How to Keep Score in Five-on-Five Basketball

Series Summary

Basketball, b-ball, hoops. These are all names for one of the most popular games in America. Whether it’s professional play in the NBA, college games, the local high school team, or a friendly round of one-on-one, basketball is exciting and fast-paced, pitting player against player and skill against skill. Having strong fundamentals like dribbling, passing and shooting is the key to the success of any aspiring player or team. What makes basketball great is the combination of individual talent and team strategy, producing a match that’s sure to keep spectators on edge. In this free video series, a basketball coach demonstrates some basic basketball skills and offers tips on improving some of basketball's most fundamental actions, such as shooting, passing and ball handling. Additionally, the basketball coach will discuss how to become a coach, how to keep score and how to improve. Become a better basketball player with these basic tips.

Video Transcript

"Coach Rudy here. I've won championships both as a coach and a player. Let's talk about how to keep score in a five on five situation. There's two five on five situations. There's pickup five on five, and there's league play or tournament play. In league play, it's a regular basketball game. Free throws count for one, inside the three counts for two, outside the three counts for three, unless it's an and one, if you make a three, you get fouled and you make the shot on the foul, that's a four point play. If you make--if you get fouled on a two point shot and you make the shot, that's a three point play. Let's talk about pickup. Typically there's no free throws in pickup. The only thing that's different is, in pickup, threes count for two, all right. So, pickup, no free throws, threes count for two in a five on five pickup game. A regular league game, scoring is as follows. Free throws are one, inside the three are two, and outside the three are three. If there's a foul and the basket goes in, you add the amount of points from where the basket was scored. If you get fouled on a three and you make the shot, that is potentially a four point play. If you get fouled on a two point shot and you make the basket, that is potentially a three point play, depending on if you make the free throw. Free throws are worth one. That's how you keep score in a five on five game, both pickup and league play."