And One Term in Basketball: Basic Information Explained

What is general information about the term known as “and one” in basketball

Basic meaning

And one is an informal term that is sometimes used by players, fans, and/or other spectators to describe a situation that occurs during a basketball game when an offensive player successfully makes a field goal attempt despite being fouled by a defender at the same time.

Afterwards, as a common penalty against the fouling defender, the offensive player would typically be awarded one free throw attempt.

Essentially, the term emphasizes a successful field goal attempt and one free throw attempt that is awarded to the offensive player due to the foul committed by a defender.

Basic example

To clarify even further with an example, let’s say that two teams are playing a full court 5-on-5 game which also includes referees and standard basketball rules as normal.

Following that, at some point during the game, an offensive player takes a jump shot near the perimeter area of the court such as the wing while being covered by an on-ball defender.

However, in the process of contesting the jump shot, the on-ball defender makes illegal contact with the offensive player, which is effectively a defensive foul as well as a shooting foul.

Nevertheless, the offensive player is still able to make the jump shot and at the same time, the referee signals the defender for the foul because of the illegal contact.

As a result, the offensive player receives a free throw attempt, which could lead to an additional point as well.

In other words, if an offensive player makes a field goal while a defender gets called for a foul, then that same offensive player would receive points via the field goal and one additional scoring opportunity by way of a free throw attempt.

Types of “and one” situations

Three-point play

The first type of and one situation is the three-point play, which occurs when an offensive player gets fouled while making a two-point field goal such as a layup, floater, dunk, post move, or mid-range jump shot.

Next, the referee would typically assess a foul against the defender and then award one free throw attempt to the offensive player who was the target of the foul.

From that point, if the offensive player makes the free throw, then that would result in three total points for that player.

Moreover, as a side note, this particular type of and one situation is sometimes referred to as a “three-point play, the old fashioned way” or “the old-fashioned three-point play.”

It is occasionally called that phrase because prior to the 1980s, the vast majority of leagues, divisions, or conferences did not implement a three-point line, which is also to say that the notion of scoring points via a three-point field goal was more or less non-existent.

Essentially, the “old fashioned way” that an offensive player could score three points in one possession was to successfully make a two-point field goal while being fouled by a defender and then make the subsequent free throw for an additional point.

Furthermore, to give a brief historical context of the three-point line, it was initially implemented within early college basketball experiments as well as the American Basketball League (ABL) in the 1960s.

From there, the three-point line was utilized in the opening 1967-1968 season of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the three-point shot was also popularized by that same basketball league over time.

What’s more, the National Basketball Association (NBA) adopted the three-point line from the ABA in the 1979-80 season and the first NBA three-point shot was made by Chris Ford during his time as a member of the Boston Celtics basketball team.

Following that, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) fully embraced the three-point line in the 1986-87 season. However, certain NCAA conferences were already using the three-point line as early as the 1980-81 NCAA season.

Additionally, it should be noted that the three-point play as a type of and one scenario should not be confused with three-point basketball plays, which are special type of set plays that could be used by a basketball team to create three-point scoring opportunities for their best perimeter shooters.

Four-point play

The second type of and one situation is the four-point play, which occurs when an offensive player gets fouled while making a three-point field goal.

Afterwards, the referee would typically assess a foul against the defender and then award one free throw attempt to the offensive player who was the target of the foul.

Following that, if the offensive player makes the free throw, then that would result in four total points for that player.

Also, as a side note, the four-point play is usually not as common as the three-point play for at least a couple of reasons.

First, the four-point play primarily happens when an offensive player attempts a three-point jump shot while the three-point play could occur in multiple ways such as being fouled in the process of making a layup, floater, or mid-range jump shot.

Second, it is usually much harder for an offensive player to make a three-pointer on a consistent basis while being fouled by a defender because the three-point line is further away from the basket.

However, when a four-point play does happen, it could be very motivating for the offensive player and it could also bring a boost of energy to the team in general.

In addition to that, the four-point play could be very interesting to witness for dedicated fans and casual observers alike.

General relationship of “and one” situations to basketball statistics

Statistics in relation to three-point play and four-point play

It should be noted that at this current time, the types of and one situations known as three-point plays and four-point plays are not tracked as an official basketball statistic within a standard basketball game.

Instead, when an offensive player makes the field goal, particularly in the case of a three-point play, the categories known as field goals made (FGM) and field goals attempted (FGA) would be increased by a value of 1 for that specific game.

Furthermore, if the offensive player makes the subsequent free throw, that would also increase both the free throws made (FTM) and free throws attempted (FTA) categories by a value of 1 as well.

What’s more, in terms of the four-point play, the categories of field goals made, field goals attempted, three-point field goals made (3PM), and three-point field goals attempted (3PA) would be increased by a value of 1.

Moreover, similar to the three-point play, if the offensive player makes the free throw, that would also increase those respective categories by a value of 1 as well.

Nonetheless, if the offensive player makes the two-point field goal or three-point field goal but misses the free throw, then the respective field goal and/or three-point categories would increase by 1 but in terms of the free throw category, only the free throws attempted category would rise by 1.

Statistics examples

As an example, let’s say that an offensive player currently has certain field goal statistics, which include 3 field goals made out of 7 field goals attempted in addition to 3 free throws made out of 5 free throws attempted.

From there, if that player then makes a two-point field goal such as a layup while being fouled by a defender, then this will update the field goal category to 4 field goals made out of 8 field goals attempted.

Next, if the offensive player makes the subsequent free throw, then that would modify the free throw category to 4 free throws made out of 6 free throws attempted.

Conversely, if the offensive player misses the free throw, then the free throws made category would remain the same at the previous number of 3 but the free throws attempted category would increase to 6 free throws attempted.

In other words, if the offensive player misses the free throw, then that respective category would display 3 free throws made out of 6 free throws attempted.

To provide another example, let’s say that the offensive player has field goal statistics that are the same as before, which would be 3 field goals made out of 7 field goals attempted in addition to 3 free throws made out of 5 free throws attempted.

However, this time, let’s also say that the offensive player has three-point field goal statistics as well, which are 2 three-point field goals made out of 7 three-point field goals attempted.

Following that, if that offensive player successfully achieves a four-point play by making a three-point field goal while being fouled by a defender, then several statistical categories would be altered to reflect the necessary changes.

Basically, the overall field goal category would be updated to display 4 field goals made out of 8 field goals attempted and in addition to that, the three-point field goal category would get updated to show 3 three-point field goals made out of 8 field goals attempted.

Furthermore, if the offensive player makes the free throw, then that respective category would display 4 free throws made out of 6 free throws attempted.

On the other hand, if the offensive player misses the free throw, then that specific category would showcase 3 free throws made out of 6 free throws attempted.