The fundamentals of half-court basketball don't differ from those of the sport's mainstream, full-court version: you still earn points by shooting the ball into the basket, you still must dribble while moving with the ball, and excessive physical contact results in a foul call. But you need to learn some substantial differences before hitting the half-court hardwood.
Fouls
What constitutes a foul in full-court and half-court basketball remains the same. But whereas some full-court games are officiated by referees, the half-court game is traditionally a more casual setting, with no officials in sight. In half-court basketball, players are expected to call their own fouls. Fouls can be called by either the player who committed the foul or the one who was fouled. But the honor code is to be followed -- bogus calls are frowned upon. The other difference: no free throws. The ball is returned to the team of the player who was fouled.
Post-Basket Sequence
When one team scores in full-court basketball, a player from the other team then takes the ball out of bounds on the baseline beneath the hoop and throws it in to a teammate. But because in half-court basketball both teams -- or players, if you're playing 1-on-1 -- are shooting on the same hoop, this isn't feasible. Instead, the balled is "checked" into play behind the free-throw line. A player from the team that was scored on bounces it to the opponent covering him, who bounces it back, officially setting the ball back into play.
Take-backs
In the full-court game, when a team gains possession of the ball, it must dribble up court in an effort to get into scoring position. But again, both teams are shooting at the same hoop in half-court ball, so that's not part of the game. Still, it would be easy for a team to rebound a missed shot and quickly drop it back in the basket, hence the advent of "take-backs." When a player rebounds an opponent's miss in half-court basketball, he must dribble the ball back out -- usually to the free-throw line -- before attempting a shot.
Scoring
The traditional scoring system in basketball is as follows: one point for a free-throw, two points for a standard field goal and three for a shot outside the 3-point arc. But normal baskets in half-court games are often good for only one point, and shots from outside the arc worth two.
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