EUROSTEP, EURO, & STEPPIN’
The 2024-2025 basketball season is my seventh season at the helm of the Cape Henlopen
Girls Basketball ship. It is also my 11th season coaching high school basketball and my 25th
year coaching basketball of any level. I love the game. I love being a part of a team. And I love
being surrounded by people who are in pursuit of improvement and excellence. Oh, and I love
talking all-things hoops, coaching and teamwork. So, please allow this collection of writings to
serve as an outlet for me and an insight for you as I share my thoughts and experiences this
season as the Cape Henlopen Girls Basketball team head coach.
Euro-Steppin’
When I think of the origin of the euro-step, I think of Manu Ginobili. I release that he wasn’t the
inventor of the move he certainly brought it to the forefront of my mind and most of the
basketball world. As a player I never used a eurostep; I was more of a pro-hop guy. Now I
teach both. Which brings me to the subject of skill development.
As a coach, teaching and facilitating the skill development of your players is vital. As the
coach of a high school team I find it difficult to carve out time during the season to do this. We
have a ton of shooting drills where we can spread out to 6 baskets, but I don’t get the
individual time with players to work on mechanics, footwork etc. At least not as much time as I
would like or as I think they need. So we make sure we put it in as part of our practice plan.
Whether it is a eurostep, shooting mechanics, or stationary ball-handling, we try to help
everyone get a little better each day.
EURO
“EURO” has special meaning in our program. It is the name of our base offense. We used this
offense a few years ago and this year decided to come back to it. When it comes to selecting
which offense our team will use, I always ask three questions:
1) Does the offense work?
2) Am I able to teach it?
3) Are my players able to learn it?
And that last question is really the most important. The great coach and teacher, John Wooden
famously said, “If they haven’t learned it, you haven’t taught it.”
What I teach is all about our personnel. As a coach I try to put my players in the best situation
to be successful both immediately AND in the future (which can be a distraction for the present
at times). You see, several of my players will go on to play college basketball so I feel an
obligation to expose them to as many ways of playing basketball as possible.
“Don’t teach them plays, teach them HOW to play.”
That has always been a coaching philosophy of mine. So for this season, EURO is the structure
through which I will teach them everything I know about modern basketball offense. Hopefully,
this will enable them to seamlessly step into a college program in the next couple years.
Steppin’
Well, we’ve talked about “Euro” so let us wrap up this first issue with “Steppin’.” And I will
simply say this, while planning is necessary and wise, life must be lived day by day, step by
step, moment by moment. Always. You cannot live tomorrow, today. Jesus said, “So do not
worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough trouble of its own”. Furthermore, you cannot
live yesterday again – and who wants to?!?
Coach Woods
“There is not future in the past. The past is only valuable insomuch as it enlightens the present.”
– Frank Garza