With March Madness coming to a close, basketball seemed the obvious choice for our next collegiette’s guide to sports basics. March Madness is an elimination tournament every year to decide the national champion of men’s college basketball. Basketball is one of the easier sports to understand, but I am still shocked by the lack of basic knowledge I’ve witnessed over the years, so here you have it collegiettes, the rules and regs of bball.
The Game
Basketball is pretty simple; two teams score points by throwing a ball into the opposing team’s basket. The team who scores the most points wins. The game is divided into four quarters, with the clock stopping every time play is stopped. Players can move the ball up and down the court by either dribbling it while they walk or run, or passing it to a teammate. You can’t just carry the ball down the court; this is called traveling and will result in the ball being handed over to the other team. Any other personal or technical fouls result in either a free shot for the opposing team, or a free pass. There are numerous technical and personal fouls, but the best way to explain it is just to watch for players being pushed around the courts, as extreme physical contact in basketball is illegal. Players must also not kick the ball, step outside the court boundaries or engage in double dribbling (when a player is dribbling, stops then tries to continue down the court), or else face a technical foul.
The Players
Each team has 12 players, but only five of those players are allowed on the court at any one time. Like most sports, players are divided into offensive and defensive positions, though if you’ve ever watched a basketball game you can see that pretty much everyone plays both parts.
Scoring
There is a semi-circle that surrounds the basket on each end of the court. Shots made from within this semi-circle are worth two points, while those taken from outside are worth three. Free throws, like I mentioned earlier, are taken from the free-throw line and are worth one point.
Now that you’ve got the game down, cheer on your favorite NCAA team this weekend. Vote for your pick on our Final Four poll here!