Basketball: 
 About the Sport

Meet the Team ||  (MBK) Men's Team ||  Women's Team (WBK)


Athens 2004 Olympics action The History
Basketball is a sport particularly invented by a man, essentially. Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian Physical Education professor at the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Springfield, Massachusets, invented a new activity to be used during cold New England winters; to replace gymnastics. After much trial and error on his proposed activities, legend has it that Naismith threw a paper on the wastebasket and used this idea into his new game. He then wrote a set of basic rules and nailed on a peach basket on the wall, and students started to play his new game shooting deflated footballs into these baskets. Thus the term, basketball.

The Americans, the Thomasites most specifically, brought the sport to the Philippines as part of the "education" they established. Soon, the Filipinos enjoyed playing basketball, and leagues started to sprout all over the country. The most notable leagues today are the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), which was established in 1975, for professional players, and the semiprofessional Philippine Basketball League (PBL). A league for women was recently revived, i.e. the Women's PBL (WPL). Indeed, the stigma of the sport was so undeniable that the Filipinos loved it, and you'll find basketball courts in every street or even corner imaginable.


The Objective

The sport is played by two teams represented by five players per team at a time. Each team should try to put the ball into the opponent's goal from above while doing everything to prevent their opponent to do likewise in their own basket (net). An attempt to put the ball through the net is a shot. A successful shot makes 2 points for the team, 3 points beyond the 3-point line and 1 point for every made freethrow.


The Equipment

The needed equipment to play basketball is a playing court, two baskets with backboards and of course, a ball. Clocks are needed to regulate time, while in competitions additional equipment such as shot clocks (24-second), scorer's table among others are needed.


Playing Court The following diagram shows the required dimensions of the court by the Fédération Internationale de Basket-ball (FIBA) or the International Basketball Federation.>>>


 

Basketball Backboard and Basket The following diagram shows the required dimensions of the basketball backboard and the basket by the Fédération International de Basket-ball (FIB) or the International Basketball Federation.
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Read more: The Equipment, The Rules and The Play   •  







References:
Wikipedia: free encyclopedia