O Basketball, or simply basketball, is a team sport practiced between two teams. It is played with a ball, where the objective is to insert it into the fixed basket that is located at the ends of the court.
Basketball is currently one of the most popular Olympic games in the world. In schools, it is one of the most played sports in physical education classes.
Did you know?
The term "Basketball” comes from the English language, where “basket” means “basket” and “ball", ball. So in English it's basketball.
Origin and History
Basketball was created in 1891 by Canadian Physical Education teacher James Naismith (1861-1940).
At the time, he was working at the Young Men's Christian Association of Springfield, Massachusetts, in the United States.
The sport emerged as an alternative to the harsh winter in the region, to the detriment of others practiced outdoors such as baseball and football.
Furthermore, the original idea was to create a sport less violent than football. Allied to this, the creator teacher intended to integrate students into physical education classes and encourage collective groups.
The first official basketball game was played in 1892, and had an audience of approximately 200 people. That same year, women began to practice this modality. The first female match took place in 1896.
The female modality was introduced by the physical education teacher Senda Berenson (1868-1954). It was also in 1896 that the sport arrived in Brazil, brought by the American Augusto Louis.
It is interesting to note that in the beginning the sport was practiced with a ball similar to a soccer ball. It wasn't until 1984 that the basketball, as we know it today, was developed by a Massachusetts company.
Only later did basketball figure in the Olympics. The first Olympic basketball game took place at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
This moment represented a great achievement for the spread of the sport around the world. Today, around 200 countries are affiliated with FIBA, the International Basketball Federation.
This organization was founded in 1932 and is responsible for organizing basketball-related events worldwide. Its headquarters are currently located in Geneva, Switzerland.
See too: The Complete History of Basketball.
Basketball Rules
Basketball aims to insert the ball into the basket corresponding to your team. Therefore, there are two baskets at each end of the court at 3.05 meters off the ground. The place where the basket is is called table.
The team with the most points wins. Note that the points vary depending on the shot location. That is, for free throw, one point is added, otherwise, two points are added to the scoreboard.
There are also points scored when players are close to the three-line. As the name implies, in this case, three points are counted.
The game is divided into 4 periods, with 10 minutes each. It is based on hits, ball passes and defensive and attacking positions.
Ball passes can be: hand pass, chest pass, chopped (or bounced) pass, shoulder pass and over the head pass.
The most used pitches are the tray and the jump. So-called "bumps" occur by jumping and placing the ball in the basket.
Note that players cannot take more than two steps with the ball in their hands. Before that, he must pass it on to his teammate.
See too: Basketball Rules (Updated).
absences
In a basketball game a player cannot make more than 5 fouls. If that happens, he's out of the game. Fouls can be committed when there are:
- illegal contact between players;
- aggressions between players;
- unsportsmanlike behavior.
players
Basketball is played between two teams of 5 players each. They are classified into owners (base), ends and posts (pivots).
This will depend on your position and goals in game development. Point guards are located in the center of the court and are therefore the "head" of the team.
The extremes, as the name implies, are those that are close to the lateral lines. The pivots are responsible for most of the shots from the ball to the basket.
Generally, the posts are the biggest and most agile players on the team. They are also the ones who rebound the balls, that is, recover the ball after the throw.
Block
Basketball can be played indoors or even outdoors. Dimensions are 28 meters long by 15 meters wide. At least it is 26 meters long and 14 meters wide.
The basketball court has several lines and markings:
- sidelines: delimit the game space.
- Boundary Lines: they also delimit the game space, however, they are located behind the baskets.
- Central Line: Located right in the middle of the court, it divides the total space into two equal ones.
- central circle: Above the center line is a circle drawn right in the middle of the court that is about 3.6 meters in diameter.
- 3-point line: circular line located 6.75 meters from each basket. It gets its name, as the bids from this location are worth 3 points.
- Free Throw Line: located closer to the basket and facing the players throw the ball.
Curiosities about Basketball
- The United States is one of the biggest highlights in world basketball. Some of the best American players are: Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, LeBron James, Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
- In the US NBA Championship, time is also divided into 4 periods, however each is 12 minutes instead of 10.
- In Brazil, the best known basketball players are: Oscar Schmidt, Hortência, Paula and Janeth.
- In the beginning, the basketball hoop was not punctured. That is, each time the ball entered the basket, someone had to take it out with the help of a ladder.
- The highest score in basketball history occurred in 1983 between teams: Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons. The score reached 370 points (186 to 184) with a victory for the Detroit Pistons.
- Mats Wermelin, a 13-year-old Swede, entered the Guinness Book, as in 1974 he scored the highest number of individual points. In total, there were 272 points in a single match.
Learn more about other sports:
- Types of sport: invasion, brand, precision, combat, net and wall
- invasion sports
- Volleyball
- Handball
- futsal
- Soccer
- rugby
- Baseball
- Swimming
- Fitness
- Badminton
- Athletics
- Fencing
