Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players play against each other to shoot a ball through a basket positioned at a height of 3 m. Strength, speed and endurance are key to this sport which is one of the most popular sports in the world.

Goals are scored by shooting the ball through the basket, and the team with the most points at the end of the game wins. The ball must be dribbled or passed around the court, and intentional physical contact is disallowed. There are various rules on how the ball must be handled.

Total days of play : 11 days

Events

Two events (men, women)

Rules

Two teams of five players score points by throwing the ball in their opponent’s basket,
while blocking the other team from taking control of the ball or scoring.

The team that has scored more points at the end of 4 periods (each 10 minutes) or at the end of overtime wins.

First period (10 minutes) a break (2 minutes) a second period (10 minutes) a half-time break (15 minutes)
à third period (10 minutes) a break (2 minutes) a fourth period (10 minutes)

History

Basketball was invented in the USA by Dr. James Naismith of the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts in about 1890 as a game that would keep youths active in the winter season. The game was originally played with a soccer ball by two teams of 9 players who played against each other to throw the ball into peach baskets mounted on opposite sides of the gym.

The Hwangseong YMCA, under the instruction of its first general director Philip L. Gilet, first introduced basketball to Korea in 1903.