Slamball

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Slamball

Slamball is a variation of the game of basketball that has been played in the United States since 2002. Slamball games were aired on television by Spike TV from 2002 through 2003.

Rules

In slamball, two teams of four players each compete against each other. Each team has one handler (point guard), two gunners (guards) and a stopper (center/goaltender).

SCORING AND TIMING

Shots may be taken from any area of the court, which is surrounded by hard clear plastic walls. However, slam dunks are worth three points, and shots taken from other areas are worth only two.

There is a three-point line. In season one, any shot from behind this line would be worth three points. In season two, only shots in the final minute of the game were worth three points.

Teams have a 15 second shot clock, after they pass half court. The games are four quarters of six minutes.

DEFENSE

Inside the three-point line are four large, rectangular trampolines. Offensive players use them to go for a dunk and defensive players used them to defend. There was no goaltending rule -- defenders could block over the rim at will. Even with this rule, defenders (called "Stoppers") were at an extreme disadvantage because they could not jump towards an airborne player.

While on defense, players were also allowed to "check" their opponents. You could only hit the offensive player if they are dribbling with the ball, only between the waist and shoulders, and not if they are in the air. At first, this rule was very confusing to understand but defenses learned to use this rule to punish players mid-court.

When a ball is touched by two players of opposing teams, this does not count as a "jump ball" situation as it would in basketball. Instead, the defensive team gets possession of the ball. There are no out of bounds rules, and players may bounce the ball off the glass without committing a turn-over.

When a defensive foul is committed, the player fouled has to go and jump off a trampoline, facing the defender, evade the defender's attempt at blocking him and try to score the three point dunk. No matter the result of this "Face Off," the offense gets the ball again.

History

Slamball is the creation of Mason Gordon, who imagined he could create a variation of basketball since he was a teenager. Upon inventing a concept, he approached Mike Tollin, a producer. Tollin did not like the idea immediately; however, after giving it some thought, he agreed to help Gordon, six months after their first meeting.

Gordon then set up the first slamball court, with trampolines and a basketball arena. Gordon then tried to convince street basketball players to test his new idea; he wanted to find skilled, strong players who could compete comfortably while jumping on trampolines. He found six players who were willing to practice for an average of fifteen hours a day.

First played in Los Angeles, California, the game gained wide attention from street basketball players in the area, and within a year, 400 people had been enlisted as potential players. In 2002, slamball made its television debut, on the TNN network, soon after former Philadelphia 76ers owner Pat Croce had signed on as a major slamball partner. Soon, the game caught the eyes of other networks, such as ESPN, which would sporadically report about the new game. Slamball also aired on the British television station Trouble where it picked up a substantial British fanbase.

Having added two expansion teams and built a beautiful new court in Universal City, CA in the second season of Slamball on Spike TV/TNN , Slamball severed its ties with Spike TV, partly due to fans that complained about poor coverage of the rapidly growing sport. The 2004 season was held off and Slamball joined up with Projekt Revolution, where the game meant to be showcased in a nationwide tour of the U.S.; sadly this did not happen.

Teams

Bandits
Bouncers
Diablos (runners up 2002)
Mob
Riders (winners 2003)
Rumble (winners 2002)
Slashers (runners up 2003)
Steal

European Tour

The announcement of a twenty-three-city tour of Europe in around early February 2006 is the news most Slamball fans have been waiting for. There are little details as yet but more are expected in the coming months. Cities that the event is expected to go to are as follows:

Brussels, Belgium
Prague, Czech Republic
Birmingham, England
London, England
Tallinn, Estonia
Helsinki, Finland
Paris, France
Munich, Germany
Cologne, Germany
Budapest, Hungary
Dublin, Ireland
Milan, Italy
Rome, Italy
Vilnius, Lithuania
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Lisbon, Portugal
Glasgow, Scotland
Madrid, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
Stockholm, Sweden
Gothenburg, Sweden
Basel, Switzerland

Following the Europeana Tour, a brand new season is scheduled to begin in the United States once again placed on a network.

Trivia

In 2005 in the movie Back to the Future Part II, Slamball was listed as the favorite sport of Douglas J Needles while Marty McFly was speaking with him.

External links

Ball games | Forms of basketball | TV shows produced/distributed by Warner Brothers