2009: allez hop! Jun 15, 2020

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Alley-oop, popularized in the mid-20th century, is a basketball term and is probably most likely associated with that sport, but is actually comes from another sort of sport entirely. In basketball, the term refers to an offensive move in which one player throws the ball near enough to the basket for another player to knock it in. When it originated in the circus however, the French phrase "allez hop" (off you go!) was an announcement that the acrobat was about to jump, and its use in basketball was meant to reflect the manner (and height) that the players would have to jump.

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