ALL-PRO: Each year professional coaches and sportswriters pick the best players from the ranks of the NBA.

ARC: The most important fundamental to remember when learning how to shoot a basketball at a basket. The ball should curve up before it comes down toward the basket. The trajectory of the ball in flight to the basket.

BALL: The object used to play the game of basketball is know as a ball. A basketball is perfectly round and made of leather. Its circumference is 29 1/2 to 30 inches.

BALL HAWK: An aggressive defensive player. One who often steals the ball from opponents.

BASKET HANGING: A player who is always near his offensive basket, even when his team is playing defense.

BELLY-UP: To play tight defense, meaning little room between you and the offensive player.

CHARGING: A foul committed when the player with the ball runs into an opponent who has clearly established his defensive position (not moving when banged into). If the defender has not established his position, he has committed a blocking foul.

CHASER: The front player in a zone defense whose duty is to harass the attacking team's players and force them to make bad passes.

CHIPPIE: A short shot, one that should never be missed.

CHUMP: A bad player, one who can easily be outplayed.

CITY GAME: The type of basketball played in the schoolyards of the big cities, usually in the East. The term came into vogue with Pete Axthelm's 1970 book, that chronicled the success of the 1969-1970 Knicks along with the lives of some schoolyard heroes who never made it to the Madison Square Garden.

DANCE-HALL PLAYER: A tough player whose game is based on his ability to stop his opponent or to score himself regardless of the pressure by the other team.

DEAL: To pass the ball around the floor. A team is dealing if all the players keep the ball moving around, while they look for the easiest shot.

DELAY DUNK: A dunk held in mid air for a split second before slamming it through the hoop.

DOUBLE FOUL: This occurs when two players, one from each team, make a foul at the same time. Nobody receives free throws. Instead, there is a center jump.

ENGLISH: A type of spin on the ball which can help soften a shot while shooting.

EYE FAKES: Movements with the eyes used by offensive players to fake a defensive player out of position.

FALL AWAY SHOT: An off-balance shot taken while falling away from the basket. This move is used to prevent a shot from being blocked.

FANCY DAN: Description given to a player who makes fancy plays and shots just to please the crowd.

FLICK: A quick, light flip of the wrist in passing or shooting the ball.

GIVE-AND-GO: A play designed to catch a defender napping. After you "give" the ball to the teammate, you "go" towards the basket, hoping that your defender has eased up when he saw you pass the ball away. If he has, your teammate gets the ball back to you near the basket for a shot.

GO TO THE HOLE: Dribbling toward the basket in attempt of achieving a high percentage shot.

HANDOFF: One offensive player giving the ball to another.

HATCHET MAN: A player whose specialty is fouling, often with the purpose of taking the opposing team's star out of the game, either literally by causing a fight or an injury, or figuratively by making that player change his style of play in order to stay clear of the hatchet.

HELP: To aid a teammate on defense.

HIPPING: To hit an opponent with your hip.

INBOUND: To throw the ball into the court from out of bounds.

JAM UP: When a defensive team clogs the middle of the court.

JUMPING JACK: Description given to a player with exceptional jumping ability. This player is usually a crowd pleaser because of his ability to soar above the other players.

LAYIN: When an offensive player retrieves a rebound near the basket and puts it in the basket.

LORD OF THE RIMS: A player who is the dominating rebounder and one whom nobody will challenge in the area above the basket. This has been one of Kareem Abdul Jabbar's nicknames.

MISMATCH: Occurs when a defender suddenly finds himself covering a much larger and taller player because of a defensive switch.

MOVING PICK: While setting a pick the defender moves which therefore creates a foul.

OFF THE BALL FOUL: A foul committed by a player or players not near the ball. Pushing and holding are common fouls of this type.

ON FIRE: When a player does not miss a shot.

PALMING: Twisting the wrist while dribbling that results in the ball being carried; a violation that costs the team the ball.

PEEKER: A player, on defense, who tries to check the other offensive player by taking a peek at them while his man has the ball. Peekers who played against Elgin Baylor often were burned by him on baskets he made because of their mistakes.