An alley-oop is a play in which one player throws a pass toward the rim and a teammate catches it in midair and scores, usually with a dunk, in a single motion.
The alley-oop turns a pass into a dunk without the ball ever being dribbled or held on the ground. The passer lobs the ball on a high arc toward a spot above and near the rim; the finisher times a leap, catches it in the air, and scores in the same motion, usually dunking it. The margin for error is measured in inches and tenths of seconds, which is why the play brings crowds to their feet.
Its name comes, by the standard account, from a French circus acrobat's cry, allez hop, carried into American sports as the call for a coordinated leap. In basketball the play became a fast break staple and a chemistry test: only teams whose passer and finisher share real timing can run it, and famous partnerships, from Showtime's finishers to the Lob City Clippers of the 2010s, are remembered by their lobs.
The box score splits the credit plainly, an assist for the thrower and a field goal for the finisher, and goaltending rules protect the finish, since the ball on its descent into the rim belongs to the shooter. Quiz questions use the alley-oop to test era partnerships: who threw them, who caught them, and which team's whole identity was airborne.
In use"The guard floated the alley-oop over the defence and the forward slammed it home."