Texas guard catches his own air ball and scores a layup
Leaving a pull-up jump shot three feet short somehow turned out to be a fortunate break for Texas guard Demarcus Holland on Saturday.
It enabled Holland to follow his own shot, pluck the ball out of the air and score an easy layup before any of Oklahoma State's flat-footed defenders had time to react.
Holland's unusual first-half basket had everyone from Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford, to Cowboys fans, to ESPN's broadcast crew calling for a traveling violation to be called, but referees probably were correct to allow the basket. In all levels of basketball besides the NBA, a player can be the first to touch his own air ball as long as referees rule it a legitimate shot attempt.
The National Federation of High Schools rulebook addresses such situations specifically, explaining that a player who recovers his own air ball isn't committing a violation because his control of the ball ended after he released his initial shot. Only if the referees had determined Holland's intent was to pass to himself should he have been called for traveling.
If it seems far-fetched that Holland could miss a short pull-up jumper so badly, consider how out of rhythm Texas' offense has been lately. The 10th-ranked Longhorns followed up a horrendous 70-49 home loss to Oklahoma on Monday night by shooting 34.4 percent at Oklahoma State in a 69-58 defeat.
Holland's 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting was a bright spot for Texas, but it was his air ball-turned-layup that will be discussed most.
Call it an embarrassing shot and a good hustle play. Call it a crafty alley-oop pass to himself. Regardless of what Holland was trying to do, it resulted in Saturday's most bizarre basket.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
