Serie A fixtures
Playing on Saturday
Parma v AS Roma (1600)
AC Milan v Fiorentina (1845)
Playing on Sunday
Atalanta Bergamo v Bologna (1300)
Bari v Genoa (1300)
Cagliari v Udinese (1300)
Catania v Juventus (1300)
Chievo Verona v Napoli (1300)
Sampdoria v Livorno (1300)
Siena v Palermo (1300)
Lazio v Inter Milan (1845)
Rules of Basketball
Basketball has very uncomplicated rules and according to Dr James Naismith there are certain rules for the game and with time these rules were modified a bit to suit the present day playing conditions. The Basketball game consists of five players on each side and the teams can have 5 substitute players who can be substituted at any point of the game.
Rules for playing with the ball: The ball can be thrown in any direction and both hands can be used to throw around the ball but remember fists cannot be used. And the player cannot run with ball he/she must throw the ball from where they caught it. Also mind you should hold the ball in your hands only, using arms or any other part of the body is stirctitly prohibited. If the ball goes out of the bound it should be thrown into the field and the first person who touches the ball will play. In case of any dispute the umpire will intervene and throw the ball straight into the field. The thrower cannot keep the ball for more than five seconds else the ball will be passed on to the opponent.
Positioning of the players: The players get their position in the game based on their heights: The tallest player of the team will get the center position; the average height players will get the forward position, and the short players will get the guards position.
Scoring: The team makes points only if the ball is thrown into the basket and passes clean above the hoop. If the player is able to throw successfully inside the basket from the 3 points line they score three points else it will be two points. If the ball is thrown from the ground inside the basket without making contact with defending players then it is considered as a goal and even if the opponent shakes the basket when the ball is balancing at the edge, it will be counted as a goal.
Foul: Pushing, tripping, shouldering the opponent amounts to foul play. If the play does infringes the rule at first it will be counted as foul the second time he/she will be disqualified until the nest basket and if the intent to injure the opponent is confirmed then the player will be disqualified from the game and mid you there is no substitution is made for foul play. And three consecutive fouls will gain a goal for the opponent.
Match duration: The basketball match will be played in four quarters of 12 minutes each and the total of 48 minutes of the game is determined with a stop clock to keep a check when the game is stopped due to some reason.
Tuesday’s Top 10 Plays
NBA’s quest for glory
NBA with the successful domination in US sports history, started unveiling its plans to expand its market and viewer ship across the world and thus emerge as the leading sport across the world. In the first of its kind NBA is bringing two of its franchises to UK in the footsteps of the New Jersey Nets and Miami Heat in the London last autumn. With the success of that game NBA again plans to host the game between Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls at the same venue.
NBA is just following the way NFL made a name for itself in the European and global markets for its football sport over the previous years. NBA implemented the same idea to gain entry into the European markets and at the same time please their fans. Until now of all the US sporting federations, only National Basketball Association or NBA neglected and ignored the huge global markets. This time NBA even set up office in London exclusively to look after the expansion strategies in the country.
The talk of the ?39th game? is indicative of the paradigm shift in the outlook of how NBA views the market now and in previous instances. Their shift is due to the success of the player of Asian origin-the Chinese star Yao Ming. His success for Houston Rockets in the NBA frenzied the Chinese and subsequently NBA decided to cash in on the Chinese interest generated in the sport thus paving way for the opening of office in China. The success of the Chinese venture emboldened NBA to look at new international markets.
The same is the case with London markets. They roped in Luol Deng who of Sudanese origin representing Chicago Bulls. He is from London. This enables to create interest in people of UK and in particular London. Now it all boils down to the interest generated in the match between Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz. As this is the unofficial fixture one should be cautious on the response it draws from the crowd. But with the local sport persons playing in the games, naturally people?s interest will be drawn towards the sports.
So depending on the success of its matches across the world, one can expect NBA opening up new offices across the globe to cash in on its growing popularity across the world by encouraging local talents. One need not be surprised if NBA decides to organize a match in their place or opens a new office in its expansion drive. People will be definitely excited by the new NBA initiative, as with the wide reach of the sports channels they will be eagerly watching each and every initiative NBA takes to gain people?s popularity.