The Rules of Basketball
The standardized regulations for basketball games sometimes vary depending on the tournament being participated in. For example, in the NBA the regulation size of the 3-point line - that is, the line behind which one, when getting the ball through the hoop, gets 3 points - is 23 feet 9 inches, whereas the regulation size for internationally played games is only 20 feet 6 inches. Similarly, the length of a game is determined by the tournament in which it is played. While all games are divided into 4 time periods - or quarters - the length of the quarters in the NBA (12 minutes) is greater than that of the length of the quarters in the FIBA (10 minutes). The size of the courts varies as well. The dimensions of an NBA and NCAA court is 94 feet by 50 feet. The dimensions of any international court are 91.9 feet and 49.2 feet. The rim, however, is almost always 10 feet above the floor.
Each team can consist of up to 12 players, though only 5 from each team
can be on the court at each time. There are two types of fouls that can
awarded: technical fouls and personal fouls. Personal fouls are awarded
when undue contact - such as touching the arm of another player while
they are shooting - occurs between two players. Technical fouls are
awarded for any infraction of the rules that do not involve any undue
personal contact. Technical fouls can also be awarded as a result of
someone who is not a player making an infraction of the rules.
Infractions can also be called when a player breaks one of the rules.
One of the most common is traveling, which occurs when a player moves
both his feet without bouncing - or dribbling - the ball.
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