As basketball season approaches Shocker Nation at a hurtling speed, it’s important to remember that not everyone is familiar with being in the stands and hasn’t been able to feel the cascade of emotions the sport brings, from rushes of joy to crippling disappointment.
Luckily though, The Sunflower is going to help all the new Shockers, and those who have decided to hop on the game-watching trend, understand just how the sport and fan section operates, so you’re not left behind, looking like a fool as you stare blankly at the court.
What exactly is happening on the court?
If you aren’t obsessed with basketball and don’t spend time studying plays, don’t worry. Here’s an easy way to remember the basic rules so you don’t feel like you just got dunked on.
The game at the collegiate level is 40 minutes long, split into 20-minute halves with a 15-minute halftime.
There are two teams. Five players are allowed on the court at a time, with substitutions happening whenever a coach decides someone needs to rest or is off their game.
The game begins with what’s called a jump ball or tipoff, a face-off between typically the tallest players, where they jump and try to fling the ball to their team. On a good day, it goes to your team’s point guard, the person who usually dribbles the ball and controls the plays, and you get a good start.
Now that the game has officially begun, it’s the team’s goal to score points on the other team’s basket. There are three different ways to score them. All shots within the arc are worth two points, the ones outside of it are worth three and then the secret third option when a player gets fouled where they can score one point.
To put it simply, fouling is when a player gets a little too aggressive toward their opponent, and if the ref calls a foul while a player is in a shooting motion — which they rarely do (don’t worry, we’ll get to the refs later) — the afflicted player gets the opportunity to shoot free throws.
A free throw is an unguarded shot behind the free throw line, worth one point. Depending on where the shooting foul occurred, the player will get as many free throws as the number of points the shot would’ve been worth (three free throws are awarded if a player was fouled on a 3-point shot).
If a player is fouled while shooting and the shot goes in, they are awarded one free throw automatically.
There are also many reasons a team can lose the ball:
One team stealing it while on defense. A travel, when a player takes more than two steps without dribbling (bouncing the ball up and down in a continuous motion). Double-dribbling, dribbling the ball after picking up your dribble, and many other ways.
These are probably the main ones you’ll hear.
And at the end of the forty minutes, whoever has scored the most points win. Pray there’s not a tiebreaker and you just win because overtime, an extra period if the score remains tied when time runs out, is nothing but nail-biting anxiety.
Easy, right? Now, what goes on in the stands?
How to blend in with the experts
Many things — traditions and chants — exist in the fan section, a part of the arena dedicated to Shocker fans, so it’s up to you to be up to code on these.
Key tip: whenever something is happening on the court, just start yelling things like “Oh come on, travel!” or “Let’s go, pick it up!” Chances are, even if you’re wrong, someone will join you or at least agree with you.
Bonus points if you’re actually right about what’s happening.
There are many traditions at basketball games, especially in Shocker Nation. There are chants specific to events on the court. There’s the school’s mascot, WuShock, the giant bundle of wheat that’s always smiling and interacting with the crowd. And there’s The Sunflower’s newspapers being held up in the student section.
Join these traditions. Not only is it fun, but you’ll also look weird if you don’t, so just have fun with it.
Hate the refs
This is kind of universal to every sport, honestly, but it needs to be reiterated. You have to hate the refs. Those are the people running around in black and white stripes — like zebras — blowing their whistles all the time, or never, depending on the game.
Whenever you hear that shrill noise, get angry. It doesn’t matter what happened. You stomp your feet. You yell about them being blind. You yell about them being paid off. It’s a tradition at this point in sports history.
Whatever you do, hate the refs.
Leave
Despite the hype in the arena, at the end of the game, you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay there. File out with the crowd, jumping with joy or sulking in sorrow.
Congrats! You’ve survived your first of many basketball games. Even if your team lost, continue to go to games. It’s not just fun for you and your friends when you’re there; it’s fun for the players. So keep going, keep yelling and remember to keep hating the refs.
