How it Works & League Rules

WEEKLY ROLL CALL

Roll call is sent out Monday afternoon at 12:00pm of every week and deadline to respond is 1:00pm (NO EXCEPTIONS).  The roll call is sent out to all members of the What’s App group. If all 20 full-time players are confirmed, that will be the roster for the week. If 20 players are not confirmed we will post in the substituation What’s App group. The substitution roll call deadline is Tuesday at 12:00pm (NO EXCEPTIONS) if 20 players aren’t signed up. Weekly captains will be set once 20 players are confirmed.

TEAMS/CAPTAINS/DRAFTS

Each week, captains are selected to represent a team.  Captains are selected based on their skill set/size/stamina etc. to ensure all 4 captains are equal as determined by the organizers to ensure a level playing field.  Once captains and players are confirmed, the organizers will randomly set up the draft order for that week and captains will make their selections. The draft follows a snake system meaning the last person drafting in round 1, will be the first person drafting in round 2. New rule for 2024: Top pick can choose any pick from 1-4 and etc. Additionally, based on the draft order, the reverse of that order is the order in which captains can select the teams they want to represent that week.  Weekly draft will take place Wednesday nights at 9pm (usually doesn’t take longer than 10 minutes); if you are selected as a captain and agreed, then please ensure you are able to be on the WhatsApp group at 9pm to draft your team.  Other than captains, the rest of the league will not be made aware of how the draft went and the teams will be posted/announced in alphabetical order on Wednesday night in the WhatsApp group chat.  Once a team is drafted, captains do NOT have the ability to trade players, and those players are locked in.  In the event a drafted player cannot make it last minute, the team will be provided a substitute player if one is available.

ROUND ROBIN

Teams are expected to be ready to go on the court with their teams by 8:00pm.  A schedule will be provided to every team along with the organizers telling people the games and court they will play on.  There are 4 teams, and each team will play each other twice for a total of 6 round robin games. At the end of the round robin, the 2 teams from that week that have the highest points will move on to a finals game to determine that week’s champions.

Time Stopage: The round robin games do not have time stopage, except for the last 30 seconds. This in place so teams cannot intentionally foul to run out the clock.

Foul Rule: If a player is fouled with less than 7 seconds of a round robin game, the fouled player and his team will automatically recieve a 7 second possession. This is to avoid intentional fouls with minimal time left in the round robin game.

Flagrant Rule: If a player is fouled anytime during a round robin game and it is deemed flagrant and excessive, the player fouled player will automatically receive a free throw. Regardless of whether the player makes or misses the free throw, the shooting team will receive the ball. 

TEAMS/CAPTAINS/DRAFTS

All games are 4 on 4, with each team having a substitute player.  Team captains are to ensure that each player plays a minimum of 2 minutes of each game and that the player subbing in and out of each game remains fair.  If a team is found in violation of this, the opposing captains can discuss the issue with the team captain or bring it up with league management at the games.  Games are capped at whoever scores 14 points first or whoever is leading after 10 minutes.  If the game is tied, it will end in a tie and each team will receive 1 point for the tie.  A win is 2 points for a team.  Scoring system is 2 point for every made basket, and 3 points for every 3-pointer made.  Fouls are called on the court and should be respected by both teams.  Hard fouls or continuously fouling/playing dirty will result in league management review and could end up with warnings and/or suspensions.  At the end of each game, the team captain (and only the team captain) will provide the official scorekeepers with the final scores of that game.  Games are hard capped at 10 minutes or the scoring limit, whichever comes first.  This is done to ensure all games are played in the round robin and so that a final can happen, given that we only have the gym for a set number of hours.

TIE-BREAKER

Teams tied in the round-robin points going into the finals will be determined using tie breakers in the following order:

  1. Total Wins
  2. Head to Head
  3. Point Differential
  4. Points For
  5. Points Against

FINALS

Finals are played in 2 halves of 8 minutes with no score limit.  The scoring remains the same with each basket counted as 2 point and each 3-pointer counted as 3 points.  The team with the most points at the end of the 2 halves will be crowned that week’s champions.  If the game is tied, a 2 minute OT will be played. After that 1st to score will win.  The team with the highest point total in the round robin will have choice to either recieve the ball in the first half or choose which side to shoot on. At half time, teams will switch sides and the opposing team will start with the ball. In the finals, the clock stops on all dead plays, fouls, check balls and out of bounds. 1st possession in overtime will be determined by a coin flip.    

