Number of Players

If you want to play basketball for fun you have the possibility to play on your own. But you can also play team games with either 1, 2, 3, or 5 players on each teams. Teams can be mixed with boys and girls or not. On a competition level, a team is made of 5 players playing on the court and 5 players sitting on the bench that can be used for substitution during the game period.

Positions

Each player is assigned a position when playing. This position is usually determined by the height of the player. The tallest guy usually plays "center" or "position 5", while the medium size ones play "forwards" or "position 3 and 4". The shortest players then play "guards" or "position 1 and 2".

Scoring

A player scores when he manage to put the ball into the basket from above. Scoring a basket increases the team score by 3, 2 or one point. If the player successfully shoots from outside of the 3 points line, the basket is worth 3 points, other wise it is worth 2 points. It is also possible to score one point when shooting from the free throw line, after a foul for instance.

Violation

A violation occurs when the player infracts the rules of Basketball. A violation results in the awarding of the ball to the opponents. It happens when the player takes more than 2 steps without bouncing the ball on the floor. This is called Traveling. An other violations is when a player stops dribbling and then starts dribbling again or bounces the ball with its two hands at once. We call this a double Dribble. You can also commit a violation if you twist your hand , when in contact with the ball, pass the vertical. This is called Carry, as the hand must always remain on the top of the ball.

Fouls

A foul is an illegal action that can commit a player from one team to a player from the adverse team. Basketball is generally said a non-contact game. If, in particular occasion this is not respected, a foul is committed.

There are two types of fouls. The first ones are called defensive fouls. They occur when the offensive player is being fouled by the defender. Defenders should not block, push, trip, strike or hold the player in possession of the ball. The second ones are the offensive fouls. For example a player in offense commits an offensive foul when charging into a stationary defender.

Referee signals

Administrative signals		Scoring signals
Violation signals