I shoot a lot of high school and college basketball, both men's & women's. I never bounce light off the ceiling due to the extra power required to get the same output as direct flash. The trick is to have as short a flash duration as possible. In local high school gyms, I use a pair of Nikon SB-800's at half power, manual mode, 50mm zoom. That gives me roughly 1/250th sec @ f/4 to f/5.6 using ISO 400 to ISO 800. (Some gyms are darker than others, but this is my range locally).
I set the flashes as high as I can, usually climbing to the top of the bleachers and using a 15' light stand attached to something - bring bungee cords, duct tape, clamps, etc - get creative. They are about 4-5 feet behind the baseline, aimed near the top of the key. Of course this will vary depending on the distance from the court.
For my local college, I have 4 White-Lightning X800's in the ceiling set at the corners of the court, facing the top of the key. Each side of the court is set on a different frequency so 2 photographers can shoot together at opposite ends. All are at 1/2 power and are NCAA regulation for output power, location and flash duration. (Full power is a bit distracting to the players for volleyball, but 1/2 power never received a complaint).
Mike
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