An alley-oop is a pass thrown to a teammate running at the basket, who leaps, catches it in midair and dunks it or lays it in before landing. It takes two players: the passer puts the lob where only the finisher can reach it, and the finisher waits, then goes up to meet it. The camera reads the finisher's jump and landing, not the catch or the pass.
Set up
Rehearse it with your passer first. The timing and the flight of the lob take practice between the two of you.
Two players, one timing.
Look for the lob when your defender fronts you, when the help defender has left the rim, or when you have a clear size or jumping edge. If none of those is there, run something else.
Only with an edge.
Passer: get a good angle. On a back-screen lob, cut above the free-throw line extended before you throw.
The lob
Passer: throw it with a high arc, just over the top of the defender, so it clears their hands but stays catchable.
Just over the top.
Passer: aim at the space near the rim the finisher is moving into, behind the defender, not at where the finisher is standing now. Don't drop it straight onto the ring.
Lead them to the spot.
Finish
Finisher: if you're fronted, seal the defender with your body, hold both hands high and show the passer a target with your baseline hand.
Seal, hands high.
Wait. Don't release the seal or start your jump until the ball is over your head. Then step toward the basket while the ball is still in the air.
Ball overhead, then go.
Leap and catch it in midair, with your inside hand (the one nearest the basket) if you take it one-handed.
Meet it in the air.
Know the rule. NBA: touching any ball above the ring inside the cylinder, or any ball on its way down with a chance to score, is basket interference or goaltending, even if it was a pass. So catch it beside or in front of the rim, not over the ring. FIBA: goaltending only applies to a shot, so catching a pass above the ring is legal, but grabbing the basket and playing the ball is basket interference. Other leagues: check your rulebook.
Beside the rim, not over it.
Finish before you land: dunk it or lay it in in the same motion. Let go of the rim. NBA: deliberately hanging on it is a technical foul unless you're avoiding injury. FIBA: hanging so the ring holds your weight is a technical, unless it's a brief grab after a dunk or to prevent injury.
Catch and finish in one motion.
Land
Land on both feet when you can. One-leg landings give higher impact forces and less knee and hip bend than two-leg landings.
Two feet down.
Land softly, bending your knees and hips, with your knees over your toes, not caving in.
Soft, knees over toes.
Bend as you touch down, not after. Landing is the most common way ankles get hurt in basketball, and in a video study of basketball ACL injuries, half the women's cases involved a collision or push, with the injury 17 to 50 milliseconds after foot contact. Expect bodies under the rim.
Absorb on contact.
If the catch is off and you can't finish, don't force it. Come down with the ball and kick it out to an open shooter.
No forced finish.
Feel it
You hold the seal with both hands high and feel the ball go over your head before you move. Then you go up to meet it near the rim, catch it in the air and put it in without bringing it down. You touch down on two feet with your knees and hips giving, not locked.
Fix-its
- You go too early and the defender recovers Hold the seal until the ball is over your head, then go. The passer throws on the defender's front, not before.
- The lob gets tipped Passer: more arc, just over the top of the defender. Get above the free-throw line extended for a better angle on back-screen lobs.
- You catch it over the ring or as it drops onto the rim In the NBA that's basket interference or goaltending, even on a pass. Passer leads you to the side or front of the rim; you meet it there in the air.
- You hang on the rim after the dunk Let go once the ball is through. Hanging is a technical in both NBA and FIBA unless it's to avoid injury (FIBA also allows a brief grab after a dunk).
- Stiff or one-foot landing in traffic Land on both feet if you can, bend knees and hips as you touch down, knees over toes. Practice landings before adding dunks.
Drill
- Landing practice: two-foot jumps, landing softly with knees and hips bent and knees over toes. Make it part of a warm-up 2 to 3 times a week and make it harder only while your technique stays clean.
- Post lob, no defense: seal an imaginary front, both hands high, wait until the ball is overhead, then catch and lay it in. Swap passer and finisher.
- Add a defender who fronts you. They play passively at first and increase intensity as the timing improves.
- Feed from the wings: same lob, now thrown from either wing so you learn different flight paths.
- Back-screen lob: passer cuts above the free-throw line extended, finisher V-cuts around a back screen to the rim. Work both sides. Move from layup to dunk finishes only once catches and landings are clean.
Sources
- Jr. NBA — Alley-Oop (glossary)
- HoopTactics — Posting Up One-on-One: Basic Post Moves Drill (2015)
- Coach's Clipboard (Ken Sartini) — Basketball Play "Demon"
- Hoop Student — Basketball Lob Pass
- PGC Basketball — 4 Out Weak Side Lob
- NBA Official Rulebook 2026-27 — Rule No. 11, Basket Interference / Goaltending
- NBA Official Rulebook 2026-27 — Rule No. 12, Sec. IV and VII (Hanging on the basket ring)
- FIBA — Official Basketball Rules 2026, Art. 31 (Goaltending and basket interference) and Art. 36 (Technical foul: hanging on the ring)
- Padua et al. — NATA Position Statement: Prevention of ACL Injury, J Athl Train (2018)
- Wang — The Lower Extremity Biomechanics of Single- and Double-Leg Stop-Jump Tasks, J Sports Sci Med (2011)
- McKay et al. — Ankle injuries in basketball: injury rate and risk factors, Br J Sports Med (2001)
- Krosshaug et al. — Mechanisms of ACL Injury in Basketball: Video Analysis of 39 Cases, Am J Sports Med (2007)
Last checked 2026-10-31.