Basketball IQ and Fundamentals

When youo evaluate a player, you have to take into account what skills are needed. Just because you get the top 5 players does not mean that they will dominate although they would most likley overpower most teams that they play. But if they played a team who was playing as a team then they would have trouble.

It is like making a good stew or soup. Too of one of the ingriedents can spoil the meal.

In general I would look for:

PG - good court vision & ball-handling
SG - Shooting touch & ball-handling
SF - A well rounded player with many skills
PF - Rebounding and low post presense
C - Sme as PF

Of course defense is important but it is more about effort than skill.

 

Where's HP when we need him? He could nail this in 60 words or less.

Sorry, don't want to derail, but I hadn't seen him post in a LONG time.

I'll stay tuned for responses to your question.

 

How about not dribbling between your legs without going anywhere and lose the ball off your foot when you are 50 ft away from the basket and the defender nowhere in sight?

 

fundamentals, in my view, are a PART of basketball IQ. but basketball IQ goes further than that...it goes in making other players better...playing your strengths..knowing the other team's weaknesses...

 

Before I answer the question....

"Basketball IQ" may be dumbest attempt at generalization I've heard of. Nobody can really define it as it encompasses every 'stupid' thing and every 'smart' thing ever done on the court, but if you have a slightly higher amount stupid things to smart things ratio than you have low bkball iq. For example, if a player makes a good shot, a good pass, and a good defensive play but also a turnover and rushed ill advised shot, then he has a worse bkball iq than someone who makes a good shot, a good pass, and a turnover. So basically I think "Basketball IQ" is a load of crap in analyzing a player. If you want to analyze a player talk about the actual elements of the game, like passing, shooting, decision-making, ball-handling, game play time, and other stuff. You can't just lump it all together into "Basketball IQ". Whoever came up with the term needs to be whacked a coupla times over the head.


Now...

In the end the one element that "Basketball IQ" really comes down to and the one ppl focus on though is decision making. Fundamentals has nothing to do with Basketball IQ. If you are a mediocre player but you make good decisions even if your ball-handling, rebounding, and shooting aren't great, you will be labeled as a high iq player.

 

Well you have to admit that some players, not all, rely on their athleticism more than others. Some player like Jordan , Hakeem, Bird, & Magic worked tirelessly on their game while just party and stuff during the offseason.

Stockton had ability and skills but he also out-hustled many faster and more athelitic guard every night.

Defense is VERY important but you have to WANT to play defense to be good at it..period.

 

If you've ever played High School Ball, you'd know that defense is more than just hustle. You have to understand positioning, help rotations, how to best force a player to one hand or one side of the court, close-outs, all the little things.

Athleticism and attitude are what make good defenders great defenders.

 

"Fundamentals" are the actions you learn in grade-school camp, performed with textbook efficiency. Things like crisp, two-handed passing from the chest, boxing out, setting a hard pick, shooting a clean jumper, staying in front of your man.

"Basketball IQ" is an understanding of the game strategy and tactics, and "court vision" is an ability to "see" the alignments of players on the court and understand where the player can exploit the opposition. Players with a high "basketball IQ" make the defense look bad - they expose a weakness and exploit it, without an unusual, startling athletic feat. You see this in backdoor cuts, three passes to an open shooter, pick and roll freeing a big man for "easy" buckets, the put back on a missed free throw, even the alley oop. It works because the player catches the defense out of position. Same when high IQ players expose a fundamental flaw in the opponent on defense - it makes them look bad. Examples are strips when players bring the ball down, pulling the chair, forcing a dribble pick up and turnover, steals from lazy tosses in the passing lane,
forcing charges, boxing out, winding the clock down.

Players with extraordinary "athleticism" or raw talent, make you shake your head and say "good defense, he just was unstoppable".

It's not impossible for good atheltes to also have high basketball iq and good court vision. The two aren't mutually exclusive . I'm familiar with the spike lee - bird/v/micheal reference; sometimes the terms have been used to seperate white and black players; but that's not accurate, of course. I'm sure you can find plenty of good players that fit both categories.

 

I never said that defense was all hustle, I said that if you want to be good at defense then you have to WANT to do it.

Defense is not glamourous but it is essential to be a complete player in the NBA.

You can teach positions, rotation, close-outs, etc but if all the player wants to do is dunk and score then that is all about effort and desire.

