A Beginners Guide To The Most Unusual Basketball Terms

If you watch basketball on TV, you will hear a bewildering number of basketball terms. There are a vast number of websites out there that do an adequate job of explaining the boring and mundane basketball terms that are heard everyday. Our focus for this article, however, is to find the unconventional basketball terms. Rather than explain the definition of dribbling, for example, we’d rather focus on alley oop. To that end, we’ve listed the four most interesting basketball terms.

Basketball Terms Number One: Hack a Shaq

Although he’s proven himself to be an All-Star in nearly every facet of the game, Shaquille O’Neal is a horrible free-throw shooter. Typical basketball strategy, especially in the closing moments of the game, is to foul your opponent in order to force him to the free-throw line. This is especially true for players like Shaquille O’Neal. Because of his wretched free throw shooting abilities, the other team is unafraid to foul him at any time. Hence the term Hack A Shaq. A well placed hack against a lousy free-throw shooter will add up to zero points given up, and the defensive team will get possession of the ball in the bargain.

Basketball Terms Number Two: Alley Oop

This basketball term refers to the pass thrown (usually by a back court player) to a player who has already become airbourne and is closing in on the basket. When performed properly, it is a thing of beauty. The players get excited and the crowd gets juiced But when it has performed poorly, it can be truly an ugly play with no points scored and the defensive team ending up with the ball.

Basketball Terms Number Three: All Ball

This term is heard primarily from a referee while a possible foul has been committed. If, in the referee’s judgment, there was no bodily contact, that he will say the guy got all ball. In other words, the defensive player slapped the ball while managing to avoid the opposing player’s body.

Basketball Terms Number Four: Way Downtown

I believe this term was originated on ESPN Sports Center. It refers to a successful three-point shot that seems to originate from an extremely long distance. It’s not unusual to see shooting guards move farther and farther back from the three-point line to execute these types of shots. It is as though he or she is purposely trying to create a highlight reel moment.

Conclusion:

As any sports fanatic can attest, it is very easy to be overcome with the minutia of your favorite sport. There are terms for nearly everything that occurs on a Basketball Court, a hockey rink, a football field, or a baseball diamond. It is our opinion that the unusual and colorful terms are the most interesting ones. That is why we listed our top four favorite basketball terms in this article.