LeBron James Finishing Ability: The In and Out Dribble – Eurostep Combo

Being able to finish around the basket in various ways is one of the most important skills to have as a basketball player. The Eurostep, made popular by Manu Ginobli and Dwayne Wade, is a new and rather unorthodox way of finishing a drive in the paint. During Game 3 of the NBA Finals, LeBron James executed the Eurostep perfectly, finishing a key fast break with an AND 1 layup. The reason why LeBron James’ Eurostep worked so well was the way he preceded the move with a quick and decisive in and out dribble.

NBA Finals Report: Beating Switching Man to Man Defenses

Going into this much anticipated NBA Finals series, we all knew the potential there was to see some “small ball” lineups. Both the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder are regarded as the two most athletic teams in the league. In the same sense, they are two teams that don’t have a lot of conventional size up front and/or frequent low post scoring from their bigs. With all of the above taken into consideration, both teams opt for switching on defense to keep similar size and speed matchups and avoid getting into a help and rotate situation where offenses can take advantage. Switching also helps take away lots of the pick and roll action that is so dominant in the NBA. Often times, switching every screen can stall another team’s offense, causing them to stand around and watch as one player ioslates and usually forces a tough shot (see Miami Heat’s 4th quarter in Game 1).

NBA Finals Report: A Look At Thabo Sefolosha’s Active Defense

He has long limbs, quick feet, broad shoulders, the strength to bang with any size player, the intelligence to recognize offensive tendencies and is extremely active. No, we are not talking about Scottie Pippen (widely regarded as the best perimeter defender of all time). We are talking about Thabo Sefolosha, the starting shooting guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Sefolosha, an unsung hero of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, is finally getting some of the attention he deserves.