As I was contemplating what to write about next I realized I have missed one topic that is near and dear to almost every Chinese guy’s heart that I have met, basketball. So I decided to do some vocabulary for the sport so next time you are watching or playing the game, you can practice your English with these words!

Court – Ball – Net/Basket/Hoop – backboard – Forward (Small & Power) – Guard (Point & Shooting) – Center – Offense – Defense – Tip Off – Rebound – Jump Shot – Set Shot – Lay Up – Three Pointer – Slam Dunk – Dribbling – Pass (Chest, Bounce, Overhead & No Look) – Assist – Violation – Personal Foul – Technical Foul – Traveling – Double Dribble – Charging – Goaltending – Elbowing – Draft – Free Throw – MVP – Overtime – Possession – Referee – Shot Clock – Substitute – Box Out – Out of Bounds – Live Ball/Dead Ball – Double Team – Free Agent (Restricted/Unrestricted)

Court - The Basketball Court is the actual place you play the game. Usually it is a large rectangle with two nets at either end. On the ground are many lines with different purposes. The lines are labeled on the picture below.

Ball - The ball is of course the most important part of Basketball.










Net/Basket/Hoop & Backboard - Also vital to the game of Basketball, the basket is what you want the ball to go through and the backboard can be used to bounce the ball off of when putting the ball through the basket. The basket is also called the Hoop or the Net.





Positions: Forward (Small & Power) / Guard (Point & Shooting) / Center - There are five main positions in basketball, they have different jobs, strengths and weaknesses. Their general positioning during Offense drives is listed below.

Offense/Defense - The Offense is when you are attacking to get a basket and Defense is when you are defending your net to try and ensure the other team does not score.









Tip Off – The tip off is the start of the game, the two centers will line up at the center line and the referee will throw the ball straight up into the air, the two centers must jump up and try to knock the ball to one of their players.





Rebound - A rebound is what happens after the ball has been shot towards the net and missed, the players under the net will all jump up to try and get the rebound. A good rebound player has a great ability for ball control and is usually either really tall or can jump really well.








Jump Shot – A jump shot is a very popular style of shot where the shooter will plant their feet on the ground, bend their knees and spring their body up into the air, while in the air they will shoot the ball towards the net. This allows them to get more air and lets the shot go over the heads of those around them.











Set Shot – A set shot has mostly been replaced by the jump shot but is still used at times. Similar to the jump shot you will plant your feet on the ground, bend your knees and spring your body up, but usually your feet will not leave the ground during a set shot.







Lay Up – A layup is a basic technique for getting the ball into the net. It is when a player will drive towards the basket with the ball, take two steps while holding the ball and then jump up towards the basket, the ball is raised up and pushed towards the backboard to bounce off the back and into the net.












Three Pointer - A three pointer is when the shooter is standing outside the “three point circle” so that if the shot goes in the basket their team will get three points instead of the regular two points.











Slam Dunk – A slam dunk is when a player drives to the net, jumps up into the air and puts the ball directly into the net without shooting. It is a very popular method of scoring because it is very hard to stop as well it looks really good so everyone gets excited by them.










Dribbling – To dribble in basketball means to simply bounce the ball on the ground. When you move in basketball you must be dribbling the ball at all time or you will get called for a violation.




Pass (Chest, Bounce, Overhead & No Look) - A pass is how you move the ball from one player to another player. There are many types of passes but the four main ones are A)Chest Pass: Hold the ball with two hands at your chest, push the ball away from you and release it to throw it to the other player. B)Bounce Pass: Throw the ball in the direction of the other player but so that it hits the ground halfway between you and bounces off the ground and up to the other player. C)Overhead Pass: Hold the ball with two hands above your head and throw the ball with an arcing motion over your head. This allows you to throw the ball over defenders. D)No Look Pass: This is dangerous so it’s not recommended but if you get good at it, it can be very surprising and hard to defend against. Don’t look at the other person but still throw the ball to them.

Assist – Players will get an assist if they throw the ball to another team mate in a way that helps to setup the basket.







Violation – A violation is what happens when you break the rules. Generally the Referee will blow his whistle, tell everyone what the violation was using body language and then inflict the penalty on the offending team.







Personal Foul – A personal foul is any violation against another player that includes contact. Some common types of personal fouls are Charging, Blocking, Illegal screening, Holding and Elbowing.








