How Basketball works

A field goal from inside the arc is worth two points and one from beyond it three. A free throw, awarded after certain fouls, is worth one. That three-tier system is why modern offences are built around the arc: a 35% three-point shooter outproduces a 50% two-point shooter.

• Two points — any field goal inside the three-point line
• Three points — a field goal with both feet behind the arc
• One point — each successful free throw

A full court is 28 m by 15 m under FIBA rules, with a hoop 3.05 m above the floor at each end. The painted lane, the free-throw line 4.6 m from the backboard, and the three-point arc divide the floor into the zones every offence and defence is designed around.

FIBA plays four ten-minute quarters; the NBA plays twelve. The clock stops on every whistle, so a ten-minute quarter takes far longer in real time. Tied games go to five-minute overtime periods, repeated until somebody leads at the buzzer.

• Substitutions are unlimited and made during stoppages
• Each team gets a set number of timeouts per half
• Teams switch baskets at half time

A player holding the ball may only move by dribbling — bouncing it continuously with one hand. Taking more than two steps without dribbling is travelling. Stopping a dribble, then starting again, is a double dribble. Both hand possession back to the other team.

• Travelling — moving the pivot foot illegally
• Double dribble — dribbling again after picking the ball up
• Carrying — turning the hand under the ball mid-dribble

Several timers run at once, each designed to stop teams from stalling. The shot clock is the most important: fail to hit the rim within 24 seconds and possession is lost.

• 24-second shot clock (14 after an offensive rebound)
• 8 seconds to advance the ball past halfway
• 3 seconds maximum in the opponents' painted lane
• No returning the ball to your own half once over — a backcourt violation

Illegal contact is a personal foul. A player fouled while shooting gets free throws — two, or three from beyond the arc. Once a team commits five fouls in a quarter it is 'in the penalty', and every subsequent foul sends the opposition to the line.

• Five personal fouls (six in the NBA) means disqualification
• A technical foul punishes conduct rather than contact
• A flagrant foul is unnecessary or excessive contact

Traditionally: point guard runs the offence, shooting guard scores from distance, small forward does a bit of everything, power forward works the mid-range and the glass, and centre anchors both painted areas. Modern basketball has blurred these almost beyond recognition — the most valuable player is now often whoever can do several of them at once.