Hi everyone! Like many others on this thread of comments, I have many pastimes and hobbies. But, for the sake of saving you the hassle of having to read four thousand words, I’m going to stick to just one. And that one is basketball.
For those of you who might not know what basketball is, let me explain the basics. Basketball is a sport in which players attempt to get a ball, a basketball, into a net. The net is surrounded by a rim, normally made out of metal, and behind the net, there is a backboard(the backboard being quite simply just a solid rectangle that keeps balls from going far over the net). The net and backboard are either hoisted up by a pole, hung from a wall, or hung from the ceiling, and most of the time posses an adjustable height that is normally set at ten feet high.
Now about the players. In regular basketball, there are two teams versing each other, each team with no more and no less than five players. There are five different positions in professional basketball, the point guard, the shooting guard, the small forward, the power forward, and the center. The point guard is the player that always brings the ball up the court and starts most plays and/or attack attempts. The shooting guard, and the small forward to a lesser extent, are similar to the point guard, but normally do not bring the ball up the court. The power forward and the center are ordinarily the strongest, and the tallest, players on the team and stay down the court, close to the net.
The basic rules of basketball are simple. You must always bounce the basketball up and down if you are moving, and once you stop bouncing the ball, you can not move again. If you do, the other team will get the ball. Basketball is also a low contact sport. You are allowed to push with your body slightly, put you are not allowed to push with your hands, touch the ball with your feet, or hit another player.
The scoring in basketball is decently simple. On a basketball court the most important line is the three point line. If a player shoots (throws) the ball into the net from outside this line, their team scores three points. If a player throws the ball into the net inside of this line, their team only scores two points. There is also something called a foul. If a player is attempting to throw the ball towards the net and they are hit by another player, the player that was hit gets to shoot free throws. Free throws consist of typically two shots (throws) where the defense is not allowed to defend the offense. These shots are taken from the free throw line, which is located a few feet away from the net, with each of these free throws worth one point.
But now, onto the subject of my basketball “career”. I started playing basketball more than three years ago. Today, I play on a non-school team in the Tri-City league. This league is a youth basketball league that hosts practices and games every week, and is quite large with many teams registered. The level I play at keeps score, but is not the highest level. I hope to get there one day 🙂
Hi Victor!
I really enjoyed your detailed description of basketball. Even though I know the game quite well from playing in PE class, I never actually knew all the names of the positions or what their jobs are, so I found your descriptions very helpful! Actually, when I was very young I used to play on a Tri-City league team too, but at that young age, we weren’t really concerned with the proper positioning on the court. Soon after, I chose to stop playing basketball to pursue soccer more competitively as well so unfortunately I didn’t have the longest experience playing basketball.
Do you play on a school basketball team?
I saw you mentioned that you hope to play at a higher level of basketball one day. I think it’s awesome that you have a goal you want to reach! With hard work and determination anything you put your mind to is possible!!
Thank you for sharing one of your hobbies with us!!
– Madison Ciulla