Fresno City College Assistant Coach Nicholas Podesta on basketball IQ

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.

Fresno City College Assistant Coach Nicholas Podesta nailed the amorphous nature of the subject, offering "ask 10 different coaches and players and you'll get 10 different answers."

After naming LeBron James as the player demonstrating the top IQ in basketball today, Podesta delved into the past with his choice as another non-point guard talent who used his mastery of judgment and foresight to carve out a unique career: Wes Unseld.

"He was a terrific passing big man who could read and manipulate defenses well. His pursuit of the ball after the shot, reading the trajectory of a shot and taking the best angle to beat his man allowed him to out-rebound bigger, more physically-gifted players. Unseld demonstrated superior basketball intelligence."

An NBA Hall of Famer and five-time all star, the 6-foot-7 (at most) averaged 18.2 rebounds in his Rookie of the Year season and ended up with career averages of 10.8 points, 14.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists. He was also lauded as a defender who used his strength and smarts to thwart taller opponents.

"Basketball IQ is a fundamental and thorough understanding of how the game is played," Podesta said. "I think it's a combination of innate ability, instincts, skills acquired and developed over time."

As an important element in the process of building and expanding this knowledge, Podesta offered, "Get into the film room. In the heat of the battle, players have some perception of how they are performing. Then they watch film and are surprised by what they missed, and reality sets in. It's important to have the ability to read defenses and make decisions based on how the defense is reacting. You have to go through progressions and make reads."

Podesta also noted that "IQ is seriously under-appreciated and undervalued in recruiting," detailing that the highest jumpers and fastest of foot who don't play smart can be beaten by those playing with superior intelligence.