Basketball IQ

Darnell Mayberry wrote this article in November 2009 but it's worth another read:

What is Basketball IQ? It's hard to explain, and most say it's something that players just have 
Darnell MayberryNewOK.com
November 29, 2009

It's one of the most mysterious terms in basketball, a pithy phrase regularly seen in scouting reports, supposedly to sum up a player's knowledge of the game.

Basketball IQ.

Defining it isn't so easy.

"It's a feel for the game," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "Some guys have it. Some guys don't. You don't necessarily need to have it to be successful. But when you have it you understand the game. You can pick up things quickly. You have a great sense of the team concepts and what the team is trying to do."

Nearly half the Thunder's roster at one point has been tagged with the term. You couldn't find a scouting report on rookie James Harden that didn't possess the phrase in the weeks leading up to the June draft. Shaun Livingston, Kyle Weaver, Kevin Ollie, Nick Collison and Jeff Green are among Harden's teammates who also have had the label attached to their names.

"We have a good IQ team," Brooks said. "I'm happy with our guys. Their level of IQ is pretty good."

But the term is widely overused, Brooks said.

"Absolutely. It's like 'Guys work hard,' or 'This guy's a winner,'" Brooks said. "I've been on teams where guys don't work hard but they're known as hard workers.

"No one wants to tell the truth because it'll hurt people's feelings."

Players and coaches say those who really have it contain a court savvy that goes beyond the coach's X's and O's. It's instinctive ability that a player has, knowing when to shoot and when to make the extra pass. Knowing how to set a screen on one possession and play off it on the next. Knowing when to employ subtle defensive schemes such as "pulling out the chair" in the post.

"There's no game that demands as many decisions as basketball," said Sacramento coach Paul Westphal. "In baseball, when it's your time to bat you try to get a hit. If they hit it to you then you catch it and throw it to the right base. If you throw it to the wrong base you're not a smart player. In basketball, every time you have the ball you can dribble it, you can pass it, you can shoot it...There's a lot of decisions."

Most say basketball IQ is something that players have a hard time gaining.

"You can to an extent but usually guys come in and just have it," said Houston coach Rick Adelman. "Some guys never get it. They just don't see certain things and take advantage."

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The following was a companion piece:

What coaches and players have to say about basketball IQ

Thunder coach Scott Brooks: "To me what defines it is a guy that understands the game and has all the team concepts down. He understands that it's not what's best for him. IQ guys, you can share philosophy with them and they grasp it and they have a good feel. And they can take what you tell them and maybe add something to it."
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Houston coach Rick Adelman: "Some players can see a play before it really happens. For me, Vlade Divac was unbelievable, especially for a big guy. He'd see the play develop and pass the ball while the play developed. That's an instinct. You can almost see it right away in a player."

Thunder guard Shaun Livingston: "Basketball IQ is an understanding of the game. It's just having a presence and a feel. It's more instinctive than anything. It's not really something that you can teach, especially when you get to our level. It's having an understanding or an uncanny feel for the game of basketball."

Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy: "It's a guy who has an innate understanding, the game comes easily to him...They see things once and it all makes sense to them. Basketball just makes sense to them and they make smart plays. They're ahead of the play defensively. They can pick up plays you put in easily."

Utah guard Deron Williams: "It's being basketball smart. Knowing the game, knowing situations, things like that. There's a lot of guys that can play the game but can't really think the game."