CHAPTER 1

PREPARING FOR THE SEASON

Before you can coach basketball, you need to have a basic knowledge of the rulesof the game, starting with where it's played.

About the Game

The Court

Basketball is played on a playing surface called the court. Courts can beindoors or outdoors. The surface can be made of wood, concrete, or asphalt. Somecourts are carpeted, and some have hard rubber surfaces. The best (and mostexpensive) courts are made of maple wood.

College courts are 94 feet long and 50 feet wide, but the dimensions of middleschool and high school courts vary.

Basic Rules

Basketball is a complicated game with many rules. If you're a rookie coach, itwill take some game experience before you learn everything you need to know.Here are the basics:

Object of the game. As with most other team sports, the team with the mostpoints at the end of the game wins.

The ball. There are several sizes of basketballs, but for girls' basketball,you'll use the standard women's ball, which is 28.5 inches in circumference. Allthe major manufacturers, such as Wilson and Spalding, manufacture this size ballin both indoor and outdoor versions. You can buy women's balls at any goodsporting goods outlet.

Number of players and substitutions. There are five players on the court foreach team. The coach can substitute fresh players at any time, from one playerup to five at a time. There are no limitations on how many times in the gamesubstitutions can be made and how many times a player can come in and out of thegame. Substitutions can be made only on a dead ball, when the referee blows thewhistle and play stops. You can substitute after the first of two free throwsand after the last free throw, but you can't substitute before the first freethrow. The only player for whom you can't substitute is the player shooting atthe free throw line.

Time. The length of the game varies, depending on the level and age. Collegegames last 40 minutes, divided into two 20-minute halves. High school games last32 minutes, divided into 8-minute quarters, but some high schools use 16-minutehalves. The time between quarters is brief—1 minute is the norm—and the timebetween halves is no more than 10 minutes. Some high school leagues use a 30-secondshot clock, meaning that the team with the ball must shoot within 30seconds of the moment they gain possession, or the ball is given to the otherteam. Middle school leagues don't have a shot clock, though some use a runningclock, meaning that the clock doesn't stop every time the referee blows thewhistle. This is done to ensure that the game ends on time and the next game canbegin when scheduled.

The baskets. Each basket consists of a rim with a net attached to a backboard,which is attached to a structural support, like a pole. Some baskets are fixedin place, and some can be raised to the ceiling to get them out of the way. Eachteam has its own basket at one end of the court. Both teams sit alongside onelength of the court, each on one side of the scorers' table. At the start of thegame, your team's basket is the near basket. For the first half, your playerswill defend this basket and will try to score at the other team's basket (at thefar end). At halftime, the teams will switch baskets—your team will now defendthe far basket and will try to score at the near basket. Prior to the start ofthe first half, teams warm up at the other team's basket.

Scoring. When a player shoots and scores from anywhere inside the 3-point arc,it counts as 2 points. Any shot made from outside the 3-point arc counts as 3points. (In high school, the arc is 19 feet from the basket.) For the shot tocount as 3 points, the shooter's feet must not touch the arc. If even her toe ison the line, it's considered a 2-point basket, not a 3-point basket. Two-pointshots and 3-point shots are field goals. Free throws are awarded to a player whohas been fouled. Free throws, shot from the free throw line, or foul line, areworth 1 point. The foul line is 15 feet from the basket. If a team mistakenlyscores at the wrong basket (this sometimes happens with younger players!), thebasket counts for the other team.

Moving the ball. When a team has possession of the ball, it tries to move theball close to the other team's basket for a good scoring opportunity. Playerscan advance the ball by dribbling (bouncing the ball on the floor with one hand)and passing (throwing) it to a teammate, subject to certain rules. When theythrow the ball at the basket to try to score, they are shooting the ball. Asnoted above, different kinds of successful shots (made shots), result in scoringfrom 1 to 3 points.

Defending the basket. When a team doesn't have possession of the ball, itdefends its basket. Players are allowed to gain possession of the ball from theother team at any time through stealing passes, stealing dribbles, and gettingdefensive rebounds, subject to the limitations regarding fouls. A good defensiveteam makes it hard for the offensive team to do what it wants to do. A gooddefender makes it hard for her player to catch, dribble, pass, and shoot.

Rules about Fouls

The rules about fouls are designed to keep the game from getting too rough andto penalize players who violate the rules. One of the referee's main duties isto enforce the rules about fouling. Each time a foul is committed, the refereeblows the whistle and play stops. The referee uses a hand signal to indicatewhat the foul was and calls out the number of the player who committed the foul("Number 32 ... blocking"). (See the referee hand signals in the Appendix.)

Personal fouls happen when a player makes physical contact with an opponent in amanner not allowed by the rules. Contact is the key component. If there's nocontact, if the player didn't touch the other player, there's no foul.

A defender can foul a player with the ball or without the ball. When she fouls aplayer who is shooting, such as by hitting her arm or hand, it's a shootingfoul. If the shot scores, the referee signals and one, which means the shootergets to shoot a free throw as well. If the shot misses, the shooter is awardedtwo free throws in the case of a 2-point shot and three free throws in the caseof a 3-point shot.

When a defender fouls a player without the ball, it's a nonshooting foul. Aplayer (the inbounder) from the team that was fouled passes (inbounds) the ballto a teammate from a spot outside of the court boundaries. The spot is along thenearest line (baseline or sideline) to where the foul occurred.

Some of the most common nonshooting fouls are the following...