Learn about the five most important things to understand about basketball
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| Braden: Top 5 Most Important Things to Understand about Basketball. In this lesson, we'll introduce you to basketball by talking about the top five most important things to know about basketball. |
| Ann: These aren't the only things that you need to know but our Top 5 list will help you talk about basketball in English with your friends and understand it better. |
| Braden: We’ll look at basketball as a teamsport, and take a look at how the point system works. |
| Ann: Then we’ll finish things off by looking at Dribbling, Shot clock, and Rebounding. |
| Braden: Number five on our list of things to understand about basketball is that it is a team sport. |
| Ann: Basketball is played on a basketball court and there can be a maximum of 12 active players on a basketball team. |
| Braden: Only 5 of these players are allowed on the court at the same time. |
| Ann: The other 7 players are "on the bench." In other words, they can be switched into play at any moment if someone who is on the court comes off. |
| Braden: Our number four thing to understand about basketball is the point system. |
| Ann: In basketball, you score points by putting the ball through the basket. Hence the name—basketball. |
| Braden: Basketball is unique because your distance from the basket determines how many points you earn for putting the ball through the basket. Most points are "2 pointers" or earn two points. |
| Ann: An example of a 2 pointer is the famous "slam dunk"—which is when the player pushes the ball through the basket instead of shooting it from a distance. |
| Braden: There are also the "3 pointers" which earn 3 points. These are made when you shoot from more than 22 feet from the basket. |
| Ann: Last you have "free throws." These are worth 1 point because you are "free" to shoot. In other words, the other team can't try to block you while you shoot and you are quite close to the basket. |
| Braden: The number three thing you'll learn about is dribbling. In basketball, you have to constantly bounce the ball on the court floor. |
| Ann: This is different from American Football where you can just hold the ball and run. In basketball, you can't just hold the ball and walk around. |
| Braden: Dribbling is required and if you try to just hold the ball and walk around you can be penalized by the referees, probably by giving the ball to the other team. |
| Ann: You can dribble in many different ways—fast, slow, medium, high, low, switch between hands, around the back, etc. |
| Braden: That’s right. Dribbling is a way to deceive your opponent so you can get past them and score. |
| Ann: Our number two most important thing to understand about basketball is the "shot clock." The "shot clock" is a 24 second clock that indicates how often a shot needs to take place. |
| Braden: The team with the ball needs to take a shot before those 24 seconds are up. If they don't, then the ball must be given to the other team. |
| Ann: For example, imagine the Chicago Bulls are playing the Phoenix Suns. The Bulls have the ball but are winning so they are playing slowly to waste time. |
| Braden: So the Suns put on a hard defense and keep Chicago from taking any shots. The ball is then automatically given to the Suns. |
| Ann: And our number 1 thing to understand about basketball is rebounding. |
| Braden: First of all, "to rebound" is a verb that means "to bounce back through the air." In basketball, when someone shoots the ball at the basket, misses, and someone else gets the ball, it’s called a rebound. Since the ball is in the air, it's open to anyone and whoever gets the ball first has the chance to score. |
| Ann: That’s right. Rebounding is one of the most important aspects of basketball. If you're on the team that just missed the shot, then you've just given your team another chance to score. |
| Braden: If you're the team that was on defense, now you're on offense and you can try to score yourselves. Since basketball is a high scoring game and you have to have possession of the ball to score, getting the rebound is very important. |
| Ann: When you look at the statistics of a game or individual players, their rebounds will always be listed because it's one of the best measures of how good a basketball player is. |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. Thanks for listening! |
| Ann: Have a great day! |
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