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Glite Dictionary
🏀 Basketball guards 🎾 Rear court area
backcourt

backcourt

6 4.7
The part of a basketball court far from the basket or the guards who play there
  • noun
  • /ˈbækˌkɔrt/
  • Specialized
: zona trasera
  • The coach emphasized that the team's backcourt needs to improve their defense to win more games.
  • the best backcourt
  • backcourt player
  • starting backcourt

Examples

  • As expected, the Owls relied on a talented and veteran backcourt en route to the field of 64.

    Blog text (2)

  • The Warriors' backcourt is still a mess because their on-ball defense is horrible, with no toughness.

    Blog text (15)

  • We should stay in the backcourt.

    Life As We Know It (2010)

  • Walker on the attack, still in the backcourt.

    Hoosiers (1986)

  • His presence in the backcourt takes some of the scoring burden off the younger players.

    Blog text (30)

  • Sendek wants to take advantage of the speed he has in his backcourt.

    Blog text (26)

  • Meanwhile, the Hornets' starting backcourt had as many turnovers as field goals made.

    Blog text (16)

  • But Iona, loaded in the backcourt, couldn't hang with Quinnipiac up front.

    Blog text (8)

  • The Monta Ellis-Brandon Jennings backcourt that everyone is skeptical can work looked just fine.

    Blog text (2)

  • If nothing else, Kobe and Nash will form the NBA's smartest starting backcourt, hands down.

    Blog text (24)

Surface Forms

backcourt singular
backcourts plural

Morphology

backcourt = back + court (semi-transparent) = back + court

The locational meaning ('rear area') is transparent, but the extension to denote the players occupying that area (guards) is a metonymic shift and not directly derivable from the components.

Etymology

Backcourt is made of back ('rear') and court ('playing area'), so in basketball it means the half of the court farthest from the basket and also the guards who mainly play there.