Basketball is an extremely popular team sport that is followed closely by sports news providers. The game includes two teams that compete against one another to get the highest number of goals in a stipulated time frame. Both teams consist of five players each who try to score these points by passing the ball through the 10 foot high hoop also referred to as the goal. There are a set of organized rules that all these players must abide by.
One of the most popular games around the globe, points in basketball are scored by shooting the ball through the basket by the method of either throwing the ball from across a distance or by dunking or slamming the ball through the basket ring. The ball is advanced between players by passing it or by dribbling it. There are restrictions that foresee any disorderly physical contact or violating the means by which the ball is passed resulting in a foul.
After the given time the team that creates the highest score is declared the winner, however, at times in case of a tie, an overtime or added time may be provided to conclude the game.
There are several strategies that are implemented to advance the standing of the team and increase its probability of winning. Positioning of players, throwing and dribbling techniques, defense and offence strategies all play an extremely vital role in this. It is often seen that mostly the tallest player in the team is placed in the centre or in the forward positions and the guard positions are given to players who are adept at handling the ball well or are high on speed.
Basketball started in the early 1800s and has now significantly evolved since. Initially played with a soccer ball, the basketball design kept changing. Finally in the 1950s the orange basketball was created and has long been inplay.
Basketball too, just like American football, initially developed and rose to popularity as being a college game. The first inter-college basketball match is said to held in 1895 in Hamline University. As basketball increasingly began to be in sports news the need for a basketball association arose. This led to the formation of the Basketball Association of America in 1946. The name of this association ended up being changed to the National Basketball Association following its merger with the National Basketball League in 1949.
The National Basketball Association or even the NBA as it is more popularly known is made up of 30 teams from North America and zone team from Canada. The NBA is the recognized governing body for basketball in the USA as decided by the International Basketball Federation. The regular NBA basketball season sees an overall total of 82 games being played by each team. Of these 41 games are played in the teams home base along with the rest in other locations.
Probably the most comprehensive basketball sports news is provided in Sporting News, that is an American sports news magazine. It follows the NBA games closely and also gives an unofficial, yet very widely publicized, “Executive of the Year” award to the general manager of the best performing team.