• Recreational basketball follows more informal rules than organized basketball.basketball image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com
  
  Formal basketball leagues have their own sets of rules to which players and referees must adhere, but pickup basketball games are often much more informal, and are often played on makeshift courts and in driveways. The informality provides flexibility in the rules--basically, whatever all the players agree on is kosher--though a few general guidelines work in almost any situation.
  
  

Basics

• The basics of the game need to remain in place regardless of how informal the game may be. Players can advance the ball by passing it or dribbling it (bouncing it on the ground) and may not advance more than two steps without bouncing the ball. The ball can be passed with one or two hands, and if the ball goes out of bounds, the team that last touched it must give it to the other team to be thrown in. Each basket counts as two points, except those made from beyond the outer circumference (also called the three-point line), which are worth three points. If your court doesn't have an outer circumference, you can either make all baskets worth two points or set a specific distance away from the basket that counts as three points for all players. When playing on half courts, the team on offense must move the ball to the end of the court away from the basket before attempting a shot.
  
  

Timing

• Depending on the situation, players might have a limited amount of time to participate, and other teams may wish to make use of the court. Formal basketball typically divides each game into four 15-minute quarters or two 20-minute halves, and each team can call a set number of timeouts that last a specified length of time (usually either 30 seconds or 45 seconds). Formal timing in this manner usually requires a referee. If you don't have one, or if you need to keep the game quick, set a specific number of points to be scored (such as 20 or 30). The first team to reach that score wins--though if there's a required margin of victory (two points, for example), play may continue until one team surpasses its opponent by that margin.
  
  

Restrictions

• The number of players on the court must be the same for each team: five on five is standard, but you can drop to as few as one on one, provided each team fields the same number. Players can't hold, trip or otherwise impede the progress of other players with their hands, nor may they strike the other players or behave in an unsportsmanlike manner. Defending players are prevented from running into the players on offense. No player may goal tend (touch the ball when it's on or directly above the rim, or hit the rim while the ball is on or above it), and no kicking of the ball is allowed.