 

I'll take a shot at defining if a player plays smart or not (ie- BB IQ)

First, it does depend on position
Second the definition requires analysis by teams of players play and role on the team
Third I will use negative and positives to rank a player
Fourth I will differentiate between role player and key player
Fifth some things will be position specific

So here is the test for basketball IQ:

1. How many unforced turnovers a player commits. Point guards who handle the ball more and key players who handle the ball must rank lowest (have fewest) in this category. Unforced errors cannot be accepted here.
2. How many forced turnovers a player commits. Some of this is simply skill based but over all it is a factor in how smart a player plays the game.
3. Taking good shots. Each position should be rated for shooting % and teams should chart the type of shots taken by position. Open shots taken within the execution of the offense with an assist should carry the highest positive weight.
4. Passing and assists. Each position should have a passing assessment. Does the center pass out of a triple team. Does the point guard make the correct entry pass. Number of executed pick and rolls etc. Every player should be ranked on assists by position and evaluated and charted as far as execution of the offense.
5. Role players- role. Smart role players should have a role or function. If it is defense, rebounding, or scoring there should be a measurement of how a role players effects the game. Either starting or off the bench. Smart role players will excel at what is expected of them. They do not try to do too much. But on average they provide there niche.
6. Point Guards- in general they must execute the offense. It should be charted how often the point guard fails to execute a play. Other position may break down the offense, but the point guard cannot afford this mistake.
7. Centers- Good position require smarts. Regardless if a center is offensive, defensive or both, high post player or low post. They should play smartly to their strengths and establish there position. When a center is out of position or gets beat often in the low or high post position it may be more smarts than size in the NBA.
8. Creating and taking advantage if mismatches- This is so important in the NBA - every team should chart how well players create and take advantage of mismatches. Just watch the tape and count the times (each team should determine their own mismatches against another team) smart players us picks and passing to get this done.
9. Last 5 minutes of a game.- Any mistake or turnover during this time should carry a heavy weight on a player.
10. Fouls- there are smart fouls and stupid fouls- we figure that out and grade our players.

I could go on and on, but basically it comes down to smart players make go decisions that are mostly successful unless they are just beat by sheer talent. Smart players don't make unforced errors.

In the NBA talent can over come smarts.
Talent can compensate for stupid play.

But take a smart talented player and put him in the right system and you will have fewer mistakes that cost wins.

 

Analysing any potential situation during a game, and doing the right thing (i.e. the move that will get your the points). Not relying on your athleticism to do it, just your head; athleticism creates you opportunities to score, while your head works with what is given to you.

 

so basically, Rocket River, the real question you are getting at is "why do people think Steve Francis has low bball IQ and fundamentals when it really makes no difference as he is a good player anyway."

am i right?

 

Just for fun I would rank our starters as follows (highest BB IQ to lowest BB IQ)

1. JJ- simply executes his role within the offense very well
2. Yao- Has picked up NBA position and style fast considering his background
3. Cat- except for getting out of control fit a good role and stayed with it
4. Cato- Aside from taking 15-20 jumpers knows his role and executes with hustle
5. Steve- Just kills himself with unforced errors. If he wasn't the team leader, and the point guard he would be ranked 3 slots higher.

 

having fundamentals means you can do the basic parts of the game that most players today overlook.

shooting, passing, boxing out, etc...

too many players focus on dunking, dribbling, and out-jumping instead.




as far as IQ goes, its about knowing the "ins and outs" of the game. all of the little things that help you play better and help ur team win.

-fake a pass in the opposite direction before the actual pass is made

-keep the ball high if ur a bigman

-don't leave your feet on defence unless you know you can block the shot. (kobe takes advantage of defenders who jump for ball fakes 20ft from the basket)


these are just examples of definitions i could not word correctly

 

FUNDAMENTALS: Basic skills of the game like passing, rebounding, FT, shooting form, dribbling technique, etc...

It's important to note that some people can dribble, but they have inefficient execution. Have you noticed that the best dribblers, dribble the least. They waste no motion. Isiah, Nash, and Payton were masters at this. But other players dribble, dribble, dribble, and get nowhere. Passing too. It's not just a matter of "passing the ball." Anyone can do that. It's a matter of setting up your players, reading the defense, and timing a pass when you know where your teammates will be able to catch the ball in the best place for the shot. These are all fundamentals. How easily you learn them depends on ones ability to learn...see below...

BASKETBALL IQ: This is a generalization of a lot of things. But it centers on the mind and how well they learned teachable skills and fundamentals. This is not necessarily tied to the physical ability of that player. That's a bonus of you have extra ordinary physical ability. Basketball IQ is directly tied to ones ability to learn the game. Also, it's could also be said that it's not just about basketball. You can even break it down to just IQ. We just happen to be applying that term to basketball.

 

well, cat has a high IQ while playing D. on offence, he plays like he's at the park.


its like, some of us would score higher on the artistic side of an IQ test, while others would score higher on the mathematical side.