Jump stop/pivot/step

[Juulie Downs]

Originally Posted by dave30

If a player gathers the ball in the air and lands .... then his feet do not have to hit at the same time..... if it is not on a move to the basket, then the first foot to hit is the pivot foot. If it is a move to the basket, then it like two steps on a layup. Do I have it right now?

well, sort of. whether or not it's a move to the basket doesn't really matter, as far as the rules go.

The feet don't have to hit exactly perfectly simultaneously to be a jump stop. Should be pretty close, though. If he gathers ball in the air, lands on both feet, either foot can be the pivot. He can then step off the non-pivot foot to shoot or pass, but can't put the pivot foot back down again, so it's more or less one step, as long as that step isn't taken by the pivot foot. That's all true whether or not you consider what he's doing a "move to the basket".

You're right that if he gathers in the air, he can land on one foot which then becomes the pivot foot, and then step onto the other foot and jump up to shoot or pass. So it's more or less two steps after the gather. It's just that the rule isn't defined in terms of the number of steps so when you word your play that way, it's a little hard to just say "yes" or "no".

A better way to describe travel/no-travel questions is with regard to the pivot foot. The whole question is laid out in relation to when the pivot foot is established, and which foot is the pivot. When you know which foot is the pivot, and when everything else happened in relation to that, you've got it made!