Archive for the ‘Basketball Game’ Category

Basketball: the Object of the Game



Basketball is a fast paced game played on a 94-by-50 foot court (NBA) with 1 basket on opposite sides.

The game starts when the official tosses the ball between two players, one from each team, in the middle of the court. This is also referred to as the tip off. The other 8 players stand at specific places outside the mid-circle. The jumpers will try to tip the ball to any of their team members to gain the first possession.

The goal is to score more points than their opponents.

In the professional setting, the game is divided into 2 halfs or 4 quarters. Each quarter is 12 minutes long.

During each possession, the offensive team has a time limit to shoot the ball in the basket. This is called the shot clock. The NBA rule allows 24 seconds for each possession. In college basketball, the shot clock is set for 35 seconds.

There are basically 2 ways to shoot and score in a basketball game: shooting when the ball is in play and from the free throw line.

There are several ways to score during play. You can either take a perimeter shot or drive toward the basket. You can score 3 points if you shoot the ball beyond the arc. There are also variations for jump shots including from the baseline, the key, fade away, hook shot, and more. Variations of shots made inside the paint include dunk, layup, and tip-in.

Free throws are earned when the opposing team committs a technical foul or a personal foul. Two free throw shots are awarded when the opposing team committs a technical foul or a personal foul in the act of shooting or within the team penalty. One free throw shot is given to the player who made a shot and receives a foul in the process.

Each player is allowed to commit 5 personal fouls for each game to continue playing. The 6th foul will automatically force the player to retire for the rest of the game. Each player is automatically out of the game if he receives 2 technical fouls. The team is allowed to commits 5 fouls for each quarter before entering the penalty. Every foul made inside the penalty will put their opposing team to shoot free throws. 

In the event where the scores are tied at the end of the fourth quarter (or at the end of the regulation period), a 5-minute overtime period is played. If the score is still tied at the end of the overtime period, a second overtime will be played, and so on… until a team wins a game.

Note: other basketball leagues and basketball associations such as FIBA follow their own sets of rules.

4 Game Variations Of Basketball



Basketball does not just have to be strictly rule regulated play on an indoor wooden court. There are actually many different variations on the game that bring basketball to a whole new level.

Variety is one of the things that makes basketball such a popular sport. With all the ways to play the game it is no wonder that people all over the world are playing the game. That’s true no matter who they are, how old they are or what limitations they may physically have.

Game Variation 1: Wheelchair Basketball

Wheelchair basketball, as the name suggests, is played in wheelchairs. The chairs are specially designed so they move quickly and easily down the court. They also are made so players can be agile, much like players in traditional basketball.

Wheelchair basketball is a serious sport that is regulated by the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF).

Game Variation 2: Water Basketball

Water basketball, again as the name suggests, is played in water. It can be recreational or as a team regulated sport. In water basketball the rules are a little different. The rules for water basketball combine rules for traditional court basketball and water polo. There is, obviously, no dribbling involved in water basketball.

Game Variation 3: Beach Basketball

Beach basketball is played on the beach and is quite different than other types of basketball. It is not as strict and much more of a physical game than basketball.

Beach basketball is played on a circular court with no backboard on the hoop. There is no dribbling because it is too difficult on the sand. The ball is moved down the court instead by passing or 2 ? steps. There is also no out of bounds in beach basketball.

Game Variation 4: Informal Basketball

Informal basketball really is not an actual name for a type of basketball, but it is used here to simply describe the type of basketball that most people play – basketball where you are just playing for the fun of the sport. The best kind!

Informal play can have any rules you like, as long as everyone playing agrees to them. There may not even be any organized play, but rather people simply making baskets and having fun.

Basketball is a very flexible sport. It can be played almost anywhere and in anyway you can imagine. In fact, it probably has been played almost everyway imaginable because it is such a popular sport. The thing about basketball that remains the same is making the basket. Every variation of the sport involves a ball and basket with the ultimate goal being to get the ball through the basket to score.

