Basketball IQ and Fundamentals

By the way, one thing to remember is that a player suddenly just doesn't "grow more IQ" over time. The idea that someone may have "innate talent" or "leanred skill" may also be related to their BRAIN! Yep! For example, Stockton could "see" what others could not. Was this developed when he was a high-school basketball player? Or what it innate to him when he was born? Some people are just *good* at math. Some are not. No matter how hard you try to learn. Some people are good at abstract ideas, some are not. It just depends on that person.

So, *natural* "skill" or "ability" is also related to ones IQ. Some are born with it, some are not.

It's true that you CAN develop these things with teaching. But there's also something to be said about THAT INDIVIDUAL. That's what makes certain players special. Not just their physical abilities, but their mental abilities that they were born with.

This is what a scouts job is. Not just to watch an players physical skills, but also his personal skills; how he relates things, how he learns, how he works with others. The mental side of things. These things are also "talents."

 

That's true. But this is two parts...phisically he might not be as fast to keep up with faster players. And two, he doesn't like to play D; personal decision. Just like Nash. He dislikes it. Mobley didn't like playing defense. But JVG changed that. He convinced him he could play both D and O.

 

Basketball IQ is inherently knowing the game situation. It is the simple things. For example (not to pick on Mobely): Houston was on defense, the shot clock was down to about a second, the ball was going out of bounds, Mobley grabbed it and tried to save it. In doing so, he established possession and fell out of bounds. Had he just let it go the clock would have expired. Instead, Houston gained possession and immediatiely turned the ball over giving the other team a new 24 seconds.

When things like that continually happen, then a player has a low basketball IQ. Once in a long while occurrances do not signify a low BB IQ.

Other things are knowing foul situations for both your teams and your opponents. Knowing the shot clock. Knowing when to try and get a 2 for 1 at the end of a quarter. Recognizing who has the hot hand (or who is cold). Realizing the tendencies of officiating crews. For example, some officials will call a technical if you slap the backboard after a dunk. Players should realize these particular crews (incidentally, they should all either call it or not call it - but that is not the case) and not slap backboards when a particular crew is officiating.

To me the IQ portion doesn't represent any physical ability. It is recognizing the situation and playing accordingly. Being beat on defense does not reflect negatively on your IQ. Not recognizing that your teammate is being continually beat and failing to step in and help does.

Continually having a toe on the line for a 3 point attempt, having your heel out of bounds when receiving a pass on the side are examples of low BB IQs. Again, these things will sometimes happen to every player. It is the ones that it continually happens to that have problems.

Yao Ming fell to the floor and a small guard was trying to tie him up. Yao called time - why? He should have easily been able to win the tip.

There are times during a game when you should sacrifice a turnover in favor of saving a time out. Players need to recognize those times.

A football example: In a game the Cowboys were on their own 1 yard line. The play clock was winding down. The QB called a time out rather than take a delay of game penalty. Again, I ask why? The penalty would have cost him 18 inches. The need for a timeout could cost you the game.

 

back to my post..

why not define a players basketball smarts by defining what constitutes stupid play.

I think if you want to know how smart a player plays the game you need to measure stupid mistakes.

Why say someone has a high BB IQ just because they are very talented, like Jason Kidd. Does he commit unforced turnovers? Does he take too large a % of bad shots? Does he make the good decisions that lead to assists and points?

Kidd may have a high BB IQ but it should be based upon how smart he plays.

As I posted before I think you determine that based upon the fewest mistakes made in certain categories that fit certain roles and certain positions on an NBA team.

 

I have never heard people say Peja is a "High IQ guy." I have actually heard that he does not get others involved too well. So what is your point then?

 

my thought exactly...i've never heard that about him, either. only that he's a money shooter.

 

I have heard people say those guys have a great intelligence on the offensive end, but just as often I hear about their weakness on defense. People rarely pick Dallas to go all the way because of their defensive problem.

So people do talk about it, perhaps not in an "IQ" sense. I agree defense should be considered as part of basketball IQ.

 

Hard to say how much BB IQ Peja and Dirk have because their roles on their teams doesn’t really test how smart they are. Neither guy has to make many decisions on the court. They just shoot. So they don’t really have the chance to make many mistakes nor do they have the chance to make many smart plays.

A player like Tim Duncan, on the other hand, clearly is a very smart player. The offense and defense is run through him. He needs to know when to shoot, when to pass, what to do against a double team, how to protect the ball, covering up defensive mistakes from his teammates, etc. and he does all of those things very well.

 

The definition of the general IQ has something to do with "relative and comparative abilities that can be used to obtain academic skills and knowledge." In other words, IQ is the innate capacity to acquire skills and knowledge.

Apply that to basketball IQ, we can say that it is the capacity to acquire basketball skills and knowledge. In a shorter form, we can define BB IQ as "the capacity to grasp the essentials that can win in the game of basketball." Those "essentials" include the so-called "fundamentals."

Fundamentals are basic skills that can be taught like reading, writing and arithmatics. People with high BB IQ grasp these skills quickly and firmly. People with low BB IQ mess up these things again and again. There are physical and mental fundamentals.

Physical fundamentals include shooting form, dribbling without losing the ball, making crisp passes, protecting the ball, foot work, defensive stance, etc. Mental fundamentals include positioning, spacing, passing angle, etc. They also include some basic basketball tactics such as setting picks, movement (such as cutting) without the ball, rebounding position, defensive rotation, etc.

There are some higher level skills I do not consider as fundamentals because they cannot be taught, at least not in a straightforward way. These include court vision, making decisions on the fly, shot selection, spotting opponent's weaknesses, etc. Players with high BB IQ grasp these higher skills by instinct, while low IQ players never really learn them. Some of these can be improved through experience, though.

