basketball

I

(Roget's IV) n.

Syn. court game, round ball, cage meet*, hoopfest*, hoop*, b-ball*; see also sport 3 .

II

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

*hoops, *brownball, *B-ball, ball, sport, game, athletic competition.

WORD FIND

• blocked shot, illegally: goaltending block out opponent to get a better angle at

• a rebound: box out

• boundary line at end of court: baseline

• defense, player-to-player: man-to-man defense

• defense, area: zone defense

• defense, slang: D

• fiberglass stop: backboard, glass failure to move ball out of backcourt within

• ten seconds: backcourt violation

• fake a shot: pump fake

• fall-away shot: fade away jumper

• footrace to basket: fast break

• forecourt of the defense: backcourt

• free throw lane for a close shot, dribble down the: drive the lane

• free throw granted at free throw line for a foul: foul shot, free throw

• guarding opponents aggressively from the moment the ball is inbounded: full court press, trapping

• hitting shots consistently: *having a hot hand, * in a zone, *on fire, *heating up, *in a groove

• leaping ability, measure of: hang time

• long range shot: *Hail Mary, *prayer, *from downtown, *bomb, three-pointer

• mid-air catch followed by a slam-dunk: alley-oop

• missing a lot of shots: cold, ice cold

• net shot, nothing but: swish

• pass resulting in a score: assist

• player, large and powerful and adept at rebounding: power forward

• player, largest, plays the posts and rebounds: center

• players covering the corner areas: forwards

• players, usually smaller, who play the perimeter and bring up the ball and feed to teammates: guards, point guard

• possession, head-to-head leap for ball that determines: jump shot

• post near basket: low post

• post near foul line: high post

• ratio of shots taken and scored: field goal percentage

• rebounding, aggressive: *crashing the boards

• screen or legal block: pick

• screen play: pick and roll

• shot, close, off-the-backboard: layup

• shot, jumping: jump shot, *J

• shot, one-handed arc: hook shot

• shot, poor: *air ball, *brick

• shot, roll-in from very close range: fingerroll

• shot that misses everything including rim and backboard: *air ball

• slamming the ball through the hoop: dunk, slam-dunk

• two-on-one defensive strategy: double team

• violation in which player hits opponent’s arm: *hack

• violation, offensive player standing too long in free throw lane: three-second violation

• violation: foul

• violation, dribbling: double-dribble, traveling, *walking

• violation, running into a stationary opponent while dribbling: charging, offensive foul

• violation in which ball is turned over in dribbler’s hand: palming

see athlete, sport