Meaning & use
basketball frontcourt
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
The half of the court where a team attacks, containing the basket it shoots at.
Grammar: Usually takes 'the': the frontcourt. It can be countable ('a crowded frontcourt') or uncountable ('control the frontcourt').
Patterns
- in the frontcourt
- the frontcourt is crowded
- get the ball into the frontcourt
The guard pushed the ball into the frontcourt and looked for an open shooter.
Their frontcourt was packed with defenders, so the offense swung the ball to the wing.
After the steal, she raced to the frontcourt before the defense could set up.
nounsingular
The two players on a team, usually the forwards and the center, who play closest to the basket.
Grammar: Treated as one unit and used with 'the'; it takes a singular or plural verb: the frontcourt is strong / the frontcourt are all injured.
Patterns
- a strong frontcourt
- the team's frontcourt
- start in the frontcourt
Their frontcourt scored forty points in the paint.
The coach rested his frontcourt in the fourth quarter.
With two big men out, the frontcourt looked small and slow.
Word forms
| plural | frontcourts |
|---|
Common combinations
- control the frontcourt
- Tall centers can control the frontcourt at both ends of the floor.
- in the frontcourt
- He caught the pass in the frontcourt and drove to the rim.
- frontcourt player
- She is a frontcourt player who rebounds well.
- frontcourt matchup
- The frontcourt matchup will decide this game.
- bring the ball up the frontcourt
- The point guard brought the ball up the frontcourt slowly.
Synonyms and how they differ
- paint
- Refers only to the marked area right under the basket, a smaller space than the whole frontcourt.
- low post
- Names the spot near the basket where big players work, not the entire attacking half.
Opposites
Word family
- backcourt noun
- The half a team defends, or the guards who play farthest from the basket.
- frontcourtman noun
- Rare term for a player who works near the basket.
Commonly confused: basketball frontcourt or backcourt? basketball frontcourt or half-court?
basketball frontcourt vs backcourt
The backcourt is the half you defend, while the frontcourt is the half you attack; in a game the two swap each time possession changes.
basketball frontcourt vs half-court
Half-court means play started from the middle of the floor, often a slow set play, not one specific half of the court.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'frontcourt' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Only the first sentence describes the attacking half of a basketball court. The second confuses the word with a place for a parade, and the third and fourth use it as if it meant a garden object or a school subject, which it never does.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “basketball frontcourt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.