Most basketball fans would agree that a dunk is one of the most exciting plays in the game.
There’s just something about a player jumping up and slamming a ball through the rim that immediately fires up a team and its fans.
But there’s one specific type of dunk that brings a bigger reaction than all the others:
The alley-oop.
This article is going to take a look at just what an alley-oop is, its history in the game of basketball, the positives and potential drawbacks of an alley-oop, and even a few plays that teams can run to result in an alley-oop.
What is an Alley-Oop?
An alley-oop is when an offensive player throws a pass up near the rim for a teammate who leaps into the air, catches the ball, and then dunks before coming back to the ground.
An alley-oop can take place either in transition or within the flow of a half court offense.
During a fast break, if an athletic player is ahead of the pack, the point guard can throw the ball up to the rim for an alley-oop, sometimes from as far away as half court.
In a half court setting, typically an alley-oop can occur off a back screen or if a player is getting overplayed on the perimeter. I will give some specific examples at the end of the article.
The History of the Alley-Oop
The term “alley-oop” comes from the French term allez hop, which is what circus acrobats used to yell before they were about to make an acrobatic leap.
In terms of sports, “alley-oop” was first used in the 1950s for a football play actually. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Y.A. Tittle threw a high-arcing pass to his receiver R.C. Owens, who out leapt cornerbacks for touchdown catches.
In that same decade, the alley-oop began to show up on the basketball court as well.
The University of San Francisco and its two superstars, K.C. Jones and Bill Russell, used to team up for alley-oops in the mid-1950s, although they weren’t necessarily referred to as that yet.
Then dunking became illegal in college basketball from 1967 to 1976, which didn’t necessarily stop alley-oops, but just changed how they were done.
Many people credit David Thompson of North Carolina State with “inventing” the alley-oop during this period. He possessed a 44-inch vertical jump, which allowed his teammates, Monte Towe and Tim Stoddard, to throw the ball anywhere they needed to, knowing Thompson would be able to get up and get it.
Now since dunking was illegal, Thompson would simply jump up to grab the pass and then drop the ball through the hoop. He never actually dunked one until the final play of his final home game at North Carolina State.
In 1976 the NCAA ended its outlaw of the slam dunk, opening up teams to start incorporating the alley-oop into their offenses.
Michigan State’s duo of “Magic” Johnson and Greg Kelser connected for many alley-oops during their career together, including in their 1979 National Championship game against Indiana State and Larry Bird.
The most famous alley-oop ever probably took place a few years later in the 1983 National Championship game between North Carolina State and Houston. With time running out in a tie game, Wolfpack guard, Dereck Whittenburg, threw up a far shot in the waning seconds that was off the mark. However, his teammate Lorenzo Charles caught the ball in the air and slammed it through the rim right before the buzzer for the win.
Positives of the Alley-Oop
Creates high-quality scoring opportunities
Since the end result of an alley-oop is a slam dunk, the action obviously creates a great scoring chance for the offense at the rim.
Now, this doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the shot is EASY since the offensive player is catching the ball in mid-air and finishing before he gets back to the ground.
But it will give the offense a shot right near the basket.
Encourages players to share the ball
Because an alley-oop begins with a pass to a player at the basket, it stresses the importance of passing to the offense.
While scoring will always be a main incentive for basketball players, being a part of a rim-rattling highlight play is something they will also be drawn to, even if they are “only” the passer.
Generates excitement
As I stated in the beginning, dunks are probably considered the most exciting plays in basketball, and alley-oops would be at the top of the list.
So not only will alley-oops pump up the offensive team that is able to pull them off, but also their entire crowd, who will be on their feet and cheering for such an impressive offensive play.
Drawbacks of the Alley-Oop
Potential turnovers
The alley-oop is a high-risk, high-reward type of play. So that means teams will likely fail at completing it as often as they are actually able to pull it off.
Because an alley-oop requires a pass with a very high level of difficulty, plus an athlete who is able to jump up high and catch a basketball, the risk of turnovers can be very high.
Requires great timing between the passer and receiver
While all offensive plays require timing to be executed properly, an alley-oop probably requires even a higher level of precision than other ones.
That is because an alley-oop requires the passer to hit the receiver in mid-air during a jump. If the pass is mistimed, then it’s likely the receiver will have difficulty making the catch or finishing the play because he will have to adjust his body while sailing through the air.
Not everyone can do an alley-oop
Unless you are coaching a college or very high-level basketball team, chances are that you aren’t going to possess many players who have the vertical jump that will allow them to receive and slam the ball before returning to the ground. It’s just not realistic.
Therefore an alley-oop is an offensive weapon that can only be used occasionally with certain players. And since it requires practice to develop the right timing and passing accuracy, it may not be worth putting the time in if only a player or two can actually do it.
Alley-oop Basketball Plays
However, if you DO have a roster with some players who are very athletic and a passer who can throw accurate passes, having some alley-oop plays in your playbook could be a good idea.
1-4 Alley-oop
This is a relatively simple 1-4 set that uses cutting and misdirection to open up the lane and create a lob opportunity for a wing.
To start, 1 passes to 3 and cuts to the opposite corner, and 4 cuts out to the strong-side corner, leaving 5 alone in the paint.
3 dribbles to the top of the key, causing 2 to cut to the block and back out and 1 to fill to the wing.
On the pass to 1, 5 steps up to set a back screen above the nail, and 3 cuts off this screen to the rim for an alley-oop from 1.
Horns Spain Alley-oop
This alley-oop play uses a staggered ball screen combined with a back screen to create a lob opportunity for a post.
The play starts 1 dribbling down near the 3-point line to set up the staggered ball screen by 4 and 5. As this occurs, 3 sneaks in near the block.
1 then comes off the ball screens toward the opposite wing.. 3 steps up to set a back screen for 5 to cut to the front of the rim for an alley-oop.
This play could also be used against a zone if 3 screened the defender in the middle of the paint instead of near the 3-point line.
Horns Flex Alley-oop
This alley-oop begins out of a Horns set again, but this time there is no ball screen involved to create the lob.
1 passes to 4 near the elbow (could also be 5) and cuts off the post before going through the lane to set a flex screen for 2.
2 stops right after coming off the flex screen, and 1 also turns to face the other sideline so that both are now screening in near the helpline. At this point, 5 dives to the rim to receive an alley-oop from 4.
This play is going to work best if X5 is sagging in the lane to help on the flex cut or even against a 2-3 zone if the screeners find the center defender.
Conclusion
If you ask most basketball coaches, they would love for their team to get high-percentage shots that fire up their team and the crowd.
In other words, an alley-oop.
Alley-oops give your team a chance to get point-blank shots at the rim as long as you have a great passer and an athlete who can sky through the air and slam the basketball through the rim before he gets back to the ground.
If alley-oops are something you want to see regularly with your team, make sure you practice it regularly and maybe even put in some specific plays that will give your team those opportunities.
