Basketballlllllllllllll

موضوع: Basketballlllllllllllll الخميس فبراير 19, 2009 2:42 pm

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m) high hoop (the goal) under organized rules. Basketball is one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the world.^[1]
Points are scored by shooting the ball through the basket above; the
team with more points at the end of the game wins. The ball can be
advanced on the court by bouncing it (dribbling) or passing it between teammates. Disruptive physical contact (foul) is not permitted and there are restrictions on how the ball can be handled (violations).
Through time, basketball has developed to involve common techniques
of shooting, passing and dribbling, as well as players' positions, and
offensive and defensive structures. Typically, the tallest members of a
team will play center or one of two forward positions, while shorter players or those who possess the best ball handling skills and speed, play the guard positions. While competitive basketball is carefully regulated, numerous variations of basketball have developed for casual play. In some countries, basketball is also a popular spectator sport.
While competitive basketball is primarily an indoor sport, played on a basketball court, less regulated variations have become exceedingly popular as an outdoor sport among both inner city and rural groups.
HistoryIn early December 1891, Dr. James Naismith,^[2] a Canadian physical education professor from McGill University of Montréal and instructor at YMCA Training School^[3] (today, Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 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
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 a hole was drilled
into the bottom of the basket, 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. A soccer ball was used to shoot goals. Whenever a
person got the ball in the basket, his team would gain a point.
Whichever team got the most points won the game.^[4]
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.^[5]
Naismith's handwritten diaries, discovered by his granddaughter in
early 2006, indicate that he was nervous about the new game he had
invented, which incorporated rules from a children's game called "Duck on a Rock", as many had failed before it. Naismith called the new game "Basket Ball".^[6]
The first official game was played in the YMCA gymnasium on January
20, 1892 with nine players. The game ended at 1-0; the shot was made
from 25 feet (7.6 m), on a court just half the size of a present-day Streetball or National Basketball Association (NBA) court. By 1897–1898 teams of five became standard.
Women's basketball began in 1892 at Smith College when Senda Berenson,
a physical education teacher, modified Naismith's rules for women.
Shortly after she was hired at Smith, she went to Naismith to learn
more about the game. Fascinated by the new sport and the values it
could teach, she organized the first women’s collegiate basketball game
on March 21, 1893, when her Smith freshmen and sophomores played
against one another. Her rules were first published in 1899 and two
years later Berenson became the editor of A.G. Spalding’s first Women's Basketball Guide, which further spread her version of basketball for women.
Basketball's early adherents were dispatched to YMCAs throughout the
United States, and it quickly spread through the USA and Canada. By
1895, it was well established at several women's high schools. While
the YMCA was responsible for initially developing and spreading the
game, within a decade it discouraged the new sport, as rough play and
rowdy crowds began to detract from the YMCA's primary mission. However,
other amateur sports clubs, colleges, and professional clubs quickly
filled the void. In the years before World War I, the Amateur Athletic Union and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States NCAA)
vied for control over the rules for the game. The first pro league, the
National Basketball League, was formed in 1898 to protect players from
exploitation and to promote a less rough game. This league only lasted
5 years. (forerunner of the
By the 1950s, basketball had become a major college sport, thus
paving the way for a growth of interest in professional basketball. In
1959, a basketball hall of fame
was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts. Its rosters include the
names of great players, coaches, referees and people who have
contributed significantly to the development of the game.
Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball. The first balls made specifically for basketball were brown, and it was only in the late 1950s that Tony Hinkle,
searching for a ball that would be more visible to players and
spectators alike, introduced the orange ball that is now in common use.
Dribbling was not part of the original game except for the "bounce
pass" to teammates. Passing the ball was the primary means of ball
movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the
asymmetric shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a major part of
the game around the 1950s as manufacturing improved the ball shape.
Basketball, netball, dodgeball, volleyball, and lacrosse are the only ball games which have been identified as being invented by North Americans. Other ball games, such as baseball and Canadian football, have Commonwealth of Nations,
European, Asian or African connections. Although there is no direct
evidence as yet that the idea of basketball came from the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame, knowledge of that game had been available for at least 50 years prior to Naismith's creation in the writings of John Lloyd Stephens and Alexander von Humboldt. Stephen's works especially, which included drawings by Frederick Catherwood, were available at most educational institutions in the 19th century and also had wide popular circulation.