Basic Basketball rules for Teachers

[Oz Referee]

Heya all, been a while.

I am in the process of organising a VERY basic introduction to basketball and its rules for high school teachers. Basketball in schools in Australia is very different to America. There is little or no organisation and expertise. In my high school we have 8 basketball teams (4 boys, 4 girls) and I am the only teacher that is in charge of a team that knows anything about the game at all.

So, I have put together a brief document that will allow the supervising teachers to at least understand what is going on. Sadly, often these teachers will also have to referee the games

This document will most likely be the only document that any of them look at (and most likely only once). So it needs to be brief, accurate and easy to follow.

For some reason I couldn't attach the document (even tho it was only 50kb) so here is the next post has the text of what is in it - message me if you want me to email a copy to you.

[Oz Referee]

__________________________________________________ ____________
Introduction

Basketball is played with teams of up to 10 players. Each team may have 5 players on the court at any one time. While there are no mandatory positions players usually fall into one of three categories:
Centre – the “big guy”, good at rebounding and shooting close to the basket
Forwards – the two next tallest players, similar to the centre but usually quicker and better ball handlers
Guards – the two smallest players, the main ball handlers, good passers and can shoot from long range.
Timing

The timing of basketball games various according to the level of the game.
For the Tweed Valley competition the timing is as follows:>>
2 x 20 minute halves (clock does not stop)
5 minute halftime (can be shortened if both teams agree)

The Court


The red section is called the key. When on offense, players are only allowed to be in the key for 3 seconds. This 3 seconds resets every time a shot is taken. It applies to all offensive players, both with the ball and without.
The sidelines are out of bounds. Players cannot touch the sideline when inbounding the ball.
Scoring

Baskets shot from outside the large semi-circle are worth 3 points
All other shots during play are worth 2 points
Free throws (as a result of a foul) are worth 1 point

[Oz Referee]

Violations

There are many violations in basketball. All result in the opposition team being awarded the ball from the nearest out of bounds point.
Some basic violations and the referee’s signals are:

	Travelling Players cannot run with the ball
	Double dribble Once a player picks up their dribble they cannot restart it. Players can only dribble with one hand at a time
	Three Seconds Offensive players can only be in the key for 3 seconds. This count restarts whenever a shot is attempted
	Backcourt Once the ball crosses into the front half, the offensive team cannot return it to the back half
	Kicking Players cannot intentionally strike the ball with their foot or leg

[Oz Referee]

Fouls

Generally speaking basketball is considered a non-contact sport. However the rules state that “contact that results in an advantage or disadvantage is illegal”.
Players are restricted to 5 fouls per game. If they get their 5^th they are disqualified.
If teams exceed 7 fouls per half then on every subsequent foul then the opposition is awarded two free throws. Some of the common fouls and the referee signals are:

	Illegal use of hands (hacking) Most often in an attempt to get the ball out of the offensive player’s hands
	Blocking Using your body to prevent another player’s run
	Holding Holding onto a player’s body or uniform
	Charging (with the ball) A player in position of the ball barging into a stationary player
	Technical Foul For non-contact fouls, e.g. swearing or hanging onto the ring If players get two technical fouls they are disqualified
	Unsportsmanlike Foul For severe fouls or dangerous play
	Disqualifying Foul For an extreme violation of the rules e.g. fighting

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by Oz Referee

The sidelines are out of bounds. Players cannot touch the sideline when inbounding the ball.

Do you mean players other than the inbounder? The sideline is OOB. Is this a FIBA rule?

BTW - you left out "over the back" and "reaching" from your list of fouls.

[BillyMac]

Oz Referee: Check out this link. Note, these are NFHS rules, not FIBA rules.

NFHS Forum: THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD BASKETBALL RULES

[Oz Referee]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Do you mean players other than the inbounder? The sideline is OOB. Is this a FIBA rule?

BTW - you left out "over the back" and "reaching" from your list of fouls.

In FIBA the lines are considered to be of zero width. Therefore an inbounding player commits a violation if they touch the line. Likewise a player on the court goes OOB if they touch the line.

[eg-italy]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Do you mean players other than the inbounder? The sideline is OOB. Is this a FIBA rule?

No, the rule for OOB is just the same. However, I agree with Oz Referee that in a rule summary like this it's better not to go into such details: he stated a "slightly false" but "safe" rule. If players don't touch the line during a throw-in they will always be right. It's important, though, that coaches learn the "true" rules, the more they advance in knowledge of basketball.

[eg-italy]

Originally Posted by Oz Referee

In FIBA the lines are considered to be of zero width. Therefore an inbounding player commits a violation if they touch the line.

Are you really sure? Lines are 5 cm wide (just a tiny bit less than 2 inches), as stated in the rulebook, and they are OOB. What's the rule supporting your claim?

[Oz Referee]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Oz Referee: Check out this link. Note, these are NFHS rules, not FIBA rules.

NFHS Forum: THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD BASKETBALL RULES

BillyMac this is a great list (I remember your post here asking for suggestions). Unfortunately there are way too many differences in your examples compared to FIBA rules. As well, my brochure is really designed for people that know absolutely nothing about basketball - they have never played it and more than likely have never even watched a game

Nevertheless, job well done!

[Oz Referee]

Originally Posted by eg-italy

Are you really sure? Lines are 5 cm wide (just a tiny bit less than 2 inches), as stated in the rulebook, and they are OOB. What's the rule supporting your claim?

Ok, after re-reading the 2008 FIBA rulebook, it looks like I am wrong on this one This was something that I was definitely taught (many years ago).

So in given this - what about the 3-point line and lines of the key? When I started refereeing I was taught that the lines were considered to be of zero width and that they were always considered to be in the section of the court that the player didn't want them to be.

Also, when reading over the rules I noticed that:

17.3 Rule
17.3.1 A player taking a throw-in shall not:

...
• Touch the ball on the playing court before it has touched another player.
...

Now maybe I'm wrong (as we have seen it can happen ) but this sounds to be as if a pass from out of bounds that bounces on the playing court and is then picked up would be illegal??

[eg-italy]

Originally Posted by Oz Referee

Ok, after re-reading the 2008 FIBA rulebook, it looks like I am wrong on this one This was something that I was definitely taught (many years ago).

So in given this - what about the 3-point line and lines of the key? When I started refereeing I was taught that the lines were considered to be of zero width and that they were always considered to be in the section of the court that the player didn't want them to be.

This "rule" is a good approximation of the real one (apart from the zero width). There is only one catch: simply touching a boundary line doesn't place a player in bound, nor touching the division line places a player in the front court.

Originally Posted by Oz Referee

Also, when reading over the rules I noticed that:
17.3 Rule
17.3.1 A player taking a throw-in shall not:
...
• Touch the ball on the playing court before it has touched another player.
...

Now maybe I'm wrong (as we have seen it can happen ) but this sounds to be as if a pass from out of bounds that bounces on the playing court and is then picked up would be illegal??

That refers to the same player who has made the throw-in. That player can't touch the ball before it has touched another player. But it's allowed to bounce the ball OOB and touching it again before releasing the throw-in.

[Oz Referee]

I knew I was mis-interpreting it. I read it as making the ball touch the playing court, as opposed to the player touching the ball whilst standing on the playing court......IDIOT!

Thanks for making me fell incredibly dumb

[canuckrefguy]

Oz, you forgot to include the most important rule:

"Coaches are prohibited from talking to the officials in any way. Talking to an official will result in immediate ejection from the game."