Streetball


Streetball is a variation of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules. As such, its format is more conducive to allowing players to publicly showcase their own individual skills. Streetball may also refer to other urban sports played on asphalt. It is particularly popular and important in New York City.
Some places and cities in the United States have organized streetball programs, operated similarly to midnight basketball programs. Many cities also host their own weekend-long streetball tournaments, with Hoop-It-Up and the Houston Rockets' Blacktop Battle being two of the most popular. Since the mid-2000s, streetball has seen an increase in media exposure through television shows such as ESPN's Street Basketball and City Slam, as well as traveling exhibitions such as the AND1 Mixtape Tour, YPA, and Ball4Real.
It is also popular in other countries like Philippines. Most of their streets have their own basketball court. Tournaments are also organized especially during summer and holiday season. Divisions are divided into 4 brackets, Mosquito, Midget, Junior, and Senior division.

Rules and features

Streetball rules vary widely from court to court.
Players typically divide into teams by alternating choices.
No referees are employed, so almost invariably a "call your own foul" rule is in effect, and a player who believes he has been fouled, simply needs to call out "Foul!", and play will be stopped, with the ball awarded to the fouled player's team. It is also standard that the hands are considered part of the ball.
Calling fouls is generally disfavored. The etiquette of what rightly constitutes a foul, as well as the permissible amount of protestation against such a call, are the products of individual groups, and of the seriousness of a particular game.
Other violations which are enforced include traveling, double-dribble, carrying, kicking, goaltending, and backcourt violation.

Half-court play

Since there are not always enough players to play on a full court and full-court games are more physically demanding, the majority of Streetball games are played on a half court. Special rules have been developed for half-court play:
At the beginning of the game and after each made basket, play begins at the top of the key. A "checking" system is used to ensure that both teams are ready to begin play. This involves the offensive player saying "check" while throwing the ball to his defender. The defender then makes sure his/her team is ready and then throws the ball back to begin play.
If the ball goes out of bounds during play, the ball can either be checked from out of bounds near where the ball went out or at the top of the key, depending on the rules established before the game.
FIBA recently had to add the ‘check clock’ rule into play in their streetball tournaments due to some players taking excruciatingly long amounts of time to check the ball, interrupting the flow of play. This ‘check clock’ means that when the defending player has been checked the ball, he has to return it within 5 seconds.
If the defending team gains possession of the ball, they must take the ball out to beyond the three-point line before they can score a basket. This does not need to be at the top of the key and no checking is required. This is analogous to taking the ball to the other side of the court in a full-court game.

Game structure

A common feature of street basketball is the pick up game. To participate in most streetball games around the world, one simply goes to an outdoor court where people are playing, indicates a wish to participate, and from all the players who were at the court before one has played, two players acting as "captains" will get to pick their team out of the players available and play a game. Generally, the team captains alternate their choices, but different courts have differing rules in regards to player selection. Many games play up to 7, 11, 13, 15, or 21 points with 2-point baskets and 3-point baskets counting for 1 and 2 points respectively. It is possible to do,,, or
Players often play 'win by 2' which, as in tennis, means that the team has to win by a margin of at least 2 points. Sometimes a local "dead end" limit applies; for instance a game may be played to 7, win by 2, with a 9-point dead end, which would mean scores of 7–3, 8–6, or 9–8 would all be final, while with scores of 7–6 or 8–7, play would continue. The most common streetball game is 3 on 3 played half court, though 5 on 5 full court can be found. Another common variation to the rules is the "skunk" rule. This merely means that if a player reaches a certain point without the other player scoring, the game is over. The skunk rule limit can vary, but is often used at the score 7 to 0.
Sometimes in a half-court game, a "winner's ball" or "make it, take it" rule is used. This means that if a team scores, it gets the ball again on offense; one team could end up never getting the ball on offense if the other team scores on every possession. Full court basketball is not played with these rules, but, in most instances, the winning team gets to choose which basketball and usually which direction they get to use. Also, if the ball goes out of bounds players must check up.
Another possible streetball feature is having an MC call the game. The MC is on the court during the game and is often very close to the players and uses a microphone to provide game commentary for the fans.
If the player loses the match of a 1v1, the losing player is given a second chance to shoot a shot at the three point line. This either results with the match continuing or if the match is close enough resulting in a tie.
In a game of 1v1, in a close game the game cannot end on a bank shot. If a bank shot happens on the last point of the game it is a replay of possession.

Variations

Twenty-one

A popular variation of street basketball is 21, also known as Hustle, American, St. Mary's, a V or Varsity, Roughhouse, 33, 50 or Crunch, or "New York." 21 is played most often with 3-5 players on a half court, typically when not enough players have arrived at the playground to "run 3's". However it is possible to play "21" with only two players, or more than 5.
Further, in some forms, players can freely enter the game after it has begun, starting at zero points or being "spotted" the same number as the player with the lowest score. "21" is an "every player for himself" game, with highly variable rules. The rules of "21" are usually agreed by the players at the beginning of the game.
The typical rules of "21" are:
Common additional rules include:
"21" is considered a very challenging game, especially because the offensive player must possibly go up against several defenders at the same time. For this reason, it is exceedingly difficult to "drive to the hole" and make lay-ups in "21." Therefore, and also because of the emphasis on free-throws, "21" is very much a shooter's game, and because a successful shot means you keep the ball, it is possible for there to be come-backs when a player recovers from a large deficit by not missing any shots.
"21" is popular because it allows an odd number of people to play, unlike regular basketball or other variants.

King of the Court

Another less common streetball variant, often referred to as "King of the Court", or "Boston", results in essentially a one-on-one tournament between any number of players. Each match is played following normal one-on-one rules, including violations to just one point. The winner remains on the court and gets to take the ball out while the loser returns to the end of the line of players waiting to step on the court. The first player to win a set number of matches wins the game.Can only take one shot per turn

H-O-R-S-E">Variations of basketball#H-O-R-S-E">H-O-R-S-E

H-o-r-s-e is a game played by two or more people on a basketball court. The goal of the game involves matching baskets. The player who makes more shots that the opponent can't duplicate, wins the game. For example: The second person shooting must match the first person's shot if it is made. If the second shooter misses, he or she receives the letter H. If the first person shot is missed, the second shooter may attempt any shot. The game continues until one person accumulates 5 letters or H-O-R-S-E.

Others

Notable streetballers

Films and TV programs