As you progress in basketball, you may need to learn as many as six or more sets of game rules. Game lengths, equipment specifications, court dimensions and even the rules of the game itself vary by league. Youth, middle school and high school leagues; street ball and pickup games; and the National Collegiate Athletic Association have their own rules for basketball games.
Game Goals and Court
A team scores when the basketball goes through a hoop, or basket, 10 feet above the ground. There is a basket at each end of the rectangular game court, a free-throw line in front of the backboard of each goal and an arcing 3-point line on each end of the court. Each team has a basket for scoring, and attempts to defend the opposing team from scoring at the other end. The teams switch baskets at halftime.
Time of Games
All games consist of two halves. In some leagues, games also have quarters, or periods, of from 6 to 12 minutes, depending on the league level. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. When there is a tie, teams play overtime periods of a specified length until there is a winner.
Players and Teams
Both teams must have five players on the court during games. When a team has the ball, it is on offense. If it is putting the ball into play in the half court away from the basket where it needs to score, it has a specified number of seconds to get the ball across the midcourt line. If it fails, the ball goes to the other team. Players move the ball by dribbling or passing it to teammates.
Loss-of-Possession Penalties
When rules are broken that limit the time allowed for specified actions, the penalty is loss of the ball. Rule violations resulting in a loss-of-possession penalty include "traveling," in which a player moves without dribbling the ball; losing a ball out of bounds and committing a foul without possessing the ball, typically called a loose-ball foul.
Goaltending Penalty
Goaltending occurs when a player on defense touches a ball on its way down toward the basket, on its way up toward the basket after it has hit the backboard, or while the ball is in the cylinder above the rim. The shooting team receives the points for a successful basket.
Personal Fouls
Players who hold; push; hit an opponent with a hand, arm, elbow, leg, knee, foot or body; charge into an opponent; or perform an illegal block with physical contact are committing a personal foul. When the team on offense commits a foul, the result is a loss of ball possession. When the defensive team commits a foul on a player in the act of shooting, the fouled player gets one to three free throw shots, depending on whether the shot is good on continuation after the foul and on the position of the fouled player on the court. A player receives free throws when fouled while not in the act of shooting if the opposing team already is over the foul limit for the period. Players who receive too many fouls during a game "foul out."
Scoring
A goal counts if the ball leaves the hands of the shooter before the shot or time clock expires.
A basket made from on or inside the 3-point arc earns 2 points while one made from outside the 3-point arc earns 3 points. Following a field goal, the opposing team throws the ball into the court from outside the baseline at the basket.
Each free-throw basket resulting from a foul shot earns 1 point.
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