The Call Most Often, or Most Egregiously, Missed

[JeffTheRef]

apply to the situation of guarding a dribbler, which is special case. It is implicit in the rules and casebook examples bearing on the rights of players - importantly, both offensive and defensive players - in the context of physical contact.

I think you're over-thinking it. One guy leaps to get the ball, straight up or at an angle, it doesn't matter. A player on the other team runs under him, moves to occupy the spot the leaping player would have landed on, a spot that was unoccupied at the moment he took off. The 'rules' can't expect a player to change direction in mid-air and they don't.