Euro step

Last updated

The Euro step, two-step, or long lateral is a basketball move in which an offensive player picks up their dribble, takes a step in one direction, and then quickly takes a second step in another direction. It is intended to allow the offensive player to evade a defender and attack the basket.

Contents

Background

According to Wall Street Journal writer Ben Cohen, the Euro step is a crafty and exotic move introduced in the NBA over two decades ago[ when? ] to "plant one way, take one long step at full speed the other way, avoid contact and sneak around the defender for an easy layup." [1] This misdirection move, which allows players to gather a dribble and take two additional steps has stirred controversy in the NBA surrounding its legality as it finds itself on the edge of a traveling violation, as reported by The New York Times writer Jonathan Abrams. [2]

Anecdotal reports indicate that officials not familiar with the move may call it a traveling violation. [3] Today, the Euro step is often used when a player drives to the hoop, and it can be especially effective when a shorter guard takes on a taller forward or center. In a 2018 ESPN.com story on the move, writer Jordan Brenner said, "It has changed the way players navigate the defense to reach the rim and, with it, the game of basketball itself," also adding that the move "would end up altering the very balance of power between penetrator and defender." [4]

History

Lithuanian player Šarūnas Marčiulionis introduced the two-step maneuver to the NBA in 1989 when he played for the Golden State Warriors. Fans nicknamed the move “the Euro step” as a tribute to many European players’ exceptional fundamentals and crafty footwork.

While the term "Euro step" made its first media appearance in 2007, the move has a long history in European basketball. In Brenner's 2018 story, he noted that longtime coach Vlade Đurović had seen early versions of the move around 1960. Đurović commented: "That move was normal in Europe, especially in Yugoslavia". It's nearly impossible to pinpoint the origin of the Eurostep, having evolved over time in Eastern Europe.

The mid-1980s marked the beginning of the move's modern era. Back then, Toni Kukoc was a 17-year-old phenom playing for his home club of Jugoplastika in Split, Croatia, where practices routinely lasted eight hours and coach Slavko Trninic emphasized finding different ways to get to the basket. To emulate a defender trying to take a charge, Trninic would place a chair in the middle of the lane and instruct players to dribble from the 3-point line and attempt to finish at the rim.

The move was popularized in North America in the 2000s by Manu Ginóbili, who arrived in the NBA from the Italian league, though Ginobili honed the move while playing on playgrounds in his native Argentina. It has since been adopted by many American-born players, among them James Harden and Dwyane Wade. According to Brenner, the physical gifts of another European player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, have led his version of the Euro step to become "the final phase of the move's evolution," adding:

A FiveThirtyEight study showed that he covers just over 15 feet off a single dribble when driving to the basket. Add that to his 7-foot-3 wingspan and he can start his Eurostep from the 3-point line. . . . James Naismith never could've envisioned two steps like Antetokounmpo's. Two steps that cover 15 feet. Two steps that render the area between the top of the key and the basket all but undefendable. The Greek Freak and others have weaponized footwork by stretching the rules to their limit. In doing so, they have fundamentally changed the way basketball is played and how we see it.

While the Euro step was in common use in the NBA, it did not become technically legal until 2009. The NBA rule book had always said a player could only take one step. In 2009, it changed to read "A player who receives the ball while he is progressing or upon completion of a dribble, may take two steps in coming to a stop, passing or shooting the ball." [5] When the change was made, ESPN noted "It is believed to be the first time any league, at any level anywhere in the world, has explicitly allowed two steps." [5]

A satirical article published by Medium in 2016 spread the myth that the Euro step was actually first used by Fidel Castro in 1959. Despite the writer stating that the article was a joke, the myth gained traction as an Internet meme. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basketball</span> Team sport

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop, while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one, two or three one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manu Ginóbili</span> Argentine former basketball player (born 1977)

Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Widely credited for changing the game of basketball by popularizing the Euro step move in the NBA, he is regarded as one of the greatest shooting guards and sixth men in the league's history and as the greatest Latin American player of all time. He notably led Argentina to a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players to have won a EuroLeague title, an NBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal. A four-time NBA champion, Ginóbili was a member of the San Antonio Spurs for his entire 16-year NBA career. Along with Spurs teammates Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, he was known as one of the "Big Three" during the Spurs' era of success. During their playing years together, the Spurs became a "model franchise" for other NBA teams. Since September 2021, Ginóbili had been appointed as special advisor to basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dejan Bodiroga</span> Serbian basketball player (born 1973)

Dejan Bodiroga is a Serbian basketball executive and former professional player, who is currently the President of EuroLeague Basketball. In 1998 and 2002, he received the Golden Badge award for the best athlete of Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav Olympic Committee also declared him the Sportsman of the Year. He was named to the FIBA All-Time EuroStars Team in 2007. In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball. HoopsHype named Bodiroga one of the 75 Greatest International Players Ever in 2021. He was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peja Stojaković</span> Serbian basketball player (born 1977)

