# Please, could I get a quick lesson in basketball? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 26, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191 "2016-03-26T02:22:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/21 "2016-03-28T01:40:02Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > This might still be a rule in some states in high school (especially girls’ basketball) for some reason. > Not only that, but at international level (e.g. the Olympics), only 12 numbers are allowed to be used - 4 through 15 - so if both teams have 12 players, then every number will be used by both teams. > > In USA college and high school, only numbers with digits 0 through 5 can be used, and you can’t have a 2-digit number starting with 0 (_ **this includes 00** _ - this is because electronic statistics-keeping devices can’t tell the difference between, for example, 5 and 05), so there are only 36 different numbers available. I can’t speak to high school, but in college, 00 (double zero) is a legal basketball number. However, a team cannot have BOTH zero and double zero. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/22 "2016-03-28T01:44:40Z")
Not even from the University of Nevada? ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/23 "2016-03-28T01:47:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Not even from the University of Nevada? Very good! 🙂 Except I’d have used UNLV. Univ of Nevada, Las Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/24 "2016-03-28T02:35:32Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > And only 33 numbers were available 3-5 and x0-x5 for x = 1 to 5. 1 and 2 were reserved as the ref would signal 1 or 2 points when a shot was made. (Why I have no idea as all baskets were 2 in those days and all free-trows 1. Perhaps it was because they’d also signal 1 or 2 as the number of foul shots to be taken. Well, in NY, 1 was legitimate for the first number. I have photos of our school’s basketball team from 1960 and they wore numbers like 10, 12, and 14. There was no confusion with the number of shots. The ref would first indicate the foul, then show the numbers (their right hand the first digit, their left hand the second so it read left to right by the scorer), then indicate the number of shots – one finger for one, two fingers for two, one finger on each hand for a one and one (e.g., if you made the first one, you got another. If you missed, that was it). ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/25 "2016-03-28T05:47:39Z")
> [@MizQuirk](#): > > Covered in message #8 by **Chronos**. Umm, no, it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/26 "2016-03-28T06:44:30Z")
Home team usually wears white. ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/27 "2016-03-28T12:08:23Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Home team usually wears white. Thank you – I was wondering about that too! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/28 "2016-03-28T12:23:15Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Umm, no, it wasn’t. Chronos did explain it, but to restate it, a double triple would be if a player had 100 or more of some counting statistics - e.g. 100 points and 100 rebounds. It’s impossible to accomplish this, of course, it was kind of a joke. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/29 "2016-03-28T16:57:33Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Well, in NY, 1 was legitimate for the first number. I have photos of our school’s basketball team from 1960 and they wore numbers like 10, 12, and 14. > > There was no confusion with the number of shots. Yes that’s consistent with Ohio. I said “And only 33 numbers were available 3-5 and x0-x5 for x = 1 to 5. 1 and 2 were reserved.” That is 1 by itself and 2 by itself could not be used. 10 through 15 were fine. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/30 "2016-03-28T19:45:42Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > This might still be a rule in some states in high school (especially girls’ basketball) for some reason. > Not only that, but at international level (e.g. the Olympics), only 12 numbers are allowed to be used - 4 through 15 - so if both teams have 12 players, then every number will be used by both teams. > > In USA college and high school, only numbers with digits 0 through 5 can be used, and you can’t have a 2-digit number starting with 0 (this includes 00 - this is because electronic statistics-keeping devices can’t tell the difference between, for example, 5 and 05), so there are only 36 different numbers available. If it was mentioned above, I didn’t see it. The reasons the numbers 6,7,8 or 9 are not used is to simplify work for the officials. The jersey numbers had to be able to be represented with one hand. Also, it may have changed since I officiated bball, but all jersey colors had to one syllable. On the court to the official, orange became ‘red’. Yellow became ‘gold’, purple became ‘blue’ etc. I think that was more of an unwritten rule, but it was followed across the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/31 "2016-03-28T20:50:07Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > If it was mentioned above, I didn’t see it. The reasons the numbers 6,7,8 or 9 are not used is to simplify work for the officials. The jersey numbers had to be able to be represented with one hand. Also, it may have changed since I officiated bball, but all jersey colors had to one syllable. On the court to the official, orange became ‘red’. Yellow became ‘gold’, purple became ‘blue’ etc. I think that was more of an unwritten rule, but it was followed across the USA. Somewhat related, when I was playing jr. high basketball I was inbounding and the ref says “blue ball!” and hands to me and says only to me, “actually it’s orange.” I was so confused. Neither team is orange! Sometime later in the game the joke hit me and I literally LOL’d. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/32 "2016-03-28T20:59:00Z")
