Basketball

Basketball, a sport of two teams comprising five players in each team. The team tries to score points on one another by throwing a ball through a hoop (known as basket) under an organized rules. The team having more points at the end of the game wins.

If the shot is of regular jump inside the arch, it is worth of two points. Three points are awarded if the jump shot is beyond the arch and one point for a free throw. Within the court the ball can be advanced by bouncing it or passing it between teammates.

DO YOU KNOW

The only essential equipment in basketball is the ball and the court
Competitive levels game require the use of more equipment such as clocks, scoresheets, scoreboards, alternating possession arrows, and whistle-operated stop-clock systems.	Basketball court in international games is 28 by 15 meters (approx. 92 by 49 ft) and in the NBA is 94 by 50 feet (29 by 15 m).
A cast iron basket with net and backboard hang over each end of the court.	At almost all levels of competition, the top of the rim is exactly 10 feet (3.05 m) above the court and 4 feet (1.2 m) inside the endline.

HISTORY OF BASKETBALL

• Basketball, as a game began in 1891.
• Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian physician of McGill University founded the game to keep his students occupied during the long New England winters and he wrote the basic rules.
• Then, a type of similar game was known as "Duck on a rock."
• Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball.
• The first ball of the sport made was brown. In late 1950s, Tony Hinkle introduced orange ball that were more visible to players and spectators.

BASKETBALL IN OLYMPICS

Olympic medalists in Basketball are as cited below:

FOR MEN

1976	Gold: United States	Silver: Yugoslavia	Bronze: Soviet Union
1980	Gold: Yugoslavia	Silver: Italy	Bronze: Soviet Union
1984	Gold: United States	Silver: Spain	Bronze: Yugoslavia
1988	Gold: Soviet Union	Silver: Yugoslavia	Bronze: United States
1992	Gold: United States	Silver: Croatia	Bronze: Lithuania
1996	Gold: United States	Silver: Yugoslavia	Bronze: Lithuania
2000	Gold: United States	Silver: France	Bronze: Lithuania

FOR WOMEN

1976	Gold: Soviet Union	Silver: United States	Bronze: Bulgaria
1980	Gold: Soviet Union	Silver: Bulgaria	Bronze: Yugoslavia
1984	Gold - United States	Silver: South Korea	Bronze: People's Republic of China
1988	Gold: United States	Silver: Yugoslavia	Bronze: Soviet Union
1992	Gold: Unified Team*	Silver: People's Republic of China	Bronze: United States
1996	Gold: United States	Silver: Brazil	Bronze: Australia
2000	Gold: United States	Silver: Australia	Bronze: Brazil