Other forms: alley-oops; alley-ooped; alley-ooping
An alley-oop is a collaborative play in basketball, when one player passes the ball and the other jumps, catches, and dunks it before landing back on the court.
If your team wants to impress its fans, you should practice perfecting the alley-oop. The offensive move is fun to watch and always surprising, requiring excellent timing and teamwork. Alley-oop comes from the cry of a French circus acrobat, allez hop!. The term was first used in American sports to describe a high pass, catch, and touchdown by the 1950 San Francisco 49ers, but it was soon adopted by basketball players to name the brand new play.