Shot Clock, Team Fouls and Timeouts: What Your League Actually Uses

"Isn't that the bonus?" "They're only on four." "Shouldn't the shot clock be on 14?"

When that conversation starts late in the fourth quarter, the game stops, nobody is quite sure, and everyone agrees on something vaguely wrong so play can resume. It's not your fault. Amateur leagues borrow from different rulebooks, then tweak the details in the tournament regulations, so the numbers really are different from one gym to the next.

Here are the numbers the person on the clock needs, for the three rule sets that cover almost every amateur game, and then how to put them into the scoreboard.

FIBA (international, and most national leagues)

• Four periods of 10 minutes. Overtime is 5 minutes.
• Shot clock: 24 seconds. After an offensive rebound it resets to 14.
• Team fouls: bonus from the fifth foul of each period. From the fifth team foul on, every defensive foul is two free throws. This is the "penalty situation".
• Timeouts: two in the first half, three in the second. Of the three, at most two can be used in the last two minutes of the fourth period. One extra per overtime.

Most national leagues in Europe and Asia, including Korea's KBL and Japan's B.League, play FIBA rules with small local changes. When in doubt, start from this table.

NBA

• Four periods of 12 minutes, 5-minute overtime.
• Shot clock: 24 seconds, 14 after an offensive rebound. Same as FIBA so far.
• Team fouls: bonus from the fifth foul of each period, and in the last two minutes of a period, from the second team foul.
• Timeouts: seven per game, with limits on how many can be used in the fourth period and the final minutes.

3x3

It's easier to think of 3x3 as a separate sport.

• One 10-minute period. The game also ends the moment a team reaches 21 in regulation.
• Shot clock: 12 seconds.
• Team fouls: from the seventh. Fouls 7, 8 and 9 are two free throws; from the tenth, two free throws plus possession.
• One 30-second timeout per team.
• 1 point inside the arc, 2 outside.

NCAA and high school: check the current rulebook

US college and high school basketball mix halves and quarters depending on the level, run longer shot clocks than FIBA, and use different bonus thresholds. Those rules have changed several times in recent seasons, so any numbers printed here would risk being stale. If that's your competition, read the current rulebook rather than a summary.

The whole thing in one table

Putting the numbers into the scoreboard

This is for LiveScoreboard. Everything below is free and takes about a minute before tip-off.

1. Period length. In the Timer section, tap the pencil next to the period length and enter the minutes (1 to 60). Do it before starting the clock; while the clock hasn't started yet, it resets to the new length.
2. Periods. Use the arrows next to PERIOD to move between 1 and 4. For overtime, reset the clock and set the period length to 5.
3. Shot clock. Open the Shot Clock section. It starts at 24; tap the pencil to change it (12 for 3x3). Its start, pause and reset are separate from the game clock, so you can reset to 24 or 14 without touching the main clock.
4. Team fouls and bonus. Open Fouls & Timeouts and tap + on the team that fouled. When a team reaches five, the opponent's Bonus indicator turns on by itself, matching the FIBA and NBA per-period rule. Reset both counters when the period changes.
5. Timeouts. The same section shows what each team has left. Tap − when a coach calls one.
6. Clock corrections. The −10s, −1s, +1s and +10s buttons fix a late whistle, and they work while the clock is running.

One last thing. Before the game, ask the referee "which rules today?" That thirty-second question saves a five-minute argument in the fourth quarter.