Close game: If the game is close in the final minute of the Finals (3 possession game or less) an intentional foul rule is in play and can be used. This is to avoid the winning team from dribbling out the clock. To intentionally foul, player must yell out foul and grab the player with the ball (you cannot intentionally foul a player without the ball – this will not stop the clock). The fouled player will be awarded 2 FT’s. Both FT’s are for points. The possession will change to the other team after the free throws. There is no rebounding. Intentional Foul can only be used max 3 times by a team and only in the last 60 seconds of the game. The finals will consist of a Game Manager, a player nominated the league players who can manage the game. Game Managers will only turn possession calls (out of bounds and etc.). Game Managers will not be calling or overturning foul calls.

Finals game manager: One person will be nominated weekly to manage the finals (this person will not call fousl, only help with the 50/50 calls)

GN POINTS

GN Points (Got Next Team Points) are the weekly point system included in the league.  Individual scoring is tracked for only the 2 teams that make the finals that week.  By making the finals itself, each member of the losing team will receive a set number of GN points. If your team wins that week’s championship, each member of that team will receive an additional set of GN points. Additionally, in the finals, points scored, 3-pointers made, and rebounds are all counted towards your individual GN points. At the end of each week, a summary of that week’s performance along with the cumulative GN points for each player in the league will be posted. At the end of the 15-week season, the top 10 GN point earners will be crowned the All-GN Team and will play in the GN All Star game comprised of 2 teams of 5 which will be captained by the top 2 GN point earners.

GN POINT SCORING

Each week, players and teams who make it to the finals, will have an opportunity to accumulate GN points for their season standings.  Players will receive GN points for making the finals, winning the finals and any additional contributions they make in the finals (win or lose) regarding specific stats that are being tracked.  The following is a breakdown on how the GN points scoring system works:

  • 2-Pointer / Free Throw Scored:
  • 3-Pointer Scored:
  • Rebound:
  • Assist:
  • Steals:
  • Blocks:
  • Making Finals:
  • Winning Finals:
  • GN Dynasty:

1 GN point
1.5 GN points
1 GN point
1.5 GN point
1.5 GN point
1.5 GN point
2.5 GN points
5 GN points
5 GN points

Players on the 3rd place team from round robin games will recieve 1 GN point. Additionally, 2 of the 4 weekly captains that are not competing in the finals for that week will be required to score one of the teams in the finals and ensure that team’s points, 3-pointers, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks are tracked for each player.

DYNASTY TEAMS

Except for week 1, every week there will be a defending champion entering the week.  The team that wins the weekly championship, will remain the same if 4 of the 5 players return, meaning that team will not draft (they may have to draft the 1 player that doesn’t return, and will be placed in the last pick of the round the player was drafted in).  Other than week 1, there will be 3 weekly captains and 3 new teams re-drafted (unless more than 2 players cannot return to the champions team, then they will have a brand-new team as well).  This is done to ensure everyone has the chance to play with everyone during the 15 weeks.  The goal for each team is to win 3 consecutive weeks without breaking up.  By winning 3 consecutive weeks, your team will be crowned as a Dynasty team resulting in additional GN pts.  At any point if a team wins 3 and becomes a Dynasty, they must break up on the 4th week and all 4 teams will be reset.

REPORTING ISSUES

As is the case in most pickup basketball leagues, tempers sometimes could flare up, and people may occasionally foul harder than normal.  Please remember that although the league is meant to remain competitive, bringing in our Islamic values is first and foremost, and brotherhood amongst all of us should be top priority.  If at any time there is an issue you would like to discuss, please contact the league organizers and he and the organizers will discuss the matter in further details and will act appropriately.  If there are issues during your game, please speak to your team captain for that week and he will either help resolve the issue or take it up with league organizers.

PAYMENT AND FEES

The full-time fee to play in GNBL this year will be $250. The league will accomodatee 20 players full time. The payment for full-time play is due before first pre-season week. During the season subs will be required on a weekly basis. The fee to for the week is $10. Payment from the subs will be required before play on Thursdays. GNBL is a non profit basketball leauge and at the end of the season all proceeds from the league are donated to Sakeenah Homes.