Basketball is a very popular team sport which is followed closely by sports news providers. The game consists of two teams that compete against one another to get the maximum number of goals in a stipulated time frame. Both teams include 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 these players must abide by.
Probably the most popular games around the globe, points in basketball are scored by shooting the ball in the basket through the means 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 through which the ball is passed resulting in a foul.
After the given time the team that makes the highest score is declared the winner, however, sometimes in the event of a tie, an overtime or additional time could be given to conclude the game.
There are several strategies which are carried out to advance the standing of the team and increase its chances of winning. Positioning of players, throwing and dribbling techniques, defense and offence strategies all play an extremely vital role in this. It has been seen that mostly the tallest player within the team is placed at the center or in the forward positions and the guard positions are given to players that are adept at handling the ball well or are high on speed.
Basketball originated in the initial 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 designed and continues to be inplay.
Basketball too, just like American football, initially developed and rose to popularity as a college game. The first inter-college basketball match is claimed 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 was then changed to the National Basketball Association following its merger with the National Basketball League in 1949.
The National Basketball Association or 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 United States as decided by the International Basketball Federation. The regular NBA basketball season sees a total of 82 games being played by each team. Of these 41 games are played in the teams home base and the rest in other locations.
Some of the most comprehensive basketball sports news is given 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.