Technical Foul - A technical foul is any violation which does not include contact between players. Some common types of technical fouls are Goaltending, Illegal Substitution and Delay of Game. Home team fans can even be assigned technical fouls for using excessive noise or throwing items, these fouls will go against the home team.







Traveling - Traveling happens when the player with the ball takes two steps without dribbling the ball at all. The ball is turned over to the other team.













Double Dribble - Double Dribble is when a player with the ball is dribbling the ball, stops and holds onto the ball, then tries to start dribbling again. Once you have stopped dribbling the ball you must throw the ball to another player before you can move again.











Charging/Blocking - Charging is what happens when a player with a ball tries to move forward and runs into a defender who has both feet placed firmly on the ground. Blocking is when a player on the defense has illegal contact with an opposing player which tries to stop the other player from moving forward.








Goaltending - Goaltending when you interfere with the ball when it is on its way to the basket and it is in its downward flight, entirely above the rim and has the possibility of entering the basket, and not touching the rim.







Elbowing – Elbowing is the illegal use of your elbow, when you throw your elbow around your body. It does not necessarily have to contact another person, though if it does it will often get an even more harsh penalty, often with the person in question being thrown out of the game.






Free Throw – A free throw is a common punishment when the defending team commits a foul against the offensive side while they are shooting the ball towards the basket. The player who was fouled stands at the free throw line and is allowed to take two set shots, each one worth one point. However, if they scored a basket while being fouled, the basket is allowed plus the player will get one free throw shot to score another point.





MVP - MVP stands for Most Valuable Player and is the player judged to have helped their team the most in a game or season.










Overtime – Overtime is what happens when at the end of the game the points are even and neither team has won. Different leagues have different rules but generally there will be one more shorter period played to try and decide the winner.





Possession – Possession just refers to whoever has control of the ball at any point in time. If I have the ball, I have possession. If you then take the ball from me, I have lost possession and you have gained possession.









Referee - The referee is the person who is in charge of deciding when a foul happens as well as keeping track of the time, the score and such things.










Shot Clock – The shot clock is a clock which times how long any team has had possession of the ball without shooting. Different leagues have different times allowed, but if the shot clock reaches 0 the team with the ball will lose possession.





Substitute – A substitute is a person who waits on the side line and if a player on the court is tired or not playing so well, their coach will call for a substitution and the player on the court will come off while one player from the side will take their place. most teams have what they call a “Sixth Man” which is the best substitute on the side, this is the person that most commonly is asked to go onto the court in a substitution.

Box Out – To box someone out you are the defender, the person you are defending has the ball and takes the shot. After they shoot, the defender should turn their back to the shooter bend their knees to be able to move easily and hold their arms out from their sides. Maintain contact with the shooter to keep them pinned behind you. In this way you can ensure that if the shot misses you are in a better position to rebound the ball than the shooter.



Out of Bounds – Out of Bounds is what happens when the ball touches the floor outside of the side or back lines or when the player with the ball allows their foot to touch the ground outside the playing area. If the ball or player goes out of bounds the play is immediately stopped, the ball is dead and the team which last touched the ball or had possession turns the ball over to the other team.

Live Ball/Dead Ball – A live ball is one that is still able to be dribbled, shot and scored with. A dead ball is one where the play has stopped due to a referee’s whistle and nothing may be done with the ball.









Double Team – A double team happens when one player on the opposing team is very good and the defending teams assigns two players to guard them instead of just one. This is a dangerous tactic though because it leaves only three players to defend the other four players. This is only useful if the other team is not very good except for one player, like if a high school team drafted Michael Jordan.




Draft – The draft happens at the beginning of the season. All the teams come together and take turns picking the new recruits for the up coming season. Generally the teams who had the worst record the last season pick first, unless the teams have traded their draft pick to other teams earlier.








Free Agent (Restricted/Unrestricted) - A free agent is a player which is allowed to accept offers for transfer from other teams. A restricted free agent is allowed to take offers for transfer from other teams but the team they are with now is allowed to match the offer and force the player to stay. An unrestricted free agent is one who is completely free to accept any offer and the team they were with before has no say in what happens.







Any words I have forgotten or terms that you are unsure of and want translated? Let me know below or in the forum!