If you’re just getting in to basketball, but you’re normally a soccer type of person, you might not have a great idea of what the jargon is. When someone scores in soccer, it’s called a goal. But what exactly is it called when the ball goes through the net in basketball?

When discussing an actual basketball hoop (the physical hoop itself), people have also referred to it as a goal (most people call it a hoop). However, it isn’t called a goal when a player makes the basket go through the hoop. In fact there are many different terms including making a bucket, shot field goal, basket, and more.

There are many variations of how basketball players could get buckets, or baskets.

What Are Different Terms For Different Types of “Goals” In Basketball?

In basketball, many buckets or baskets are defined as different terms based on the circumstances.

Points: when a player has multiple goals, they’ll simply say Messi has two goals. However, in basketball when a player gets multiple buckets, the total amount combined is defined as points. For example, if Lebron James hits 5 three pointers in a game, he’ll have scored 15 points for his team.

Free Throw: When a player get’s fouled (hit when in the act of shooting), they are given two shots that they can take from the free throw line. These shots are called “free throws”.

Jump Shot: They often could say, “he makes the jump shot, or jumper.” This is one of the most common types of goals in basketball and refers to when a player jumps up off the ground and shoots.

Floater: You may hear announcers say, “he nailed the floated”. This is defined as a player driving to the rim and before getting all the way there, they float it up high in order to keep it from getting blocked.

Three pointer: When a player shoots from beyond the three-point line, and their shot goes through the net, it is called a “three pointer”. This type of shot is more difficult to make than a regular two-pointer.

Layup: A layup is when a player shoots close to the basket, using one hand to go up and off the back board or straight in to the net. This type of shot is typically the easiest one to make.

Dunk: A dunk is when a player comes straight down and slams the ball through the hoop, this could be done with one hand or two hands.

Dagger: When someone says, “he hit a dagger”, it means that they’ve made a shot that essentially puts the game out of reach for the other team.

Alley Oop: This is when a player lobs the ball up to another teammate, which results in the other player laying it in or even dunking it.

These are essentially different types of “goals” players can make in a basketball game. It’s similar to having goal kicks, header goals, and all of the other terms that you might hear in a soccer game.

Why Do They Refer To Shots Made and Missed As Field Goals In Basketball?

Whenever you hear the term field goal, you usually think about American Football, but in basketball this term is also used to refer to when a player makes or misses a shot.

When you look at a box score for a game, it doesn’t say buckets attempted or made, it just says field goals attempted and made (FGA and FGM). The main reasoning for this is because it’s been like that from the beginning of basketball. When James Naismith created basketball he took certain aspects from soccer and field hockey, both of which use the term field.

so when defining where teams play basketball, it was defined as a “field”, although its defined as a court now.

There’s no reason to change it now, as many other terms are also linked to field. For example field goal percentage, which is a term used to refer to how successful a player was at making their field goals.

Does Basketball Have Goalies?

Since were comparing goals in soccer/Futbol, and basketball, the question of whether or not they have goalies is a fair one.

In basketball there are no goalies, but there are defenders. There are designated defenders and goalies in soccer, but basketball is 5 on 5 and they all have to be defenders when they’re not on offense.

However, there are players that do specialize and make a living in basketball by playing great defense.

There are many different types of defenders in basketball, such as the point guard who often guards the permitter because of their quickness, or the center who is typically a strong, big player that can block shots at the rim.

In summary

I hope this blog post helped define what you could call the basket going through the hoop in basketball, and the different variations you may hear when it comes to goal types in this sport.

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