Basket Ball

Basket balls originator was James Naismith who arranged the first match in 1892, when he split his class of 18 in two and taught them his new game, using a football and two fruit baskets which were nailed to the railing of the gym balcony. Naismith laid out 13 rules for the game, so it was easy to learn.

The game spread during the first World War as American troops took the game with them wherever they went, and soon most of the European countries were playing.

In 1898 the first professional teams took part in the National Basket League which was later disbanded in 1904. In 1946 the two associations, the Basket Ball Association and the National Basket Ball Association merged to become the National Basket Ball League (NBL), which is the controlling body today.

The court is 84 feet long and 50 feet wide, with the basket at a height of 10 feet. Teams consist of five players each with reserves or substitute players on the bench who may be utilised by the coach when required. The aim of the game is to throw the ball through the hoop placed at either end of the court. Depending from where the throw is taken teams can score, 1, 2 or 3 points.

Players may not run with the ball but have to bounce the ball whilst running or pass to another player. NBA rules have a match time of 48 minutes which are divided into 4x12 minute periods, where as college games are 40 minutes in duration and split into two 20 minute halves.

The NBA league has two conferences, an Eastern and Western conference, and each conference has three zones. The Eastern conference consists of The Atlantic, Central and South East, and the Western Conference is made up of the South West, North West and Pacific. Each zone consists of five teams. The basket ball season in North America generally runs from October to end of April.