Chameleon 1-on-1

Setup, constraints and explanation

Setup

The aim of this activity is for the offense to keep, extend, or create their advantage, while the defense works on recovering or maintaining a neutral relationship (chest-to-chest) to the offense. The offense will get three reps in a row against the defender, with each rep being from a different location within the half-court. Like a chameleon, the defender changes their colors (the start positions) to create varied affordances across all three repetitions:

• Blind start: Offense has the ball on the defender’s back, who is blind to the offense facing the rim.
• Hip start: Offense has the ball on the defender’s hip, standing side-by-side with a smaller advantage.
• Check-it start: Defense starts chest-to-chest with the offense, playing the 1-on-1 from a neutral position.

The varied starts can be performed in any order.

Constraints

• Each rep features a shot clock of three to five seconds.
• Start positions can be manipulated and some players may only play against specific types of advantage if there is a defensive position they are struggling to score against, for example, hip start and being able to finish against a defender on their hip. This is all subject to the optimal challenge relative to each player.
• Change not just location, but the depth. For example, starting further back near or beyond the half-court line creates more affordances similar to those experienced in transition offense.
• Many other starts can be created to complement the base ideas provided here. The chameleon concept can still be applied by changing location and advantage type across three reps.
• Add an extra defender (e.g. 1-on-2) or use the same start for a 2-on-2, 3-on-3, 4-on-4, or 5-on-5. This creates affordances to keep dominoes and for the defense to rotate back to neutral.

Explanation

The offense starts with a ball on the back of the defensive player, who cannot move until the ball is lifted off their back. Play the 1-on-1 within the five-second clock. On the next rep, the offense stays as offense but picks a different half-court starting location, putting the ball on the defender’s hip and playing live once the ball is lifted. For the last rep, pick one new location and the defender will check the ball to the offense standing right in front of them. After these three reps are finished, change roles before finding a new teammate to play against.

Show the configuration of the offense and defense while providing the task design principles, before introducing the scoring system: The only way to win the game is on defense. The first player to force five stops wins, but these stops can only be contested shots followed by the defensive rebound or a turnover. The golden snitch can be caught and the game won immediately if a player gets three stops in a row!

From Transforming Basketball (2024) by Alex Sarama, chapter 8, pp. 261 to 263.