(Basketball) Intelligence is an underrated skill - as is being a "competitive warrior"

Being Sengun is an underrated skill imo. It deserves its own thread. In before os.

 

Hakeem was an anomaly. Just like Curry, Lebron, Jordan, Wilt, Tim Duncan, Kobe. Alpi is also an anomaly. His body flexibility is at such a level that he leaves all other superstars behind. Every superstar has his own special anomaly. Like Curry's 3-point shots, Jordan's invincible mentality, LeBron's durability, Kobe's killer mentality.

 

i was away on 'around the world' tour past couple months and just started watching our games this week. my take after watching this season's jalen green for the first time is that the lane is now clogged and he has to settle for jumpers. udoka is right to make alpi the central hub of our offense, but this has also resulted in closing down green's space to drive into the paint and he now looks frustrated/defeated. imo we should bring him off the bench and let him be the lead scoring option w/ the 2nd unit. regarding bball IQ, agreed he needs a lot of work. on his warrior mindset, in the previous couple seasons i thought he showed glimpses of it, he's just in a giant slump now

 

2023 and Americans start to realize this isn't olympic track field contest. Jordan was an athletic phenom on top of the skillset. Skills will always get you around athletic that's why I never liked Scoot for example. So what hes jacked? half of my high school was and none of them made it to the pro level. the ones that did actually were skilled af

 

Dream was also a student of the game and a thinker. Coming up with those moves, he had to know the rules about traveling and pivot placement and how he could bend them to his advantage. He went into the lab and experimented until he had a good outcome. He thought through how to defend Jordan by hiding behind the Bulls centers and giving the illusion that the lane was clear. He thought through the game before it happened and you could tell this by how he defended and called for the ball in the first quarter vs the last few minutes. You can see all this by watching some of his on-court lessons after his retirement. And reading his book (which every Rockets fan should do).

There aren't many people who have that level of understanding and knowledge. There are even fewer who have the physical gifts and competitive drive to implement that knowledge at the highest level. We are lucky to have seen one in our lifetime.

It's been clear that our boy Sengun has the drive and a basketball IQ well above normal. If he can continue to learn and apply, we'll be OK. If he reaches a level where he's truly innovating, we'll be napping in clover between now and 2035 (so long as the owner doesn't cheap out).

 

I know this makes sense intuitively because I thought the exact same thing...but I went to look up how those lineups have actually done this year they've been even worse. Jalen Green with no Sengun or Landale (5 out with Jeff Green mostly, I guess?) has been really bad. Jalen plus Landale has also been really bad. It's just all been bad and I don't really know exactly how to fix it, at least not with our current roster. Here's what those lineups look like -

 

Didn't watch the game, and one game might give that idea. Unfortunately that is not the case. He has been very bad at his main two functions, going to the rim and shooting, very consistently. He cannot finish, tries to get to the rim even if there is no opening, shoots bad, and the mechanics are off. He feels the pressure very heavily, and so far he hasn't responded well. He's been better on the defensive effort and some playmaking but we really need the first two in our offense.

 

We also need strategic cats not just dawgs.

 

lol, read the title and immediately knew this was a Jalen Green dumb post.

I think Jalen has that Ben Simmons mindset. He'd rather go to fashion shows and focus on his own clothing brand. Young socialite mindset.

 

You buried the lede!

 

Just imagine if Jalen Green with his athleticism had CP3 or James Harden court-vision...he would easily be a top 5 SG.
Jalen Green's reads when it comes to help defense sucks balls...always running into defenders hoping the refs will call a foul...I cringe every time he drives to the basket

 

Here are the four things that matter.

1. BBall IQ
2. Skill
3. Athleticism
4. Confidence


You need 3 of them to be a successful player.

You can get by with 3 and still be a superstar, but most superstars have all 4.....

The Current Rockets players rate IMHO - with TOP LEVEL listed only - if you are somewhat skilled you are not elite skill these are guys I think that have the top level of that category.

1. FVV - BBall IQ, Skill, Confidence - solid player
2. DBrooks - BBall IQ, Confidence - solid player
3. Jabari - Skills, Confidence - solid player - Still developing the BBall IQ but nearly there.
4. Alpi - Bball IQ, Skill, Confidence - on way to being a great player
5. Jalen - Athleticism - lacking in other 3
6. Tari Eason - Confidence - Impact player - has a decent amount of the others but not elite....
7. Jeff Green - BBall IQ, Skills, Confidence, - and decent athleticism - Very good player long career
8. Holiday - Skills, Confidence - Good role player
9. Amen - BBall IQ, Athleticism - Developing Skills and Confidence
10. Cam - BBall IQ, Athleticism, Skills, Confidence - A hidden gem - with everything you need to be a big time player


DD

 

I think BBall IQ may be a stretch for Cam. He seems to play with blinders and gambles on defense. That being said, I don't see why this couldn't improve. That being said, I agree he could be a great player.

 

No way, if you watch his videos, you see high high high level IQ stuff, sure it is moving to get a shot but he is literally setting guys up with his movement for a counter....he has off the charts BBall IQ.

DD

 

I've always believed a high IQ is what in the end elevates superstar talent to all time great talent.

You cannot reach that level unless you have high IQ.

But you can reach that level if you're not the greatest athlete, or shooter, or defender, etc etc.

 

Great post! I would just add that in addition to basketball IQ and heart, the ability to continuously get better is another key element of great players. The greatest players - even LeBron, Jordan, Kobe, Shaq - they all got better every season. Jordan couldn't shoot very well at first but got better. They were all obsessed about getting better every year. I think Alpi is that guy (not GOAT but great player)