I’m fairly savvy about BB, but got away from the sport until last year. However, I notice that announcers are using a number to describe a player’s. . .something (haven’t figured it out yet). It goes something like, “Well, Mike, you know that Kobe is a plus 75 for the month of March.” Can someone explain what this number is supposed to represent and how it’s arrived at? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/33 "2016-03-28T21:06:07Z")
It’s often used to represent the difference (plus or minus) in points scored by his team and the opponents team while he’s on the floor. While player A was on the floor, his team outscored opponents by 75 points. If you are “plus 75” it’s pretty good. If you’re “minus 20” it’s not so good. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/34 "2016-03-29T13:13:42Z")
As you can imagine, the +/- number reflects quite a bit about your team, too. Festus Ezeli, for example, is over +14 this season. Were he on the 76ers, I’m sure he’d be a negative. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/35 "2016-03-29T13:16:21Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > A double-double occurs when a player has double digits in two statistics in a game … And all this time I thought a double-double was what you ordered at In-N-Out Burger. If you keep your eyes open, you learn something new every day. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/36 "2016-03-29T16:39:45Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > It’s often used to represent the difference (plus or minus) in points scored by his team and the opponents team while he’s on the floor. While player A was on the floor, his team outscored opponents by 75 points. If you are “plus 75” it’s pretty good. If you’re “minus 20” it’s not so good. It’s a concept / stat that’s been used in hockey for a long while; I don’t follow basketball closely, but I hadn’t ever heard the term used in that sport until reading this thread. ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/37 "2016-03-30T01:08:35Z")
Is anyone ever called for something like ‘goal-tending’? If that’s a consideration, might it be confused with ‘blocking’? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/38 "2016-03-30T01:49:53Z")
Goal tending and blocking are two different defensive violations. Goal tending is blocking a shot, blocking the basketball when it is above the rim or against the backboard. Blocking is a foul against a driving offensive player’s body, when that player has the ball, by a defender moving their body into the offensive player’s path of motion and forcing impeding contact while not having been set in position. If, however, the defender has established their stationary position and impeding contact is made with a driving offensive player with the ball, then it is a charging foul against the offensive player. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/39 "2016-03-30T13:29:22Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Goal tending and blocking are two different defensive violations. Goal tending is blocking a shot, blocking the basketball when it is above the rim or against the backboard. Blocking is a foul against a driving offensive player’s body, when that player has the ball, by a defender moving their body into the offensive player’s path of motion and forcing impeding contact while not having been set in position. If, however, the defender has established their stationary position and impeding contact is made with a driving offensive player with the ball, then it is a charging foul against the offensive player. To nitpick, blocking a shot above the rim is not necessarily goaltending; it’s goaltending to block a shot that’s on it’s way down, but as long as the ball is still moving up (and hasn’t hit the backboard), you can block it legally, even if you’ve jumped high enough that the ball is above the rim. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191/40 "2016-03-31T14:35:54Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > As you can imagine, the +/- number reflects quite a bit about your team, too. Festus Ezeli, for example, is over +14 this season. Were he on the 76ers, I’m sure he’d be a negative. Or even where you are in the rotation, it would seem. I’m sure Noah Vonleh’s numbers looked pretty good when he was in the starting five for Portland, even though his personal contribution was not so good. It doesn’t seem like a very relevant stat to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-could-i-get-a-quick-lesson-in-basketball/750191.md?page=3)