Finesse Another point to add to the reaons behind finesse is this: Europeans often grow up playing basketball in gyms with organized teams. Coaches, refs, etc. Pickup soccer is way more common there than pick up basketball. I once walked around central London for about six hours and saw one set of basketballl courts. Population wise, this is the largest city in Europe. And it isn’t a lot better in Paris. So, we see European players with good fundamentals (more hours being coached) that play less physical defense (more playing hours with referees). As Lebron notes, Pau and Dirk are perfect examples of the Western European product.