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Betting
System
Sports betting is the general
activity of predicting sports results by making a wager on the
outcome of a sporting event. Perhaps more so than other forms of
gambling, the legality and general acceptance of sport betting
varies from nation to nation.
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Basketball
Basketball is a
team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score
points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m)
high hoop (the goal) under organized rules. Basketball is one of the
most popular and widely viewed sports in the world.
Points are scored by shooting the ball through the basket above; the
team with more points at the end of the game wins. The ball can be
advanced on the court by bouncing it (dribbling) or passing it between
teammates. Disruptive physical contact (foul) is not permitted and there
are restrictions on how the ball can be handled (violations).
Through time, basketball has developed to involve common techniques of
shooting, passing and dribbling, as well as players' positions, and
offensive and defensive structures. Typically, the tallest members of a
team will play center or one of two forward positions, while shorter
players or those who possess the best ball handling skills and speed,
play the guard positions. While competitive basketball is carefully
regulated, numerous variations of basketball have developed for casual
play. In some countries, basketball is also a popular spectator sport.
While competitive basketball is primarily an indoor sport, played on a
basketball court, less regulated variations have become exceedingly
popular as an outdoor sport among both inner city and rural groups.
History
In early December 1891, Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian physical
education professor from McGill University of Montréal and instructor at
YMCA Training School (today, Springfield College) in Springfield,
Massachusetts, USA, sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students
occupied and at proper levels of fitness during the long New England
winters. After rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly
suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a
peach basket onto a 10-foot (3.05 m) elevated track. In contrast with
modern basketball nets, this peach basket retained its bottom, and balls
had to be retrieved manually after each "basket" or point scored; this
proved inefficient, however, so a hole was drilled into the bottom of
the basket, allowing the balls to be poked out with a long dowel each
time. The peach baskets were used until 1906 when they were finally
replaced by metal hoops with backboards. A further change was soon made,
so the ball merely passed through, paving the way for the game we know
today. A soccer ball was used to shoot goals. Whenever a person got the
ball in the basket, his team would gain a point. Whichever team got the
most points won the game. Naismith's handwritten diaries, discovered by
his granddaughter in early 2006, indicate that he was nervous about the
new game he had invented, which incorporated rules from a children's
game called "Duck on a Rock", as many had failed before it. Naismith
called the new game "Basket Ball".
The first official game was played in the YMCA gymnasium on January 20,
1892 with nine players and the game ended at 1-0 and the shot was made
from 25 feet (7.6 m), on a court just half the size of a present-day
Streetball or National Basketball Association (NBA) court. By 1897–1898
teams of five became standard.
Women's basketball began in 1892 at Smith College when Senda Berenson, a
physical education teacher, modified Naismith's rules for women. Shortly
after she was hired at Smith, she went to Naismith to learn more about
the game. Fascinated by the new sport and the values it could teach, she
organized the first women’s collegiate basketball game on March 21,
1893, when her Smith freshmen and sophomores played against one another.
Her rules were first published in 1899 and two years later Berenson
became the editor of A.G. Spalding’s first Women's Basketball Guide,
which further spread her version of basketball for women.
Basketball's early adherents were dispatched to YMCAs throughout the
United States, and it quickly spread through the USA and Canada. By
1895, it was well established at several women's high schools. While the
YMCA was responsible for initially developing and spreading the game,
within a decade it discouraged the new sport, as rough play and rowdy
crowds began to detract from the YMCA's primary mission. However, other
amateur sports clubs, colleges, and professional clubs quickly filled
the void. In the years before World War I, the Amateur Athletic Union
and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States
(forerunner of the NCAA) vied for control over the rules for the game.
The first pro league, the National Basketball League, was formed in 1898
to protect players from exploitation and to promote a less rough game.
This league only lasted 5 years.
By the 1950s, basketball had become a major college sport, thus paving
the way for a growth of interest in professional basketball. In 1959, a
basketball hall of fame was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts. Its
rosters include the names of great players, coaches, referees and people
who have contributed significantly to the development of the game.
Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball. The first balls
made specifically for basketball were brown, and it was only in the late
1950s that Tony Hinkle, searching for a ball that would be more visible
to players and spectators alike, introduced the orange ball that is now
in common use. Dribbling was not part of the original game except for
the "bounce pass" to teammates. Passing the ball was the primary means
of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the
asymmetric shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a major part of
the game around the 1950s as manufacturing improved the ball shape.
Basketball, netball, dodgeball, volleyball, and lacrosse are the only
ball games which have been identified as being invented by North
Americans. Other ball games, such as baseball and Canadian football,
have Commonwealth of Nations, European, Asian or African connections.
Although there is no direct evidence as yet that the idea of basketball
came from the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame, knowledge of that game had
been available for at least 50 years prior to Naismith's creation in the
writings of John Lloyd Stephens and Alexander von Humboldt. Stephen's
works especially, which included drawings by Frederick Catherwood, were
available at most educational institutions in the 19th century and also
had wide popular circulation.
College basketball and early leagues
Dr. James Naismith was instrumental in establishing college basketball.
He coached at the University of Kansas for six years before handing the
reins to renowned coach Forrest "Phog" Allen. Naismith's disciple Amos
Alonzo Stagg brought basketball to the University of Chicago, while
Adolph Rupp, a student of Naismith's at Kansas, enjoyed great success as
coach at the University of Kentucky. In 1892, University of California
and Miss Head's School, played the first women's inter-institutional
game. Berenson's freshmen played the sophomore class in the first
women's collegiate basketball game at Smith College, March 21, 1893. The
same year, Mount Holyoke and Sophie Newcomb College (coached by Clara
Gregory Baer) women began playing basketball. By 1895, the game had
spread to colleges across the country, including Wellesley, Vassar and
Bryn Mawr. On February 9, 1895 The first intercollegiate 5-on-5 game was
played at Hamline University between Hamline and the School of
Agriculture which was affiliated with University of Minnesota.[6][7] The
School of Agriculture won in a 9-3 game. The first intercollegiate
women's game was on April 4, 1896. Stanford women played Berkeley,
9-on-9, ending in a 2-1 Stanford victory. In 1901, colleges, including
the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Dartmouth College,
University of Minnesota, the U.S. Naval Academy, the University of Utah
and Yale University began sponsoring men's games. By 1910, frequent
injuries on the men's courts prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to
suggest that college basketball form a governing body, resulting in the
creation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United
States (IAAUS). In 1910, that body would change its name to the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The first Canadian interuniversity basketball game was played in
Kingston, Ontario in December, 1902, when McGill University visited
Queen's University; McGill won 10-6.
Teams abounded throughout the 1920s. There were hundreds of men's
professional basketball teams in towns and cities all over the United
States and little organization of the professional game. Players jumped
from team to team and teams played in armories and smoky dance halls.
Leagues came and went. Barnstorming squads such as the Original Celtics
and two all African American teams, the New York Renaissance Five ("Rens")
and (still in existence as of 2008) the Harlem Globetrotters played up
to two hundred games a year on their national tours. Women's basketball
was more structured. In 1905, the National Women's Basketball
Committee's Executive Committee on Basket Ball Rules was created by the
American Physical Education Association. These rules called for six to
nine players per team and 11 officials. The International Women's Sports
Federation (1924) included a women's basketball competition. 37 women's
high school varsity basketball or state tournaments were held by 1925.
And in 1926, the Amateur Athletic Union backed the first national
women's basketball championship, complete with men's rules. The first
women's AAU All-America team was chosen in 1929. Women's industrial
leagues sprang up throughout the nation, producing famous athletes like
Babe Didrikson of the Golden Cyclones and the All American Red Heads
Team who competed against men's teams, using men's rules. By 1938, the
women's national championship changed from a three-court game to
two-court game with six players per team. The first men's national
championship tournament, the National Association of Intercollegiate
Basketball tournament, which still exists as the National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) tournament, was organized in 1937. The
first national championship for NCAA teams, the National Invitation
Tournament (NIT) in New York, was organized in 1938; the NCAA national
tournament would begin one year later.
College basketball was rocked by gambling scandals from 1948 to 1951,
when dozens of players from top teams were implicated in match fixing
and point shaving. Partially spurred by an association with cheating,
the NIT lost support to the NCAA tournament. |
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