I like sports okay, but I've never been "into" them; I can enjoy casually watching a game, but never learned all the nuances, or even some of the more basic rules, so I have a general basic question about the different 'positions' (and this pretty much applies to bball, soccer, and hockey):

I know, obviously, that there are distinct positions, with distinct functions (guard, wing, forward, center), but in practice, it seems like the games move so quickly and the ball (or puck) and players are (or seem to be) in any number of possible positions at any given time, that as a casual observer, I wonder how important these position differences really are?  Doesn't everyone pretty much play defense, when the opposing team has the ball?  Doesn't everyone play offense?  What's the real distinction in the course of the game?  Like I said, I'm just a casual observer, so I appreciate your indulging my ignorant curiousity about something I've always sort of wondered about.

I dunno; good question though. Basketball seems the most chaotic to me. In soccer and hockey the players have more set positions.

Ant

In basketball, I would say that positions definitely do matter. For example, a point guard in basketball tends to be the smallest player on the court for his or her team at any given moment in the game. On offense, they are pretty much the "floor generals." Because they are small, they are quick and can move the ball across court the fastest. They have better ball handling skills than taller players because they are close to the ground and can protect the ball as they dribble. Taller players, ie Centers or Power Forwards, tend to stay closer to the basket -- in the"front court"-- while the wings stay in the "back court." The taller the player, the easier it is for them to rebound on a missed shot or make an easy layup without worrying about getting blocked by the opponent. Wings tend to cut in and out from the back court, trying to get open for a pass. They are usually the best shooters/scorers on the team because their position allows them to be the most versatile. They can take threes, twos, or drive to the basket if space permits.

On defense, positions don't matter quite as much except that they allocate who guards who. This, however, is best determined by the size of a player, which conveniently coincides with the position he or she plays (as I stated in the last paragraph, size usually determines a player's position). You wouldn't want to guard the tallest player on the opposing team with the smallest player on your team, so it is unlikely that your guard would be covering the other team's forward or center.

So, to the OP, yes, when the opposing team has the ball, everyone plays defense. When your team has the ball, you all play offense. Positions only define a player's role in the offensive or defensive scheme because not everyone can be doing the same thing at the same time on the court.

It also helps in basketball that there are no true offsides rules like in hockey or soccer.

It also helps in basketball that there are no true offsides rules like in hockey or soccer.


With "hockey" I take it you mean ice hockey, because filed hockey doesn't have offside rules anymore.

I still say they should abandon offside rules in soccer too. It would make the game more attractive and less complicated IMHO.

With "hockey" I take it you mean ice hockey, because filed hockey doesn't have offside rules anymore.

I still say they should abandon offside rules in soccer too. It would make the game more attractive and less complicated IMHO.


I think the offsides rule in soccer is supposed to prevent cherry-picking, and forces everyone on the team without the ball to get back on defense so nobody can just camp out in the offensive zone and wait for a fortunate bounce and easy score opportunity...although barely any scoring happens in a soccer game anyway :D

I think the offsides rule in soccer is supposed to prevent cherry-picking, and forces everyone on the team without the ball to get back on defense so nobody can just camp out in the offensive zone and wait for a fortunate bounce and easy score opportunity...although barely any scoring happens in a soccer game anyway :D


I'm sure that's the main reason, yes, and abandoning the offside rules would surely cause confusion at first. But it worked for field hockey, so why shouldn't it work for soccer? Nobody understands the offside rules anyway (even the linesmen wave their flags at inappropriate moments). Besides, more goals is exactly what we want.

I think it makes sense for ice hockey though.  I have a general understanding of the soccer offsides rule, but I agree that it's a bit lame.

i may be entirely off-base here in what I remember reading, but when the NASL was running (the forerunner to Major League Soccer in America), I believe there was no such thing as the offside rule, which by its very nature encouraged strategical and tactical goalhanging.

I am waiting for the NHL to get rid of the offsides. They already did away with the two line pass which allows
guys like Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to cherrypick so it's only a matter of time before they rid the league
of the dreaded offsides and give these guys a bigger advantage.  :P

I think the international rules have a bigger rink and also had no center red-line two-line pass rule to prevent neutral zone trapping.  The NHL can't do a bigger rink because they want to stuff as many seats in the arena as possible, but they're not going to get rid of offsides because that would make hockey stupid in my opinion. 

I dumb down some basics

Rebound: When someone misses a shot, you go and grab the ball begore it's too late

Dribble: When you keep on bouncing the ball very quickly

Assist: You pass the ball to the guy who shoots and will get credit if the shot made it in

Foul: When you do some illegal moves

How to start a brawl:

1) As a player, do something offensive to your opponent

2) As a fan, throw something at a player, if it works that player will come up and punch the guy next to you

Although Basketball has no true offsides they do have rules to quiken the pace. Once an offensive player crosses the half court line he can't cross back as an offensive pler with the ball.  Furthermore he has an 8 second count to cross half court.  Larger (Post Players) are only allowed 3 seconds in the painted area nearest to the basket, this prevents a form of "cherry picking".