So, no matter how you play basketball it is the right way as long as you have the ball and hoop. You can play whatever way feels best for you with whatever rules you want. You can play with as many players as you want on whatever type of court you want. The bottom line is that you just have fun while you are doing it.

Dice Sports Games That Are Fun; The College Basketball Game



This is the forth installment in a world of incredibly fun sports games played with dice. In the first installment I taught you how to play the college version of Dice Football. Then in the second you learned the Pro Football dice game and the third dice game was, Dice Baseball. Now we are going to learn the Dice College Basketball Game. Unlike the football games you will need eight dice, notebook paper and a pen or pencil to play dice basketball.

You will recall that in the college football game you got your box score set up so that you can begin the game and just take turns for four quarters. In the dice basketball games you will have to make a box score sheet that has two boxes split in half. These two halves represent the home team and the visitors. It does not matter who rolls first in dice basketball.

In the college version of dice basketball each team only gets two halves to roll for their scoring. In the coming pro version there are actually four quarters per team.

Scoring is pretty simple. Each team gets to start their first half by rolling all of the eight dice once. Once rolled, count up the total of all eight dice. As an example let us assume that the Home team rolled the following dice totals; 4, 3, 1, 6, 5, 6, 1, 2. In all, these total 28 which would represent 28 points. At most eight dice would only total 48 points per half. Which is a little better than average, in terms of college basketball. However, one would have to roll eight dice that all hit sixes in order to get to 48 points.

This is where you can choose what kind of game you wish to play. If you like low scoring games then keep the score as originally rolled. If you like a lot of scoring then you can re-roll the lower dice to achieve higher scoring games. I like to use 1, 2, and 3 as re-roll dice. So what we will do is take the four dice which are 1, 1, 2, and 3 in the above example and re-roll them. Those four dice come out as the following; 2, 4, 4, 5. This re-roll total equals 15 points. Now all we have to do is add the 15 points to the original 28 points for a first half Home team score of 43 points. Not bad at all. Remember, you get to choose what re-roll dice you want to use, if any at all.

Now the Visitors get to strike back. Their dice totals are; 2, 3, 3, 4, 6, 4, 5, 4. This equals a total of 31. Now the Visitors re-roll the 2, 3, and 3 and come up with 4, 5, and a 1; for a total of 10 points. The Visitors add this 10 points to their previous total of 31 for a final first half score of 41. Thus the first half basketball game ends with the Home team winning by a score of 43 to 41 over the Visitors.

The team who is behind always goes first in the second half. If the score is tied then the Visitors have to go first in the second half. So let us say that the Visitors roll the following; 2, 4, 5, 3, 3, 5, 6, 1. That is a total of 29. Now the Visitors re-roll the 1, 2, 3, and 3 which results in 4, 5, 3, and 6 for a total of 18. They add the previous 29 to the 18 and their second half score totals 47 points. This score is added to their first half total of 41 points. The game ends for them with their score of 88 points.

The Home team responds with a roll of 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 4, 4, and 3 for a total of 30 points. Then they re-roll the 3, 3, 3, and 3 which results in dice totals of 6, 5, 4, and 6. That is a total of 21 points! When they add the 21 to their previous roll of 30 we see that they have a total second half score of 51 points. When added to their first half score of 43 points the Home team has come back to win the game by a score of 94 to 88.

Now if a game ends in a tied score then both teams play an overtime quarter. For overtime, both teams roll only four dice and the re-roll dice rule is equally in play. Again, if the score ends in a tie then you just keep playing overtime quarters until a winner emerges.

Handicapping College basketball dice games can be a snap. Let us say that you have the Home team advantage. How this advantage can be enacted is to allow the Home team to get re-rolls on all 1, 2, and 3 dice rolls. The Visitors will get to re-roll on the dice rolls of 1 and 2 only. This handicapping can be fun if you have several teams in some sort of tournament set-up. Try it and see for yourself what fun tournament play is. Especially when an underdog knocks off a favorite.

Till then, keep on rolling.