|
|
Keeping Track Of Time In Basketball
Time is money. In everyday life, it feels as if it is always fleeting, always running away from us as if we need to catch it, like the way Cleveland plays as NBA blogger Sherman Mazur Describes them. In basketball, time is no different. Aside from the five guys on the floor, players always find themselves competing against the clock.
The most obvious is the shot clock violation. The shot clock gives each team exactly twenty four seconds to shoot once any of their five players are in clear possession of the ball, on the basketball court. It will only reset if the ball hits the rim. Should the shot clock expire, ball possession will change and it will be counted as a turnover for the last player holding the basketball.
However, once a team is in possession of the ball, the shot clock is not the only one ticking against them. Even before the shot clock ticks, when a player is still inbounding, the referee is tasked with giving him five seconds only to get the ball to a teammate.
When the ball is finally inbounded, just as the shot clock starts, so does the eight second backcourt rule. This rule states that a player should get the ball across half court within eight seconds. Failure to do so will result into a turnover, and giving up possession. All these should be at the back of players' minds as they play, which is why it is important to keep your head in the game. Even players watching from the bench should keep track of these details of the game, so that when they are called upon, they know exactly what to do, and exactly how much time they have to do it.
Basketball games are typically divided into four quarters. In the National Basketball Association, each quarter is played for a total of twelve minutes. During the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, the officials employ what is called stop-time. This means that every time no one is in possession of the ball, they stop the time to make it expire at a slower rate, as compared to the running time they use during the rest of the three quarters.
Aside from the on-court times players have to watch out for, there are also clocks that coaches have to watch. Coaches have to watch the time as they call timeouts. Be it a twenty second, or a full (sixty second) timeout, teams have to be wary because not going back on the court on time will result into a possible delay of game violation that means a technical foul. It will give the other team a free throw plus possession of the basketball out of the timeout. This wasted point and possession may be hard to give up in some situations, especially in close games, and may even be momentum-changing in some.
Other kinds of timeouts are injury and technical timeouts. Self-explanatory, they go on for as long as there is a problem or injury that needs to be fixed. Playing will resume after the said injury or malfunction is properly addressed.
As said earlier, even players on the bench and the coaching staff should keep track of game clocks to be ready whenever they are called upon, or to make sure that they do not suffer any disadvantages from clock malfunctions.
|
 |
Please Rate: |
|
Rating: |
 Processing ... |
(Average: Not rated) |
| Views: | 19 | |
|
| More Articles from Basketball | | |
| Top Articles in Basketball | | |
|
