This Two-Handed Buzzer Beater Is The Best Shot You’ll See This March

https://twitter.com/ConnorNewcomb_/status/843542312139603968

What is the best way to throw up a prayer as time is winding down? Some people think you take a step or two and launch the ball from your chest, which is probably the most common way to do this. Others believe the proper course of action is to heave it down the court like it’s a baseball, which is probably a little easier to do more accurately but it’s a bad idea if your arm isn’t strong enough.

Thanks to Maryland women’s basketball, we’ve learned of a third way to accomplish this: setting your feet and throwing it from over your head with two hands like you have a throw in on the soccer pitch. The Terrapins are playing West Virginia in the Women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday, and they took a 38-24 lead into halftime. It looked like it was only going to be a 35-24 lead, but Destiny Slocum had other ideas.

Slocum got the inbounds pass after the Mountaineers scored. She didn’t have any time to do anything more common, and she was standing at the wing on the other end of the court. So she took the ball in both hands, put it behind her head, and fired away.
It was beautiful, as the ball went right through the hoop without any help from the backboard. After it went through, Slocum’s teammates celebrated with her like she hit a game winner. Here it is from the reverse angle.

Hopefully this makes it way to the NBA some day. It is the perfect mix of the accuracy of throwing a basketball like is a baseball with the power you generate from heaving the ball from your chest. Really, it’s kind of a surprise that we don’t see this more often.