What is this quasi-mysterious element called basketball IQ? Is it something latent in most players yet developed by a few? Why is it that you can have two players spend 1,000 hours apiece in a gym and yet one will emerge with a better sense of when to do what and where. What it seems to be is an acquired skill and one that can be improved with the appropriate work and mindset.
With all this in mind, Foothill College Associate Head Coach James Herrera began explaining hoops IQ with "right off the top of my head, I believe a big part of having a high basketball IQ is having the awareness of who you are, what your team is trying to accomplish, game-time scenarios and what works and one's efficiency.
It's practicing what you are going to be doing the most in games, seeing what the openings are and how to create openings for teammates. You begin with a 1-on-one scenario of how you can take advantage. Then it's 'I may be able to take this guy but where will the help be coming from?' In high school, you can get away with running into three help defenders but not for most players in college."
For Herrera, "it's a lot easier to develop a basketball IQ on offense and defense once you're in a system versus pickup ball where you don't know the tendencies of your teammates, the defense is usually poor and nobody is trying to take things away that were learned in a scouting report.
Mental toughness ties into all this because of needing to go from play to play, transitioning from offense to defense and not lingering over a missed shot or a turnover."
Another element to a solid IQ "is communicating in the flight of the game. Calling out on offense what you're going to do off a screen and if you're going to switch defensively."
Herrera added, "why a lot of guys are in junior college is because they're not locked in enough, their inconsistency holds them back."
That goes back to practicing most what will help a player succeed during a game.
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