Click on a Chapter Title for a more detailed description of each chapter’s contents.
| Chapter 1: Chapter 2: Chapter 3: Chapter 4: Chapter 5: Chapter 6: Chapter 7: Chapter 8: Chapter 9: Chapter 10: Chapter 11: Chapter 12: Chapter 13: Chapter 14: Chapter 15: Chapter 16: Chapter 17: Chapter 18: Chapter 19: Chapter 20: Chapter 21: Chapter 22: Chapter 23: Chapter 24: Appendix 1: Appendix 2: Appendix 3: |
Origins & History of Basketball Object of Basketball The Basketball Court Uniforms & Equipment Scoring How the Game is Played Player Skills Player Positions The Officials Violations & Fouls Women’s Basketball Rule Comparisons: NBA, WNBA and NCAA Things to Look for During Play / Strategy NBA Teams, Divisions & Conferences NBA Season & Playoffs NBA All-Star Game & Teams The NBA Lottery, Draft, Trades, Free Agency & Labor Issues The NCAA & The Final Four Individual & Team Statistics Deciphering Statistics in the Newspaper NBA & College Records Great Teams & Dynasties Hall of Fame Personalities: Past and Present Glossary of Basketball Terms Index Officials’ Hand Signals |
Chapter 1: Origins & History of Basketball
How the game was invented and its evolution to the modern game of Basketball is described.
Excerpt:
“Basketball is the only competitive team sport that completely originated in the United States. It started in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891 when a . . . “
Chapter 2: Object of Basketball
The object of the game of Basketball is briefly explained.
Excerpt:
“Basketball is a fast-paced game played by 2 teams of 5 players each. The object is to toss a ball into the opposing team’s basket to score points while . . . “
Chapter 3: The Basketball Court
The Basketball court is explained along with some diagrams and descriptions of the following:
- Basket, Rim and Backboard
- Lines on the Court
- Center Circle
- Foul Line (or Free-Throw Line)
- Foul Lane
- The Key
- 3-Point Line
Chapter 4: Uniforms & Equipment
This section describes the players’ equipment and court equipment necessary to play the game.
Excerpt:
“Much of basketball’s popularity can be attributed to its simple needs in player and court equipment. It is easy for any player with a pair of athletic shoes to . . . “
Chapter 5: Scoring
Describes the various ways to score including the field goal, free throw, 3-point play and 4-point play.
Chapter 6: How the Game is Played
Includes explanations and descriptions on the following:
- Length of Game
- Overtime
- Choosing Sides
- Offense vs. Defense
- The Jump Ball
- Starting the Game
- Other Jump Ball Situations
- Possession Arrow
- Stopping Play
- Restarting Play
- Live Ball
- Throw-In
- The Clocks
- Official Game Clock
- Shot Clock (or 24-Second Clock)
- Restarting the Clocks
- Timeouts
- Timeouts and Injuries
- Substitutions
Chapter 7: Player Skills
Includes the following sections:
- Offensive Team Skills
- Passing
- Offensive Individual Skills
- Dribbling
- Faking
- Shooting
- Pivoting
- Screening
- Crossover Skills: Offensive and Defensive
- Rebounding
- Defensive Individual Skills
- Guarding
- Shot Blocking
- Steals
Chapter 8: Player Positions
Includes the following sections:
- Guards
- Point Guard
- Shooting Guard
- Forwards
- Small Forward
- Power Forward
- Center
- The Bench
Chapter 9: The Officials
Includes the following sections:
- Crew Chief
- Referees and Umpires
- Scorekeepers
- Timers
- Television Replays
Chapter 10: Violations & Fouls
Includes the following sections:
- Punishments
- Toss In
- Shooting Free-Throws
- Infringement
- Backcourt Violation
- Twofold Dribble
- Eight-Second Violation
- Five-Second Back-to-the Basket (NBA as it were)
- Five Seconds (College as it were)
- Free-Throw Lane Violation
- Unlawful Assist in Scoring
- Kicked or Punched Ball
- Palming
- Swinging Elbows
- Ten-Second Violation
- Three-Second Violation, Defensive
- Three-Second Violation, Offensive
- Toss In Violation
- Voyaging (Walking or Too Many Steps)
- Twenty-Four Second Violation
- Different Violations
- Goaltending (See Excerpt)
- Bin Interference
- Individual and Team Fouls
- Monitoring Personal and Team Fouls
- Over the Limit in Team Fouls
- Kinds of Personal Fouls
- Blocking, Illegal
- Charging
- Elbow Foul
- Battling
- Egregious Foul
- Unlawful Contact (e.g. handchecking)
- Free Ball Foul
- Hostile Foul (or Player-Control Foul)
- Punching
- Pushing or Holding
- Screen, Illegal
- Specialized Fouls
- Far from the Play
- Twofold Fouls
Chapter 11: Women’s Basketball
Describes the evolution of the women’s game.
Chapter 12: Rule Comparisons: NBA, WNBA and NCAA
Lists the differences and similarities between the WNBA, the NBA and the college rules of basketball.
