NBA Basics: The Alley-Oop

The alley-oop is one of the most spectacular plays in basketball, demanding focus, teamwork, and an incredible athletic ability. It occurs when one player throws the basketball towards the basket. Then, another player jumps, in mid-air catches the ball, and dunks it all in one motion. The first alley-oop has been credited to Al and Gerald Tucker, who played college basketball in the 1960's. However, David Thompson has also been credited for executing the first alley-oop, too. Thompson catching alley-oops were a common occurrence in the 1970's, as this exploited his 44 inch vertical leap. During this time, however, dunking in college basketball was illegal. Therefore, in order to finish off the alley-oop, a player had to catch it in mid-air and then drop it into the basket. They could not touch the rim. Thompson never dunked the basketball except for one time - during his final home game of this college career.

During the 1990's, the alley-oop began to show up more in the NBA. One of the most infamous alley-oops, however, happened in college, when North Carolina State beat the University of Houston on one. Dereck Whittenburg shot the ball short of the rim, but Lorenzo Charles caught the ball and dunked it, proving to be the winning shot of the championship game. The difficulty of this trick is very high, as there is an unspoken communication necessary for pulling one off. Usually, eye contact is necessary, and signals may be given, such as raising their hand. The passer has to time the pass and throw it accurately, too. Another type of alley-oop occurs when a player throws the ball off the backboard. Then, a trailing player "rebounds" the ball and dunks it.

The alley-oop is also creatively done in the slam dunk competitions, as in 2005, Steve Nash bounced the basketball off of his head, to which his teammate Amare Stoudemire caught the ball and jammed it. Another occurrence in dunk contests in a player will throw a lob to themselves by bouncing it off the floor or throwing a high arching shot. The term alley-oop comes from the French term allez-hop. This is the cry of an acrobat before the leap. The term was first used in the 1950's as a football term to describe a high arching shot. It was often performed by R.C. Owens, who could outleap smaller cornerbacks to easily catch touchdowns. Later, though, it became a more common term in basketball.

Wikipedia, Alley-oop (basketball)