Here are a few from recent district high school basketball tournament. This gym had a little better lighting.

they look good, except backfocused. I know how hard it is to get rid of that, as I have countless bball pictures with backfocus. Other than that, they're good. I need to learn how to set custom WB so I can get these natural shots like you, instead of having various tones and hues. The fourth picture is interesting. I also have quite a few shots like that, with the ball just laying on the ground. It gives a funny look to the photo.

I can see the lighting is much better.

What's with that #10's face?
Looks like some kind of plastic guard - protecting an injury maybe.
(I used to play and it was NOT a non-contact sport y any stretch of the imagination)

The ball that's flat at the bottom is great timing, perhaps unfortunate, but great :)

Much improved because of the better lighting, I think.

they use the plastic face guards when they have a nose injury, to protect it from getting hurt again. When my sister used to play lacrosse in college, there was a team with a couple girls on it that use those.

Much improved because of the better lighting, I think.

There is no substitute for having enough light. Thanks for commenting. I was much more pleased with this effort than with those of earlier season post. The D70 is a great little camera, but continuous focus doesn't always keep up with the action in lower light situations, and I do get some images that are softer than I would like.