It depends on whether you're talking NCAA or NBA basketball. a) in NCAA Basketball, you are allowed 6 fouls before the opposition has to shoot free throws.(The exceptions are fouls commited during a field goal attempt, in which case free throws are automatic) Once the 7th team foul is commited, opposition is awarded one free throw, with a second one given if the first one is good. If the first one is missed, play resumes normally. Once the 10th team foul is caused, the opposition is automatically given 2 free throws on all following fouls caused. b) in NBA Basketball, you're only allowed 4 fouls to commit before the opposition shoots 2 free throws on every foul caused. (Of course, anytime there is a foul commited on a field goal attempt, 2 free throws are always given unless the FG attempt was good, then only one free throw is allowed, or if a foul is caused on an unsuccessful 3-point attempt, then 3 free throws are awarded.) P.S. There are no fouls shots awarded on offensive fouls caused in the NBA.

Referenced from http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_index.html These are NBA rules. Rules for NCAA can be found here http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2005/2005_basketball_rules.pdf Section V--Free Throw Penalty Situations a. Each team is limited to four team fouls per regulation period without addi-tional penalties. Common fouls charged as team fouls, in excess of four, will be penal-ized by one free throw attempt plus a penalty free throw attempt. (1) The first four common fouls committed by a team in any regulation peri-od shall result in the ball being awarded to the opposing team on the side-line nearest where play was interrupted. The ball shall be awarded no nearer to the baseline than the free throw line extended. (2) The first three common fouls committed by a team in any overtime peri-od, shall result in the ball being awarded to the opposing team on the sideline nearest where play was interrupted. The ball shall be awarded no nearer to the baseline than the free throw line extended. (3) If a team has not committed its quota of four team fouls during the first ten minutes of any regulation period, or its quota of three team fouls dur-ing the first three minutes of any overtime period, it shall be permitted to incur one team foul during the last two minutes without penalty. (4) During any overtime period, common fouls charged as team fouls in excess of three, will be penalized by one free throw plus a penalty free throw attempt. (5) Personal fouls which are flagrant, punching, elbowing, away-from-the-play, or clear-path-to-the-basket will carry their own separate penalties and are included in the team foul total. (6) Personal fouls committed during a successful field goal attempt, which result in one free throw attempt being awarded, will not result in an addi-tional free throw attempt if the penalty situation exists. b. A maximum of three points may be scored by the same team on a success-ful two-point field goal attempt. c. A maximum of four points may be scored by the same team on a successful three-point field goal attempt.