HISTORY OF BASKETBALL
Panagiotis Lampousis, G4
November 2010
Teacher: Ms Apostolaki
Team sport
Basketball is a team sport. But in
basketball teams, every player
has got his ambitions.
To get a transfer in the best
teams, to beat one of the best
players, to win as many trophies
as he can. To be in his national
team squad, and play against
other countries.
But it is a team sport, which
needs co-operation and team
spirit.
Where it came from, and how it started..
In early December 1891, Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian-born
physical education professor and instructor at the International
Young Men's Christian Association Training School (YMCA) (today,
Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, was trying
to keep his gym class active on a rainy day.
He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students
occupied and at proper levels of fitness during the long New England
winters. After rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly
suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules of his game
and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot (3.05 m) elevated track.
In contrast with modern basketball nets, this peach basket
retained its bottom, and balls had to be retrieved manually after each
"basket" or point scored; this proved inefficient, however, so the
bottom of the basket was removed allowing the balls to be poked out
with a long dowel each time. The peach baskets were used until
1906 when they were finally replaced by metal hoops with
backboards.
A further change was soon made, so the ball merely passed
through, paving the way for the game we know today. An
association football was used to shoot baskets. Whenever a person
got the ball in the basket, his team would gain a point. Whichever
team got the most points won the game.
The baskets were originally nailed to the mezzanine balcony of
the playing court, but this proved impractical when spectators on the
balcony began to interfere with shots. The backboard was introduced
to prevent this interference; it had the additional effect of allowing
rebound shots.
How it’s played…
The object of the game is to outscore one's opponents by throwing the ball through the
opponents' basket from above while preventing the opponents from doing so on their own.
An attempt to score in this way is called a shot. A successful shot is worth two points,
or three points if it is taken from beyond the three-point arch which is 6.25 meters (20 ft 6 in)
from the basket in international games and 23 feet 9 inches (7.24 m) in NBA games. A onepoint shot can be earned when shooting from the foul line after a foul is made.
Games are played in four quarters of 10 (FIBA) or 12 minutes (NBA). Fifteen minutes
are allowed for a half-time break under FIBA, NBA, and NCAA rules. Overtime periods are
five minutes in length. Teams exchange baskets for the second half. The time allowed is
actual playing time; the clock is stopped while the play is not active. Therefore, games
generally take much longer to complete than the allotted game time, typically about two
hours.
Five players from each team may be on the court at one time. Substitutions are
unlimited but can only be done when play is stopped. Teams also have a coach, who
oversees the development and strategies of the team, and other team personnel such as
assistant coaches, managers, statisticians, doctors and trainers.
For both men's and women's teams, a standard uniform consists of a pair of shorts
and a jersey with a clearly visible number, unique within the team, printed on both the front
and back. Players wear high-top sneakers that provide extra ankle support. Typically, team
names, players' names and, outside of North America, sponsors are printed on the
uniforms.
A limited number of time-outs, clock stoppages requested by a coach (or sometimes
mandated in the NBA) for a short meeting with the players, are allowed. They generally last
no longer than one minute (100 seconds in the NBA) unless, for televised games, a
commercial break is needed.
The game is controlled by the officials consisting of the referee (referred to as crew
chief in the NBA), one or two umpires (referred to as referees in the NBA) and the table
officials. For college, the NBA, and many high schools, there are a total of three referees
on the court. The table officials are responsible for keeping track of each teams scoring,
timekeeping, individual and team fouls, player substitutions, team possession arrow, and
the shot clock.
Positions on it

point guard: usually the fastest player on the team, organizes the team's
offense by controlling the ball and making sure that it gets to the right
player at the right time.

shooting guard: creates a high volume of shots on offense; guards the
opponent's best perimeter player on defense.

small forward: often primarily responsible for scoring points via cuts to the
basket and dribble penetration; on defense seeks rebounds and steals,
but sometimes plays more actively.

power forward: plays offensively often with their back to the basket; on
defense, plays under the basket (in a zone defense) or against the
opposing power forward (in man-to-man defense).

center: uses height and size to score (on offense), to protect the basket
closely (on defense), or to rebound.
International Basketball
The International Basketball Federation was
formed in 1932 by eight founding nations: Argentina,
Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal,
Romania and Switzerland. At this time, the
organization only oversaw amateur players. Its
acronym, derived from the French Fédération
Internationale de Basketball Amateur, was thus
FIBA".
Men's Basketball was first included in the
Berlin Olympic Games in 1936, although a
demonstration tournament was held in 1904. The
United States defeated Canada in the first final,
played outdoors. This competition has usually been
dominated by the United States, whose team has
won all but three titles, the first loss in a controversial
final game in Munich in 1972 against the Soviet
Union. In 1950 the first FIBA World Championship for
men was held in Argentina. Three years later, the first
FIBA World Championship for Women was held in
Chile. Women's basketball was added to the
Olympics in 1976, which were held in Montreal,
Canada with teams such as the Soviet Union, Brazil
and Australia rivaling the American squads.
The American “DreamTeam”
FIBA dropped the distinction between amateur
and professional players in 1989, and in 1992,
professional players played for the first time in the
Olympic Games. The United States' dominance
continued with the introduction of their Dream Team.
However, with developing programs
elsewhere, other national teams started to beat the
United States. A team made entirely of NBA players
finished sixth in the 2002 World Championships in
Indianapolis, behind Yugoslavia, Argentina, Germany,
New Zealand and Spain.
In the 2004 Athens Olympics, the United
States suffered its first Olympic loss while using
professional players, falling to Puerto Rico (in a 19point loss) and Lithuania in group games, and being
eliminated in the semifinals by Argentina. It eventually
won the bronze medal defeating Lithuania, finishing
behind Argentina and Italy.
In 2006, in the World Championship of Japan,
the United States advanced to the semifinals but were
defeated by Greece by 101–95. In the bronze medal
game it beat team Argentina and finished 3rd behind
Greece and Spain.
Popular players
There are 2 big ‘academies’ of basketball. The
European one and the American one which are
assosiated with big teams. From my country, Greece,
the best players that we ever had are Galis,
Giannakis.
In Europe, nowadays, one can find big players
from Spain like P.Gasol, J.C Navvaro, from Germany
like Dirk Nowitzki, from France Tony Parker, from
Turkey H.Turkoglu. These players are the best in
Europe and the most demanded players, all of whom
play in the NBA, the best championship in the world!!!.
As
There are also the all time LEGENDS, players
that are known in the whole planet. The best player of
all times was Michael Jordan. He holds the NBA
record for highest career regular season scoring
average (30.12 points per game) and highest career
playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). This
basketball legend has played in the legendary team of
Chicago Bulls, which has achieved the ‘three peat’ (3
champions in the row). The player with the no.23 in
his back, has got too many talents. Another big
player is the “big One” Shaq O’Neal, another legend
who is still playing basketball despite his 37 years of
age. Shaq O’Neal has also been characterized like
“Sinic Wall”, because he weighs 143 kg.
Nowadays, we have got 2 successors, Kobe
Bryant and Lebron James. Kobe is 27 years old and
has got win 4 “rings” as the title is called. The first
one, was with Shaq O’ Neal. He is playing in LA
Lakers. The second one Lebron James is only 25
years old, but he has never won a ring. He has got a
lot of ambition and one of the biggest talents. Both of
them are in the national (USA) squad.