New York Knicks fans had high expectations for Iman Shumpert, the 17^th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft pick. But the 21-year-old guard out of Georgia Tech was joining a highly-talented roster, headlined by none other than Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. Shumpert knew that if he wanted a shot at the starting lineup, he’d have to earn it with explosive basketball. Cue his favorite move: the Euro Step.
“There’s always that guy that comes across that wants to take the charge,” says Shumpert, pointing to the right side of the lane. “What I learned to do is attack real, real hard. Whichever hand you’re going to, you attack real, real hard, and the object is to throw [your inside] shoulder,” he explains. “And once the guy commits, you throw the other shoulder. Now you’re just finishing at the rim.”
To practice the move, Shumpert suggests putting a cone where the defender would be or simply using a dummy defender. Make sure you start far enough away from the rim so you can get a “full head of steam.”
Euro Step

• Use cone or dummy defender
• Attack rim hard, throwing out inside shoulder, drawing defender
• Once defender commits, throw outside shoulder toward basket
• Finish at rim

In his first NBA game, Shumpert came off the bench firing. He managed to score a respectable 11 points in 22 minutes before straining his MCL. He sat out the next four games, but came back with a vengeance against the Charlotte Bobcats, shooting 60 percent from the floor and scoring 18 points in 30 minutes of play. No doubt the Knicks are pleased with Shumpert’s early progress, and we can expect many more Euro steps from this young talent in the future.
Photo:  newsday.com