Locked in an overtime battle with a tied score, Virginia senior London Perrantes drove the lane Sunday night at Virginia Tech and spun a shot of the glass. That attempt tip-toed around the rim and … and, well, it just stopped.
When that shot rested on the rim, Perrantes threw up his hands in “what the” exasperation. Tech’s Justin Bibbs stuck two thumbs in the air, the official sign for a jump ball. The Hokies had the possession arrow, but their final shot attempt missed and the game went to a second overtime.
After the game, the Hoos were left to scratch their heads over the ball improbably stopping on the spot between the open cylinder and the backboard. With the score tied at 68-68 and 21.2 seconds to go, that layup could have been the game-winner. Instead, it quit.
”I’ve never seen, first of all, a shot do that at that time,” Cavalier coach Tony Bennett said. ”London’s shot balances on the rim. That was quite a spectacle there.”
VT coach Buzz Williams said he had seen it in practice before, but not in a game. Perrantes had never seen it happen.
“I couldn’t do that if I tried it again,” Perrantes said in The Washington Post. “Never done that, never seen it happen – especially on a layup. Yeah. That was a tough one.”
While rare, however, that exact thing has happened before. Take a look.
First, one from the college ranks between West Virginia and UConn …
And here’s one from a game before college …
It happens a lot in the pros apparently – or at least there’s a lot of You Tube evidence. Just last spring, Miami’s Dwyane Wade saw his shot rest on the rim in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Toronto …
Memphis’ Tony Allen attempted to flip a ball in during the 2013 NBA playoffs and it stopped there …
While with the Knicks, Channing Frye saw a hook shot spin out of the rim and then spin to a stop …
Here’s one from a Wizards-Cavaliers game on a free throw …
Then there’s this from the NBA’s verified You Tube channel … um wow …
they might as well call that a made basket unlike when it gets jammed in the side of the rim/backboard for a jump ball. When it rests perfectly above the rim, it’s either going to go in or stop and not miss to one side. Brutal way to lose a game.
Would it be goaltending if a player jumped up and knocked – either in or off?
Yes.