Random Stat: Alley Oop Leaders

Q: Who has the most alley-oop finishes in the NBA? And to alter the question a little, who has the most assists on an alley-oop this season? -- kingeljay

A: That's a fun one, and while there's a touch of subjectivity in whether something is an alley oop (what if the guy catches it and lays it in off the glass versus dunking it?), we'll give it a shot!

"Alley Oop" Dunks Player Team FGM FGA FG%  Marion PHO 72  81  89%   Anthony DEN 44  47  94%   Howard ORL 41  45  91%   Martin DEN 34  35  97%   Iguodala PHI 29  29  100%   O'Neal MIA 27  28  96%   B.Wallace DET 27  31  87%   Garnett MIN 22  23  96%   Richardson GSW 22  24  92%   Gadzuric MIL 20  20  100%   Camby DEN 20  21  95%   Wade MIA 19  19  100%   J.Smith ATL 18  19  95%   James CLE 16  16  100%   Curry NYK 15  16  94%   Carter NJN 13  16  81%   Jefferson NJN 13  18  72%   Dalembert PHI 10  10  100%   Martin SAC 10  11  91%   Outlaw POR 9  9  100%   Swift SEA 9  10  90%   Wallace CHA 9  11  82%   McGrady HOU 8  8  100%   Wilcox SEA 8  8  100%   Prince DET 8  10  80%   Davis BOS 7  7  100%   Gasol MEM 7  7  100%   Woods NYK 6  6  100%   Bosh TOR 6  7  86%

So there's a runaway leader in most Alley Oop dunks, and frankly Shawn Marion is not the player we would have guessed would be the NBA's best in catching the pass while airborne and slamming it home. He has a huge lead over the #2 guy Carmelo Anthony (and yes 'Melo does seem to be showing up in a lot of these random stats lately, both good and bad). Meanwhile Dwight Howard has been giving Orlando Magic fans some hope building highlights. Iguodala may one day lead the league in this since he has a 'real spring in his step' and indeed has the most Alley Oop field goals made without a miss. Given Marion's prodigious total and Nash's passing ability, you might assume that Phoenix would be the team leaders in "Oops" but actually they are only #2: 109 - Denver  75 - Phoenix  53 - Miami  46 - Orlando  40 - Detroit What about the defensive side -- which teams give up the most alley oops: 50 - Charlotte 37 - New York 37 - Sacramento 32 - Detroit 30 - L.A. Lakers, Orlando, Utah

The Alley Oop is an interesting play in that it is one of the most pure forms of two player partnership, since they have to know each other well enough to signal they want to try it, and then the timing is akin to a QB-WR connection. So yes indeed, let's spotlight also the good passers in this domain:

"Alley Oop" Dunks -- Assist Leaders Player Team FGM FGA Ast  Miller DEN 0  0  86   Diaw PHO 2  2  38   Nash PHO 0  0  31   Iverson PHI 0  0  27   Hamilton DET 0  0  25   Williams MIA 0  0  22   Kidd NJN 0  0  22   Hassell MIN 0  0  21   Wade MIA 19  19  18   Davis GSW 3  3  18   Crawford NYK 0  0  18   Francis ORL 0  0  15   Johnson ATL 0  0  12   Knight CHA 0  0  12   Nelson ORL 0  0  12   Ridnour SEA 0  0  12   Allen SEA 1  1  11   Telfair POR 0  0  11   Webber PHI 5  5  8   James TOR 0  0  8   Parker LAL 3  3  7   Howard HOU 0  0  7   Williams MIL 0  0  7   Kukoc MIL 0  0  7   Dixon POR 0  0  7   Bibby SAC 0  0  7   Parker SAS 0  0  7   Camby DEN 20  21  6   Stevenson ORL 3  3  6   Watson DEN 0  0  6

Andre Miller has an even more commanding lead in the Alley Oop assists than Marion had in the made buckets. That's because Miller has three choice targets in Anthony, Martin, and Camby. It also turns out not to be a purely Nash driven show in Phoenix, with Diaw edging him out for team lead in this particular form of assist! You also might want to keep an eye out on the Nelson-Howard connection in Orlando, which may become more of a force as Nelson gets the playing time from here on out. Ah, but if you're looking for the true dual threat player in this regard, the guy who can both make the pass and be the one catching it and dunking it, well there's only one true NBA star in this...Dwyane Wade. With nineteen made buckets and eighteen dishes, his dual action is unparalleled. The shocker is that the #2 best dual guy is Marcus Camby with six dishes to complement his own Oop dunks! So there you have it, a true random stat, which provides a look into that most frequent of NBA highlights and near to the most crowd pleasing moment...the Alley Oop.

Random Stat Archive
Game Winning Shots (updated 3/17)
Who get called for Traveling? (3/13)
Technical Free Throws (3/10)
Two Way Players (3/08)
Jump Ball winning % (3/07)
"At the Rim" Shots (3/05)
Team Quarter by Quarter results (2/23)
Points per FGA (2/21)
Player Assisted% on FGM (2/15)
Types of Turnovers (2/12)
Goaltending "Leaders" (2/10)
Shot Clock Studs (2/09)
Team Starter/Bench stats (2/07)
Free Throw shooting home versus away (2/04)
Who gets their shot blocked the most? (2/03)
Plus/Minus stats over the last 30 days (2/02)
What percentage of the time has each team been leading? (2/01)