Basketball Rules and Laws
Officiating, equipment and procedures of basketball are governed by a set of rule of regulations. A variation exists in the rules and regulations of basketball throughout the world. However, the basic rules are the same. NBA is the most prominent basketball governing body in the US and formulates its own rules. Internationally, rules are formed by International Basketball Federation or FIBA which are followed by all except NBA.
Each team in the game tries to outscore the opponent team. Score is gained by throwing a ball through the basket attached to the board from the above while preventing the other team to do so. When a ball is thrown through the basket, it is called a shot. Two points are gained when a shot is successful. If the shot is taken from beyond three point arc which is located 6.25 meters from the basket. This distance is different in NBA. It is one point score when the successful shot is taken from the foul line.
The game is divided into four quarters of 10 minutes (12 minutes in NBA). It may be divided into two halves of 20 minutes. These rules may be different at school or college level. When the game is stopped, the clocks are also stopped. Both the teams exchange the baskets per quarter. The game may take longer time but the actual time is predetermined as the clocks are stopped when the game is not in progress. It may be that a game may end in more than one hour. Generally, a basketball game takes two hours to finish. There is a provision for unlimited substitutes but substitute can take place at the time when game is stopped. The teams are controlled by a coach who looks over the strategies of the team.
Basketball is played by both men and women. Players have to wear sneakers with high top so as to give extra support to ankle. On each player's uniform the name of the team is printed.
A number of time outs, requests for clock stop and short meetings are allowed during the course of the game. These are not longer than a minute. This rule may vary with the NBA. The basketball is a highly televised game. So, breaks are needed in the game due to commercial breaks. A few officials control the game including a referee or crew chief in NBA, one or two umpires, and a few table officials who keeps track of the record of the scores gained by each team.
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