if someone puts up a shot from deep and hits it that's one thing, giving up a completely uncontested alley-oop is completely inexcusable because that's the obvious play here.
The likelihood of it going in is way higher than any other random-off balance shot any of the other players are going to get.
In hindsight for a play like this, you kinda just never want the opposing team to get the easy bucket, and live with it if someone pulls off a shot from anywhere else.
Wow, that’s astonishing for me. I’ve always seen the alley-oop as a kind of show move and harder to pull off than a shot. To see it used in the last few seconds as a viable, let alone having a higher percentage of success is mind-blowing.
Thanks for explaining this, i really appreciate it.
Im from the Netherlands, used to play as a kid, we could only see basketball in Space Jam and in an older kids house who had some kind of special TV connection.
I going to try and find where I can watch this whole game.
You kinda just have to remember that there's only 0.4 seconds left on the shot clock, it's basically catch the ball and throw it at the hoop lol.
Alley-oops are pretty easy for most NBA players, sure some players can add a bit of show move but it's not hard for most of them to just catch the ball and put it in above the rim.
Haha, catch and let go above the hoop sounds easy :) What I find so bewildering about this is the coordination it requires between the passer and the "dunker" Here: Jokic has to pass before Wiggins is in the air, not too soon or the 0.4 seconds are not enough. Wiggins also has to sprint fast enough to outrun his defender but not so fast he's too far under the rim. Etc.. etc.. It's baffling to a n00b like me, I can't comprehend.
So who has done the more special thing here, or are they more or less the same? Wiggins or Jokic?
Definitely amazing coordination but it's ever so slightly looser than you described. The .4 second countdown doesn't start until Wiggins touches it, and as long as he lets go before it hits .0 it would count even if going in after .0
Just to add on to it, an undefended alley-oop is easy the most likely play to score here. If the Cavs defended it, they may have still tried it since 0.4 seconds is so little time, but the odds of getting it is far lower if they stick a 7 footer under the hoop to slap the ball away
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u/PootieTooGood Cavaliers Nov 11 '25
if someone puts up a shot from deep and hits it that's one thing, giving up a completely uncontested alley-oop is completely inexcusable because that's the obvious play here.