I got into a pretty heavy conversation with one of my teammates earlier today about the differences between the NBA and the European game. Right after that, I came home and watched the highlights of Lebron’s dunk last night, and some things stood out to me. Analysis after the jump!
OK, so let me first start off by saying I mean no offense to anyone (European or American) by this post. These are just my observations after almost a full year of European basketball and 4 years of NCAA basketball and nearly 20 years of studying the NBA game.
With that being said, everything is a trade off. What I mean by this is, what Europeans may lack in one area, they make up for in another and vice versa. Anyways, the first MAJOR difference I have seen is the speed/athleticism of the individual players. In America, the game seems sped up, and the game itself is more geared towards scoring and helping out individual scorers. During the conversation with my teammate, Brandon Jennings was brought up as a perfect example. He played at both a high level in Europe, and in America — so he serves as the perfect comparison. Statistically, his one season in the Euroleague produced 7.6 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game (over 16 Euroleague games). Conversely, this season he has averaged 15.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.7 assists (over the 82 game NBA season and game 1 of the playoffs).
The (in my mind) incorrect conclusion to the dramatic difference in numbers would be to assume that the Euroleague competition is somewhat tougher than the NBA competition. While this is undoubtedly a debatable point, I believe the reality is that the NBA game is just geared more to showcase individual talent while the European game is much more team oriented. You need to look no further than the averages of the scoring champion of each league for that point to be illustrated. The Euroleague scoring champion (former Denver Nugget Linas Kleiza) led the league in scoring at 17.3 points a game. In comparison, Kevin Durant who ended up winning this year’s NBA scoring title averaged 30.1 points a game. Nearly double Kleiza’s output.
Now the question is… WHY? Yes, Kevin Durant is a much better SCORER than Kleiza is, but it also doesn’t help that the rules of the NBA facilitate one on one scoring much more than the European game does. Which brings me to Lebron’s dunk last night. Aside from his initial travel (explanation in another blog), you can see that the help defense is non-existant. A couple years ago the league introduced the “Defensive Three Second” Rule. The rule itself states that,
“Any defensive player, who is positioned in the 16-foot lane or the area extending 4 feet past the lane endline, must be actively guarding an opponent within three seconds. Actively guarding means being within arms length of an offensive player and in a guarding position.”
For you non basketball enthusiasts, this means that you can’t be in the key for more than three seconds without reaching out and touching an offensive player. This pretty much eliminates the idea of a “help side,” which from middle school on you are taught that if the ball is on the opposite side of the court to at least have one foot in the key, and often to be standing on the “basket line” or directly under the rim. This help side effectively shrinks the floor, and makes it much harder for the offensive player to score (it turns a one on one situation to a one on 3-4). Anyways, to the video…. Watch specifically that before Varejao’s post up, the other 4 defensive players are standing outside the key, essentially letting Lebron go one on one with James Johnson while the other 8 players watch….
Because of the Defensive Three Second Rule, there is no way the help can get there in time if Lebron (or any NBA level athlete) takes one dribble from the free throw line and takes off. Unfortunately for James Johnson, he isn’t playing in Europe where that play would have undoubtedly ended in a charging call on Lebron (they also don’t have the protected semi-circle under the basket, but it is rumored to be making its way to Europe for next season). There isn’t much of a point to this, just to point out one of the biggest thing’s I have learned/had to adjust to since arriving here. If I come across anything else glaring like that, I’ll be sure to post it! Let me know if you guys have any other questions about the European basketball, or basketball in general!
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Just wanted to mention that a major factor accounting for the contrast in scoring output is the length of the game. 48 minutes as opposed to 40 makes a huge difference.
From a rarely game watcher’s point of view, I think there’s more guarding and more “close playing” in Europe than in America. And I didn’t closely observed anything. It’s just, when I look at the court (NBA), I see more “free” beige hardwood. So, from my pov, there’s less contact and less approaching each others in NBA. And I think it has more to do with American sense of needed “safe space” around each individual, which doesn’t allow men to get close one to another, than some game’s defense rules. That, or NBA courts are twice larger. Or NBA players use more dark colors on/under their uniforms. (no offense intent)
which of the two styles is more physical in the post?