tracking Provider of the NBA and began league-wide tracking in the 2017-18 NBA season, replacing STATS SportVU which previously held the league-wide contract.
