`bright cyan`Basketball
        The rules of basketball are far too vast to list out for this game,
        especially when you, as a coach, never actually play a game.  What
        we will discuss are the general rules of basketball and positions.

`bright yellow`The Players
        Ten players are on the court at all times in basketball.  Five
        players on each of the two teams.  Unlike hockey, when someone 
        commits a penalty, they do not have to leave the game, but rather 
        are charged with a personal foul.  In college basketball five 
        personal fouls and the player is ejected from the game.  In 
        professional basketball the maximum is six.  A player may be sub-
        stituted at any stop in game play.  The five players per team are
        broken into different positions, Point Guard, Shooting Guard, 
        Small Forward, Power Forward and Center.  Their typical heights
        follow that same order from smallest to tallest.

        Point Guards are responsible for ball handling and controlling the
        offense.  Shooting guards are just that, shooting guards.  Typically
        they, too, can handle the ball, but usually aren't the primary
        handler.  Small Forwards can be a third guard, or a third big man
        under the basket, they are probably the most versatile players.
        Power Forwards are big people that play under the basket often, grab
        a lot of rebounds and do their share of scoring.  Centers are
        similar to Power Forwards in their duties.  In addition, they are 
        the most difficult to find, meaning at draft time.

        As a owner and general manager of a professional basketball team you
        want to make sure that you have at least one player who can play 
        each of these positions.  There are in addition to the players 
        listed above, players that have enough talent and skill to play more
        than one position.  Franchise Basketball breaks these players into
        two groups, Forwards and Guards.  Forwards (designated by an F) may
        play either of the two Forward positions, while Guards (G) can play
        either Point Guard or Shooting Guard.  In addition, during the
        course of a game, these Forwards and Guards may play both positions.
        for added simplicity, Franchise Basketball does not currently
        support other position combinations (Guards may not play Forward
        positions, and vise versa).

        Each game is composed of four (4) fifteen minute quarters.  After 4
        quarters, if the score is tied, the teams play an additional 5
        minute overtime.  This continues until a winner is determined.

        When a team wins or loses the result is stored with all coach data
        and the wins and losses are compiled to achieve the league standings.
        The league standings are located in the Sports Page section of
        Franchise Basketball along with each coaches wins, losses, and games
        behind the division leader.  Teams vie during the regular season for
        a birth in the post season playoffs.  A sysop configured number of
        teams make that post season (registered version only).

`bright yellow`The Playoffs
        The teams that make the playoffs are determined as follows.  The
        division champion from each division of all conferences makes the
        playoffs.  Then depending on the number of teams from each 
        conference that make the playoffs, the next best X teams are
        admitted to the playoffs.  For example, 8 teams from each
        conference make the playoffs (sysop configured).  There are two
        divisions in each conference.  So, those two division champs are
        awarded the first two playoff slots.  The next 6 slots go to the
        conferences 6 next best teams.  After the eight teams are
        selected, they are seeded in order by record, and the first seed
        plays #8, #2 plays #7, etc., mimicking the way professional
        basketball sets up their playoffs.

`bright yellow`The Champion
        Eventually, all teams will be narrowed down to one, and that is
        the Franchise Basketball champion.  In the unregistered version,
        no champion is crowned.  You may assume that the team with the
        best record in the regular season is the champion.

`bright cyan`Franchise Basketball `white`(C) 1995 `bright red`SnellaSoft
