Basketball Terms

Here are my list of terms for my project:

Assist: a pass to a teammate that leads directly to a field goal

Backboard: the rectangular structure to which the basket is attached

Backcourt: the area from the midcourt line to the end line furthest from the offense’s basket

Bank shot: a shot where the ball is bounced, or banked off the backboard and then drops into the basket

Basket: consists of a metal rim with a corded net hanging off of it; attached to the backboard

Blocked shot: the deflection of a shot by touching the ball on its way to the basket

Blocking: the use of a defender’s body position to prevent an opponent’s advance

Boxing out: a player’s attempt to position his body between his opponents and the basket to get rebounds and prevent the opponents from doing so

Charging: when an offensive player runs into a defender who has established position; this is an offensive foul.

Court: the area in on which a basketball game is played; bounded by 2 sidelines and 2 end lines, containing a basket at each end

Crossover dribble: dribbling the ball across the body from one hand to the other.

Cylinder: the imaginary area directly above the basket where goaltending or basket interference can occur

Dead ball: any ball that is not live; occurs after: each successful field goal or free-throw attempt, after the whistle is blown, or if the ball leaves the court

Defense: preventing the offense from scoring; " The Defense" is considered the team without the ball

Defensive rebound: a rebound by a player on defense

Double team: two teammates guarding a single opponent

Dribble or dribbling: repeatedly batting or bouncing the ball toward the floor with one hand;
used to advance the ball

Drive to the basket: to move rapidly toward the basket with the ball

Dunk: when a player close to the basket jumps and slams the ball down into it

Elbowing: throwing your elbow during play in order to hit another player or push him away; it is a foul if contact is made

End line: the line behind each basket; also called the baseline.

Fast break: it begins with a defensive rebound by a player who immediately sends a pass toward midcourt to his waiting teammates; these teammates can sprint to their basket and quickly shoot before enough opponents catch up to stop them

Flagrant foul: unnecessary or excessive contact against an opponent

Floor: the area of the court within the end lines and sidelines

Foul: actions by players which break the rules but are not floor violations

Foul line: the line 15´ from the backboard and parallel to the end line from which players shoot free-throws

Free-throw: an unguarded shot taken from the foul line by a player whose opponent committed a foul; worth 1 point

Free-throw line: see foul line

Full-court press: when defenders guard the offense in the backcourt

Give and go: a very basic play where after passing to a team-mate, the passer quickly cuts toward the basket, and receives the return pass back from his team-mate for the lay-up.

Guarding: following an opponent around the court to prevent him from getting the ball, taking a shot or making a pass

High Post: The free throw area at the elbow is called the high post

Jump ball: where 2 opposing players jump for a ball the official tosses above and between them. The players then try to tap the ball to their teammates to gain possessionLive ball: as soon as a ball is given to a free-throw shooter or a thrower on a throw-in, it is live

Low Post: The low post is on the block at the edge of the key, even with the front of the rim.

Man-to-man defense: the defensive style where each defensive player is responsible for guarding one opponent

Mid Post: The area between the low and high post is the mid-post

Off the dribble: a shot taken while driving to the basket

Offense: the team with possession of the ball

Offensive rebound: a rebound by a player on offense

Officials: the people on the court wearing black and white striped shirts who control the game

One-and-One or One-plus-One: a free-throw attempt awarded for certain violations that earns the shooter a 2nd attempt only if the first is successful

Open: when a player is unguarded by a defender

Out of bounds: the area outside of and including the end lines and sidelines

Overtime or OT: the extra period played after a regulation game ends tied

Pass: when a player throws the ball to a teammate

Period: any quarter, half or overtime segment

Perimeter: the area beyond the foul circle away from the basket, including 3-point line

Personal foul: contact including a push, hold, trip, hack, elbow, restrain or charge into an opponent between players that may result in injury

Pivot: the foot that must remain touching the floor until a ball handler who has stopped dribbling is ready to pass or shoot

Possession: to be holding or in control of the ball

Rebound: when a player grabs a ball that is coming off the rim or backboard after a shot attempt

Reverse the ball: this means to quickly move the ball, by passing, to the opposite side of the fore-court, either by a series of quick passes, or by means of a skip pass. You may want to reverse the ball quickly to over-shift a zone defense. By moving some of your offensive players to one side of the floor, you over-load the zone.

Screen: when an offensive player stands between a teammate and a defender to gives his teammate the chance to take an open shot

Shot clock: a clock that limits the time a team with the ball has to shoot it

Shooter: a player who takes a shot at the basket

Sidelines: 2 boundary lines that run the length of the court

Squaring up: when a player’s shoulders are facing the basket as he releases the ball for a shot

Starting lineup: the five players who begin a game for one team

Substitute: a player who comes into the game to replace a player on the court

Swing man: a player who can play both the guard and forward positions

Team fouls: each personal foul committed by a player is also counted against his team; when a team goes over the limit, its opponent is awarded free-throw opportunities

Technical fouls or Ts: misconduct that officials believe are detrimental to the game; penalized by a free-throw opportunity to the non-offending team

Three-point play: a 2-point field goal followed by a successful free-throw

Three-point shot: a field goal worth 3 points because the shooter was standing behind the 3-point line when he released the ball

Throw-in: inbounding the ball

Timeout: when play is temporarily suspended by an official or at the request of a team to discuss strategy or respond to an injured player

Tip-off: the initial jump ball that starts the game

Traveling: when the ball handler takes too many steps without dribbling; also called walking

Triple double: when a player scores double-digits in 3 categories during one game (points, assists and rebounds -also can be blocks or steals)

Turnover: when the offense loses possession through its own fault by passing the ball out of bounds or committing a floor violation

Zone defense: a defense where each defender is responsible for an area of the court and must guard any player who enters that area