4-44 Article 3

[kblehman]

Originally Posted by rainmaker

You're mis-understanding the nature of the pivot foot. Pivot foot doesn't mean it's attached to the floor, it means "the foot that can't be picked up and put back down". It can be picked up, as long as it's not put back down. So in your sitch above, you can step onto your left foot and lift your pivot/right foot, as long as you don't put it back down.

Ahh, I see. So in my situation, where the defender has forced the ball handler to pick up his dribble, the ball handler essentially has one step left as long as he unloads the ball before the original pivot foot comes back down.

I've always thought he had to leave the floor either off his established pivot foot or off both feet simultaneously. It still seems strange to me that he essentially gets an extra step (if he had continued his layup drive he wouldn't have) but I will acquiesce to the experts.

Thank you for helping me understand, and especially for clarifying the nature of the pivot foot. I appreciate it.