basketball terms

ball handler

Two words.
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WNBPA

Avoid overuse of this acronym for the Women’s National Basketball Players Association. Instead, use the WNBA players’ union on first reference, and simply the union on second reference, unless it is necessary to differentiate it from the union of another league.
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NBPA

Avoid overuse of this acronym for the National Basketball Players Association. Instead, use the NBA players’ union on first reference, and simply the union on second reference, unless it is necessary to differentiate it from the union of another league.
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NCAA Tournament

Also referred to as The Big Dance or the tournament on subsequent reference. After either of those terms have been used in copy, the dance or the tourney are acceptable. The commonly used term March Madness technically refers to the entirety of postseason college basketball in March, including conference tournaments, which are not technically part
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NBA Finals

Plural. On subsequent reference, the finals is acceptable.
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3-pointer

A basketball field goal that results in three points being scored. Not to be confused with a three-point play in which a 2-point basket is scored, followed by a free throw.
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box score

Two words.
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height and length

Always use digits and spell out the unit of measurement: 2 meters; 11 inches Express height in X-foot-X format when used as an adjective: 6-foot-9; 7-foot Include hyphens when used as a noun: a 7-footer; a 2-miler Do not include hyphens for adjective descriptors that do not come before a noun: A football field is
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basketball defense

The various types of defense, in general, follow usual style rules regarding numbers and adjective-noun forms. Examples: 2-3 zone3-2 zoneman-to-manmatchup zone1-3-1 traphalfcourt press
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loose ball

Two words. Hyphenate when used as an adjective coming before a noun: loose-ball foul
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