Predrag Stojaković, known by his nickname Peja, is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the assistant general manager and director of player personnel and development of the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirk Nowitzki</span> German basketball player (born 1978)

Dirk Werner Nowitzki is a German former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards of all time and is considered by many to be the greatest European player of all time. In 2021, he was selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In 2023, Nowitzki was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Šarūnas Marčiulionis</span> Lithuanian basketball player

Raimondas Šarūnas Marčiulionis ( ) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Widely considered one of the greatest international players, he was one of the first Europeans to become a regular in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Marčiulionis was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014 and became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Personal foul (basketball)</span> Illegal contact with an opponent in basketball

In basketball, a personal foul is a breach of the rules that concerns illegal personal contact with an opponent. It is the most common type of foul in basketball. A player fouls out on reaching a limit on personal fouls for the game and is disqualified from participation in the remainder of the game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basketball positions</span> Positions played in basketball

In basketball, there are five players on court per team, each assigned to positions. Historically, these players have been assigned to positions defined by the role they play on the court, from a strategic point of view. The three main positions are guard, forward, and center, with the standard team featuring two guards, two forwards, and a center. Over time, as more specialized roles developed, each of the guards and forwards came to be differentiated, and today each of the five positions is known by a unique name and number: point guard (PG) or 1, the shooting guard (SG) or 2, the small forward (SF) or 3, the power forward (PF) or 4, and the center (C) or 5 "post position".

Basketball moves are generally individual actions used by players in basketball to pass by defenders to gain access to the basket or to get a pass to a teammate to score.

In basketball, traveling is a violation that occurs when a player takes too many steps without dribbling the ball. Traveling is also called, predominantly in a streetball game, "walking" or "steps". If the pivot foot is lifted, the player must make an attempt at a pass or a basket, before it is placed back onto the floor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of basketball terms</span> List of definitions of terms and concepts related to the game of basketball

This glossary of basketball terms is a list of definitions of terms used in the game of basketball. Like any other major sport, basketball features its own extensive vocabulary of unique words and phrases used by players, coaches, sports journalists, commentators, and fans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Layup</span> Type of shot in basketball

A layup in basketball is a two-point shot attempt made by leaping from below, laying the ball up near the basket, and using one hand to bounce it off the backboard and into the basket. The motion and one-handed reach distinguish it from a jump shot. The layup is considered the most basic shot in basketball. When doing a layup, the player lifts the outside foot, or the foot away from the basket.

Variations of basketball are games or activities based on, or similar in origin to, the game of basketball, in which the player utilizes common basketball skills. Some are essentially identical to basketball, with only minor rules changes, while others are more distant and arguably not simple variations but distinct games. Other variations include children's games, contests or activities intended to help the player practice or reinforce skills, which may or may not have a competitive aspect. Most of the variations are played in informal settings, without the presence of referees or other officials and sometimes without strict adherence to official game rules.

Basketball is a ball game and team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules. Since being developed by James Naismith as a non-contact game that almost anyone can play, basketball has undergone many different rule variations, eventually evolving into the NBA-style game known today. Basketball is one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the world.

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules. Basketball is one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thanasis Antetokounmpo</span> Greek-Nigerian basketball player (born 1992)

Athanasios Rotimi "Thanasis" Antetokounmpo, nicknamed “Thanasty”, is a Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giannis Antetokounmpo</span> Greek-Nigerian basketball player (born 1994)

Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo is a Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His size, speed, strength, and country of origin have earned him the nickname "Greek Freak". He is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards of all time as well as one of the greatest players of all time.

A slasher is a basketball player who primarily drives (slashes) to the basket when on offense. They are typically a guard, but can also be a forward. A slasher is a fast and athletic player who attempts to get close to the basket for a layup, dunk or teardrop shot. This style of high-percentage two-point play is commonly referred to as slashing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kostas Antetokounmpo</span> Greek-Nigerian basketball player (born 1997)

Konstantinos Ndubuisi "Kostas" Antetokounmpo is a Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killian Hayes</span> French-American basketball player (born 2001)

Killian Deron Antron Hayes is a French-American professional basketball player who last played for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

References

  1. ↑ Cohen, Ben (9 August 2018). "One Eurostep for Manu. One Giant Leap for Mankind. the Eurostep was Exotic when it Came to the NBA. Now it's Universal for Today's Youth Basketball Players". Wall Street Journal. ProQuest   2085714696.
  2. ↑ Abrams, Jonathan (17 November 2010). "An N.B.A. Move That Crossed an Ocean". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ Mason, Beckley (March 17, 2010). "Let me see you Euro Step". HoopSpeak.com. ESPN TrueHoop Network. Archived from the original on 2011-12-16. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  4. ↑ Brenner, Jordan (November 8, 2018). "Why the Eurostep is the NBA's most controversial move -- and its most lethal". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  5. 1 2 "NBA on traveling: Two steps are better than one". ESPN.com. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  6. ↑ "Did Fidel Castro invent the Euro step? Debunking the viral basketball TikTok theory | Sporting News". www.sportingnews.com. 2024-03-02. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.