so...if you're going for a layup, you can stop after your second step? then why ain't we seeing that all the time?
Because he picked up the ball with two hands. That's a clear stoppage of dribbling. He was neither "progressing" nor "coming to a stop". He had already stopped with his right planted as pivot. You can't move your pivot. Read my previousr post:
I think if Wade had done either of the travels on its own, he would have gotten away with it. But here's how the sequence looks to me. He catches the ball and lands on two feet. Either foot can be his pivot foot. He takes the head fake, and then steps back with his left foot and forward with his right, then starts his dribble. This is a clear travel, and its also almost never called. You can see countless youtube videos of people complaining about Wade's traveling and getting away with it on this very move. Then he takes one dribble, stops and picks up the ball with his right foot firmly planted in the ground. The right foot is a pivot foot the moment he has it on the ground and both hands on the ball. He then jumps back first onto his left foot, and then the right foot follows. Again, this is an obvious travel, but probably called infrequently, especially if it leads straight to a shot. Either move he gets away with probably 19 out of 20 times. Put the two of them together, and add to it the lack of fluidity, and it got called. The real problem is not that it was called here, but that the rules typically have nothing to do with how the game is called, so when the officials finally get a call like this right, everyone complains that you can't make that kind of call. The 6th foul on LeBron was also tellingly obvious. Look at the picture and you can see that he's looking down at his left foot. He's taken a really wide stance and his foot is coming down on top of the guys foot. In almost every other situation, with any other player, and this is a very easy offensive foul call. Should it be called against LeBron as the 6th foul in the final minute of a playoff game? I don't know. But stepping on a guy's foot like that is extremely risky, for both players.
Oops, the "left" should be "right" instead in "...he used his left hand to garner the ball..." below; that is, he holds the ball with both hands.
That's not what the rule says though, man. Just because your foot is on the ground and you've picked up your dribble doesn't mean you're stopped. Yes putting two hands on the ball is a clear stoppage of dribble, but the rule says you get two steps upon completion of your dribble to come to a stop. Obviously your foot will be on the ground and the ball in your hands after you've completed your dribble, but the NBA Rule Book says you may take two steps after that before you're stopped. The way you're saying it is saying you DON'T get two steps. The rules even explicitly say you can hop off of one foot after picking up your dribble. The only problem here being that the rule says you must land on both feet simultaneously. Look, I'm just reading the rule book to you. You keep saying things that you can and can't do, but don't back it up by referencing NBA rules. My guess is you're probably reciting the traveling rules you learned in high school or something like that. The NBA is more lenient in what they call traveling, you're allowed an extra step when ending your dribble.
This is correct, it becomes a travel when his right foot touches the ground before he passed the ball out. If he landed with both feet outside the 3pt line, then it is still two steps and he can pass or shoot, but he land his left foot outside 3pt line first, 2 steps, then his right foot touches the ground before releasing the ball, 3 steps and travel.
Not a travel according to Steve Javie. He says possibly a baby step travel on the head fake, but the step back, no. He calls it a "late gather." The first step was the left foot planting (pivot foot), rather than the right foot since it was already touching before the "late gather." Second step is the right foot planting before the pass -- still legal. So, doesn't matter how slow or late the gather was....the right foot was never the pivot if it was touching the ground before Wade grabs the ball with two hands. This means low post players can do a single dribble move, gather with one foot on the ground and take two steps no matter where they are going and no matter what direction. The Dream Shake! <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eSbIqxcIB-E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Here's the rule and its application here: This is the rule that applies in this situation. When he received the ball here, his right foot was touching the floor. So his right foot touching the floor as he had both hands on the ball is count one. Second count here happens when his left foot hits the floor. That's it for the two counts that he gets. Now, the question is which foot is his pivot foot. Usually, the rule is that the pivot foot is the first foot to hit the ground. But on this, the NBA rule is pointlessly unclear. Was this rule meant to apply to people advancing to the basket, or to all situations? Who would have thought that the NBA could make such a simple rule so difficult? Anyway, there is an additional question here. Wade did not come to a stop on his first two counts. On count two, his first foot is already in the air. So, it looks like this rule wouldn't apply at all. In that case, it appears to me that there is no rule at all in the NBA rulebook which states which of his feet is his pivot foot, and as such, he could keep hopping as long as he wanted, because there is no pivot foot defined by the rule, and thus no travel is possible. Or you could just interpret the rule the way everyone growing up playing basketball learned it. First foot down is your pivot foot, after that you get another step to stop, or to take off for a shot or pass, and that's it.
THANK YOU. This is what I was waiting for. A definite answer. Makes pacertom's explanation about how it's a travel seem all too homerish for me to stomach.
Would anybody be making a big deal about this if the Heat had won this game? The league certainly wouldn't of led an investigation into the refereeing.
The "step back" looks more like a controlled leap to me. He sort of pauses as he gathers his weight with his right leg and then jumps back. It doesn't really look like it was "in his rhythm". I would be surprised if it were legal to just jump like that after halting your momentum.
We are using the same rules alright, you just interpret them differently than most and seem to be fixated on the "two steps" without making any distinction on the play itself. Just focus on the pivot, I say the right foot inside the 3-pt line is the pivot. The same rules you are reading say you can't raise your pivot. Clearly you disagree on the pivot. I think you are saying the left foot after the step back is.
Blah Blah Blah the refs are out to get the Heat.... I didn't see Heat fans complaining in the 06 finals against the Mavs?
