A Girl’s Guide to Basketball

Because I am from New Jersey, but go to school in Wisconsin I get a lot of questions from hometown friends and family about UW-Madison athletics. It seems that everyone is curious about how crazy football game days are, how exhilarating a close hockey game is, and how exciting a Big 10 basketball game must be. What is my go-to response every single time? I LOVE college sports.

While most just assumed I was raving about Badger athletics, I actually spent the past four years of my life completely immersed in college basketball for a reason other than my attendance of a Big 10 university. I may face backlash for this statement, but I am the Division 3 Middlebury Panther’s number one fan.  While I was a huge fan of both of my brothers’ high school basketball teams  but, it was when my older brother became the point guard for the Middlebury Panthers that I realized just how much I love college athletics.

I played the sport for 10 years of my life but I picked up most of my basketball passion and I.Q. from the circulation of 10-15 athletes that made up this team. In high school and in college (after a 2 hour flight home from Madison to New Jersey), I would drive as much as 16 hours in one weekend in a car full of bags, coats, food, my parents, my younger brother, and sometimes my friend Nicole (who happens to be the coach’s daughter and goes to school in New York City) in order to see my beloved team play.

Now that my brother has graduated, I finally have it within me to be a Wisconsin Badger fan through and through (aside from the Midd games I cannot resist but to travel to over winter break). Below, you Badger (and future basketball) fans will find a comprehensive list of important aspects of the sport. Next time you’re hanging out with your guy friends (or even just the girls) use this simple breakdown to show off your newly elevated basketball knowledge!

1. The basic positions – each team plays five players at a time. The “1” position is the point-guard. The point-guard calls plays, brings up the ball on offense, and must be a good passer, shooter, and dribbler. The “2” player is the shooting guard and is usually the best shooter on the team. The “3” position is the small forward and is versatile on the court. Sometimes the small forward resembles the shooting guard but also resembles the responsibility of the “4” position, which is the power forward. The power forward and the “5” position, the center, are typically the biggest on the court and play down low near the basket. While the “4” position sometimes shoots from mid-range, the “4” and “5” are mainly responsible for layups and rebounds.
2. Typical game breakdown – After the ten players get on the court it’s time to get down to business. While high schools and the NBA run on quarters, college basketball has 20-minute halves. There is also a 35 second shot clock. The shot clock starts when a team begins its offensive possession. If the 35 seconds run out before a shot is taken, the other team gets the ball. When a possession starts from the backcourt, which is the side of the court that a team is defending, the players have ten seconds to get the ball into the offensive side of the court. If the team does not cross the center court line in the allotted amount of time, the ball is once again turned over to the other team. These possessions go back and forth throughout the game with layups and mid-range shots being 2 points, shots outside the three-point line being 3 points, and foul shots being 1 point.
3. So many fouls, so little time – Fouls are a big part of basketball, but can also get confusing. Each player is allotted five personal fouls before he or she is thrown out of the game. A shooting foul occurs when a defender fouls a player while that player is in the act of shooting. This allows the shooter to get two free throws, or one free throw if the original shot is made. Some other common fouls include charges (when an offender knocks over a stationary defender), moving screens (when an offender who is setting a pick commits a foul because he/she moved his/her feet), over the back fouls (when a player tries to get the ball by reaching over another player who has already established position to grab a rebound). Flagrant fouls and technical fouls are more serious violations. Flagrant fouls are called when the referees believe a player shows excessive or violent contact against another player and technical fouls can be called on coaches or players alike in violation of any rules (doesn’t have to be physical).
4. Other random facts and tidbits – if a certain player knocks the ball out of bounds, the other team gets to inbound the ball. If the score is tied at the end of 40 minutes of play, there will be a five-minute overtime.  Time outs are a little tricky. In non-broadcast events, each team is allotted four 75-second and two 30-second timeouts per game. In televised games, each team is granted one 60-second timeout and four 30-second timeouts in addition to media timeouts per half.

So there you have it, girls. If you know these basic aspects of basketball not only will your crush be excited that you can follow the entire 40-minute game, but the sport will become more fun to watch! Who knows; maybe you will become a die-hard basketball fan in addition to just a Badger one!

My friend Nicole and I rocking our VIP and Middlebury apparel at the DIII NCAA Elite 8

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