 

Last night Walton defined BBIQ. His father had it in loads. The son demonstrated great BBIQ last night.

 

Thanks for pointing this out. This is that rare skill that some players have. For example, Dumars and Jordan used to do these type things (they both knew each others game more than any other two players, save Bird and Magic). They would spend hours on game tape learning about each others habits...

They'd learn their opponents tendencies/weakness, and exploit them later. Jordan has always talked about how a defender's stance, hand position, feet spacing/angle, near or far, eyes...etc...all that stuff.

He's also bait them into getting close, for the drive. Then, the next time bait them to stand back for the jumper. All determined by watching a player's stance. And none of this is really about personal fundaments, but rather an innate ability to learn/read your opponent. All mental at that point.

Kobe and Fisher are excellent at this. Fisher more so on defense.

 

Fundamentals are trainable skills. Usually physical including techniques on shooting, passing, dribbling and defense etc.

Basketball IQ is the sensitivity, or specific intelligence required to play basketball. In short, it's about knowing how to utilize the fundamentals, making basetball related decisions and the understanding of the game. A guy can pass crisp and accurately(fundamental skills), but maybe he doesn't know when to pass, whom to pass to, how to pass(various passing forms and passing styles) etc... that's where BASKETBALL IQ kicks in.

Basketball IQ is like financial IQ or mathematical IQ, not all people are born with it. The difference is, without financial IQ a person wouldn't be a good businessman, without math IQ a person wouldn't be a good mathematitian. For those activities largely rely on the specific type of IQ
required. On the other hand, a person with little basketball IQ can still be a good, but never great, player as basketball also requires physical attributes and trainable skills, the fundamentals.

Basketball IQ, as a type of IQ, is akin to IQ in general. Therefore, a person of low IQ will not possess high Basketball IQ, but it doesn't follow that a person without much basketball IQ is a moron as there are other types of IQ that makes up for it.

As a poster said, the lack of Basketball IQ can be exemplified through stupid plays such as:

1.The inability to execute fast breaks.
2.The disability to understand momentum shifts and consequent implications.(eg.It's OK to shoot a three in a fast break when you are up 15, it's not OK to do so when you are down 10, except when it's near the end of game.)
3.The tendency to pass through defenders while in the air, or the habit of getting up in the air then find the teammates to pass.
4.The tendency to lose the man on defense because of improper understanding of defensive principles, or due to the lack of defensive instinct.
5.The tendency to drive into three defenders and throw up a prayer.
6.The tendency to dribble unbalanced or dribble the ball off one's foot.
7.The tendency to cross over a defender, than cross right back into the defender.
8.The insistence on shooting the ball in the last possession of a quarter instead of creating shots for himself as well as TEAMMATES.
9. As Easy pointed out, the inability to spot and exploit weaknesses is also a lack of basketball IQ.
...

 

This thread has more to do with whites vs blacks than anything else. It's understandable some blacks got offended when white players are often associated with high IQ , while blacks with just athleticism. As far as Yao, I guess his lack of athleticism and "whiteness" put him into the former group.

 

Hmmm, last time I checked, TD, KG, Kobe, Fisher, Payton were black. Hmmm, so was Isiah, Magc and Jordan. All high IQ players!

 

Never claim there's no smart black players. I was just trying to point out the intent of some poster here, and you should know whom I was talking about. KG, Kobe and the likes aint stupid, but I seldom hear people associate 'em with HIGH IQ than athleticism.

 

True...

But, ideally, that's what you want in a player: BOTH!

Magic had both high IQ and athleticism. Same with Isiah and Jordan. TMac and Kobe are similar. This are the type of players you want leading your team.

Bird, although not as athletic, had to deceive his opponents. He was tricky. Pump fakes, up and under, drop steps, behind the back passes, in order to use a players speed against them. He had to do this. He couldn't just depend on the athletic part.

By the way, most of the time I hear people refer to Duncan as the "big fundamental" But don't hear many talk about this athleticism. But he is very atheltic. He has both.

 

I think the best way to define it is:

BBall IQ: The ability to recognize the most efficient way to win a game. Extremely important, but if you are overweight, can't run or jump, and don't have technical skills (shooting, dribbling), then you should be a trainer not a player.

The ultimate example of BBall IQ is Larry Bird. Not the most athletic specimen, but BBall IQ through the roof - so much that he overcame the unathleticism.

Fundamentals: Footwork, boxing out, ability to use the glass, shooting form, general knowledge of little tips and tricks, etc.. Yao's fundamentales are not weak, but they are a bit patchy, and that comes from not having gone to college like most American athletes. In fact, that's what college is for - to learn fundamentals from coaches that specialize in TEACHING.


The ultimate example of fundamentals is probably Tim Duncan. You'd have to put Karl Malone in there. Although we hate him, he worked on every single fundamental aspect of the game to make himself one of the best PF's. He developed his body, his shooting skills, his passing skills, and his dribbling skills to get to where he is today (On the bench with Detroit having stolen homecourt advantage ).



Yao would probably be in the category of high bball IQ because he knows how to trade-off between taking shots himself and passing it off. Obviously, he hasn't perfected it, but look at Mobley and JJ's 3-pt shooting numbers, and that's a perfect example of Yao improving the team. In terms of fundamentals, he's a bit patchy, but that can be very easily helped with some more practice time with NBA head coaches. I'd say all he needs to improve now is recognizing when to try to outjump his player to the ball or when to box his player out. Basically, he should outmuscle the weaker players and use his height to take it from smaller players who can't reach as high.

 

Basketball IQ Test

If you are 7'6", what should you do when you get tied up with Earl Boykins?

[A] Win the jump ball over Boykins
Call a timeout