Basketball – Part 2
(Continuation from last post)
Now that we’ve established the players involved in the game of basketball, we can proceed to gameplay. Usually, a game is started by what is called a tip-off or opening tip: the two teams move to their respective sides of the court, and one player from each team meets at the halfway point of the court where the referee will throw the ball straight up into the air. These two players will then leap into the air and attempt to win possession of the ball for their team. The player who manages to win possession often does so by tipping the ball towards their point guard (aka PG).
As mentioned before, point guards (PGs) control the flow of the game. This is largely due to their ball control and court vision. So once the ball is tipped to the PG, they dribble the ball to the opposition’s side of the court and the play begins. The PG then decides what the team’s best option is. They signal to their teammates what play to run,
unless one has already been determined by the coach. However, the PG may override the coach’s play if he/she reads the situation and notices something that they should take advantage of. The PGs may then set up one of their teammates to score, or they can go to score it themselves. This is why PGs have to be good scorers, as well as good playmakers.
In basketball, points are scored in many different ways. Shooting from beyond the arc earns your team 3 points. Scoring from within the arc earns you 2 points, and free throw shots earn 1 point. Games (at least in the NBA) last at least 48 minutes, broken into four 12 minute quarters. If the teams are tied in points at the end of the game, then they go into overtime. An extra quarter of overtime is added until the teams are no longer tied. This was my very basic and simple breakdown of basketball. My main intention for writing this was to get the hang of writing spontaneously and with no preparation. More impromptu works coming up