Chapter 13: Things to Look for During Play / Strategy
Includes the following sections:
- Match-Ups
- Where to Look
- Half-Court Offense
- The Give-and-Go
- Screening Plays
- Pinch-Post
- Backdoor
- Pick-and-Roll or Screen-and-Roll
- Splitting
- Double Screen
- Stack
- One-On-One Plays
- Away From the Play
- Fast Break
- 3-on-2 Break
- 2-on-1 Break
- 3-on-1 Break
- Full Court Press
- Types of Defenses
- Man-to-Man Defense
- Zone Defense (See Excerpt)
- 3-2 Zone
- 2-3 Zone
- 1-3-1 Zone
- Man-to-Man vs. Zone
- Three-Point Shooting
- Timeouts
- End of Period Strategies
- Playing the Clock
- Intentional Fouling and Free-Throws
Chapter 14: NBA Teams, Divisions & Conferences
Lists the various teams, divisions and conferences in the NBA along with other useful information.
Also includes the following sections:
- The Birth of the NBA
- The ABA Merger
- Recent Expansion
- List of Current NBA Teams
Chapter 15: NBA Season & Playoffs
Includes the following sections:
- Regular Season
- Playoffs
Chapter 16: NBA All-Star Game & Teams
Discusses the history of the NBA’s annual All-Star Game and the team selection process.
Chapter 17: NBA Lottery, Draft, Trades, Free Agency & Labor Issues
Includes the following sections:
- The NBA Draft and Lottery
- Expansion & Other Drafts
- Salary Cap & Free Agency
- Trades
- Labor Negotiations
Chapter 18: The NCAA & The Final Four
Includes the following sections:
- The NCAA
- College Teams & Conferences
- The NCAA Tournament & Final Four
- Office Pools
- Simple Pool
- Increasing Points Pool
- Upset Pool
- NIT
Chapter 19: Individual & Team Statistics
Includes information on the following topics:
- Points (PTS)
- Scoring Average or Points-Per-Game (PPG)
- Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (3-PT%)
- Free-Throw Percentage (FT%)
- Assists (A)
- Bench Scoring
- Defensive Rebounds (DR)
- Offensive Rebounds (OR)
- Total Rebounds (TR)
- Steals
- Turnovers
- Blocked Shots
Chapter 20: Deciphering Statistics in the Newspaper
Shows an example of team standings and game summaries / boxscores from a newspaper and explains how to read the various sections and information contained within.
Chapter 21: NBA & College Records
Shows statistics on the record holders in the following categories:
- Professional Scoring Leaders
- Three Point Scoring
- Free-Throw Shooting
- Assists
- Rebounds
- Steals
- Blocked Shots
- College Scoring and Assist Leaders
Chapter 22: Great Teams & Dynasties
Short description of the following teams:
- Hall of Fame Teams
- Original Celtics
- Harlem Globetrotters
- The N.Y. Renaissance (Rens)
- NBA Teams
- Boston Celtics
- Chicago Bulls
- Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers
- College Teams
- CCNY (City College of N.Y.)
- Duke University Blue Devils
- Indiana University Hoosiers
- UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) Bruins
Chapter 23: Hall of Fame
Contains a history of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame including a description of how individuals are nominated and inducted into The Hall.
Chapter 24: Personalities: Past & Present
Short biographies of Basketball’s current stars and some of the most famous players and coaches of the past including:
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Red Auerbach
- Charles Barkley
- Elgin Baylor
- Larry Bird
- Kobe Bryant
- Vince Carter
- Wilt Chamberlain
- Bob Cousy
- Tim Duncan
- Julius Erving
- Grant Hill
- Allen Iverson
- Phil Jackson
- Ervin “Magic” Johnson
- Michael Jordan
- Bob Knight
- Mike Krzyzewski
- Lisa Leslie
- Karl Malone
- Moses Malone
- Pete Maravich
- George Mikan
- Hakeem Olajuwon
- Shaquille O’Neal
- Pat Riley
- Oscar Robertson
- Dennis Rodman
- Bill Russell
- Dean Smith
- David Stern
- John Stockton
- Dick Vitale
- Bill Walton
- Jerry West
- John Wooden
Appendix 1: Glossary of Basketball Terms
Comprehensive listing of Basketball terms. A very handy reference.
Check out our Glossary Web Page to view this reference On-Line.
Includes on-line search capability of our glossary database.
Appendix 2: Index
Index of terms and phrases in book.
Appendix 3: Officials’ Hand Signals
Check out our Officials’ Hand Signals Web Page.
This useful reference includes hand signal diagrams along with definition and descriptions.
Includes diagrams of the following basketball hand signals:
- Time In
- Timeout or Stop Clock
- 20-Second Time-Out
- Direction of Play
- Jump Ball
- Cancel Score, Cancel Play or No Score
- 3-Point Field Goal
- Personal Foul
- Double Foul
- Technical Foul
- Loose Ball Foul
- To Designate an Offender
- Basket Interference
- Goaltending
- 3-Second Rule Violation (Offensive or Defensive)
- Traveling
- 24-Second Violation
- Blocking
- Charging
- Holding
- Illegal Forearm
- Illegal Dribble or Double Dribble
- Illegal Screen Out of Bounds
- Illegal Use of Hands
- Pushing