Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

master of the haiku, a type of poem that

has only three lines.

Basho’s original name was Matsuo

Manefusa. He was born in 1644 near

Kyoto, Japan. Basho was a member of

the samurai, a class of warriors. He

worked for a landowner, and the two

men wrote poetry together.

After the landowner died in 1666,

Basho devoted himself to writing. He

published his first poems in 1671 and

soon began attracting students and

admirers. In 1680 his students built him

a house. They planted a basho, or

banana plant, in the yard. That plant

was the source of his pen name.

Basho forever changed Japanese poetry.

Earlier haiku were playful and silly. But

Basho wrote serious artistic haiku. Many

of his poems were about nature. Soon

other poets began copying his style.

Basho also became known for his poetic

diaries. He wrote them during four long

journeys he took on foot across Japan.

The diaries include descriptions of the

places he visited, his thoughts, and

many short poems. The most famous is

The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Basho died while on a journey in 1694.

#More to explore

Japan • Poetry • Samurai

Basketball

Basketball is a fast-paced and exciting

sport. It is very popular in the United

States, where it began in the 1890s. It

has also become popular in many other

countries. In a basketball game two

teams of five players compete. The goal

is to score more points than the other

team. Players score by tossing, or shooting,

a ball through a raised goal called a

basket.

Playing Area and Equipment

Basketball is played on a rectangular

court. A professional basketball court is

94 feet (28.7 meters) long and 50 feet

(15.2 meters) wide. High school and

international courts may be slightly

smaller.

A haiku is a

very short

poem. It has

three lines that

have five,

seven, and

five syllables

each.

A woodblock print from the

1800s shows Basho standing

and talking to two others.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Basketball 33

 

Each end of the court has a basket. The

basket is a metal ring with a net hanging

from the rim. It is attached to a backboard,

which is usually made of strong

glass. The rim of the basket is 10 feet (3

meters) above the floor of the court. A

basketball is round and full of air, which

makes it bounce well.

Playing the Game

A basketball team has five players: two

forwards, two guards, and a center. The

players are named for the different positions,

or roles, that they play on the

court. In general, the players at each

position have special abilities and duties.

For example, guards usually excel at

moving the ball down the court and

passing it to teammates.

Basketball players play both offense and

defense. When a team has the ball, it is

on offense and tries to score points. The

other team plays defense—it defends the

basket at its end of the court. The defensive

team tries to keep the other team

from scoring. It also tries to gain control

of the ball by taking it away from the

offensive team.

Play begins with a jump ball. A referee

tosses up the ball between two opposing

players in the middle of the court, inside

a circle called the center circle. The two

players jump for the ball and try to tap

it to a teammate. The other players

stand outside the center circle, ready to

catch the ball. The team that gets control

of the ball plays offense first.

The offensive team tries to advance the

ball toward the defensive team’s basket.

Offensive players can pass the ball to

teammates. They can also move the ball

down the court by themselves. However,

players cannot run freely with the ball.

They must dribble, or bounce, the ball

on the court as they run with it.

Any player with the ball may take a shot

at the basket. Most successful shots score

two points. Very long shots, from

behind a line called the three-point line,

score three points.

The defensive team tries to keep the

offense from getting a good shot at the

basket. When a shot is missed, both

teams try to recover the ball. This is

called rebounding. If the offense gets the

Every U.S. professional basketball court has the same dimensions.

34 Basketball BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

ball on the rebound, it can try to take

another shot. If the defense gets the

rebound, then it becomes the offense. It

tries to move the ball down the court to

the opponent’s basket. The defense can

also get the ball by taking it away, or

stealing it, from the offense. Defenders

can make a steal when the offense is

passing or dribbling the ball.

A group of officials makes sure that the

players follow the rules. The officials

penalize a team when one of its players

breaks a rule. For example, if an offensive

player runs without dribbling the

ball, the officials give the ball to the

defense. Some penalties are called fouls.

Most fouls happen when one player

makes physical contact with another

player. For example, officials call fouls

for bumping, pushing, and tripping.

The player who is fouled often gets to

take shots without having to worry

about the defense. These shots are called

free throws. They score one point.

History

James Naismith invented basketball in

1891. Naismith was a physical education