1. American Basketball Culture Departement of Slavics Wendy Liang

2. Intro Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m) high hoop (the goal) under organized rules. Basketball is one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the world.

3. James Naismith James A. Naismith (November 6,1861–November 28,1939) was the inventor of the sport of basketball and the first to introduce the use of a helmet in American football. He was also the first basketball coach to assemble a team of 5 players.. In 1891, while working as a physical education teacher at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, Naismith was asked to make a game that would not take up much room, was not too rough, that could help its track athletes to keep in shape and at the same time, could be played indoors. He had no idea he would invent what would become the most popular indoor sport in the United States. Inspired by a game he played as a child in Canada called "Duck on a Rock", Naismith's game started December 14, 1891 with thirteen rules (modified versions of twelve of those are still used today). Basketball became a very popular men's sport in the United States and Canada very quickly, and spread to other countries as well. Men's basketball was officially added to the Olympic Games program at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

4. Words related to basketball Hack-a-Shaq--a colloquial rhyme that comes from the term "to hack," common basketball slang meaning to commit a personal foul, and Shaq, being O'Neal's nickname. Famously used to hinder the scoring ability of Shaquille O'Neal, a notoriously poor free throw shooter. Shut down--verb/noun; In street ball, when a team or player does something so good (handle, play or dunk), it makes the audience go crazy and the game gets put on hold while everyone gets over it, and often ends with the player throwing the ball into the stands. Ex:. "That is a shut down!'" "I just shut them down!" Brick--a slang term used in basketball to describe a shot attempt that hits the rim or backboard and misses badly. The term is pejorative, and a player who frequently misses shots may be called a "bricklayer".

5. Words related to basketball Posterize--verb; to embarrass an opponent or rival by dunking over him, or by taking advantage of a lapse on his part. For example, a player may attempt to block a dunk but fail (due to the defensive play of his opponent, or a player dunks flamboyantly over an opposing player. Vince Carter posterized French center Frédéric Weis.

6. Words related to basketball Trillion--noun; a stat line in which a player enters the game for one minute, and fails to do anything that results in a statistical entry. Ex.: In this game, "Bush collected a Trillion." Play -er PosMinFGFGAFTFTAO RebD RebT Reb Assts StlsBlksPFPts BushG1000000000000

7. References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Naismith http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php/Slang_Bas ketball_Terms http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_(basketball)