Love Twenty20 cricket and futsal? Now get ready for the shorter version of basketball (the 3-on-3), a faster and more athletic form of the game, which will be making its debut at the 3rd Asian Indoor Games to be held at Hanoi, Vietnam, from Oct. 30 to Nov 8.

Also called FIBA 33, this version is played only on half of the conventional basketball court and comprises three players in each team (unlike 5 in normal game).

“Unlike conventional basketball in which a coach can use seven substitutes, in 3-on-3 only one substitute is allowed. At least two of the three players on the court have to touch the ball before attempting to score,” said KK Chansoria, who will be coaching the Indian women’s team at Vietnam.

Each game is of three quarters of five minutes each, but a game could end even earlier if one of the teams manages to cross 33 points. “It doesn’t matter whether they score 33 points in the first quarter or in the third,” explained Chansoria.

Also, the turnovers are faster as the players get only 14 seconds to attempt a shot — unlike the 24 seconds they get in conventional basketball. “Though the court is smaller and the match of shorter duration, because of this rule, the pace is frantic and players actually spend more energy in the 5-minute period than in the 10-minute quarter of the conventional game.”