basketball is about winning games. That is it. If you choose not to conform to a style of play than that means you do not understand why you are on the court. YOu think you are there for yourself and not for your team. Thus, low basketball IQ. Shaq as a youngster had a low basketball IQ. As he has gotten older he has learned the game. He understands the game more. His skills haven't gotten much better. As a person he isn't any smarter but his bball IQ has gone through the roof(IMO)

think about the original dream team. KMalone came from a pick and roll offense. Magic from a run and gun. Bird from a motion offense. Hakeem and Patrick from a ISO offense. A million different systems. The coach's of the dream team had to decide on one system. The players because of their high basketball IQ's and willingness to accept the team concept above their own personal goals were willing and able to adjust on a moments notice

Posted by buddapaw:

Conforming to a playing style "so called Basketball IQ" can be developed, however there are some players who go against the grain. Perfect example Shaq was all power when he entered the league as his career continued and injuries persisted he learned how to pass out the post rather well. This shows that a player can choose to play certain way. Learning to play a certain way is not necessarily intelligence because you practise plays to become second nature to supress the players natural instincts. Alot of players who are deemed to have low bball IQ choose not to conform with a playing style, this does not make them unintelligent in playing the game of basketball.

Noone said you couldn't make your basketball IQ better and learn how to play.

I think the best example I can show is Hakeem Olajuwon vs Eddy Curry. Who do you think is a smarter player? It has nothing to do with the system, Olajuwon is obviously the smarter player. The way he set up defenders, the way his moves were so calculated to set up the defender, the way he read defenses...you are going to tell me that Curry and Hakeem are both on the same level intellectually when it comes to playing the game of basketball? That is one of the best examples I can give.

now, can we stop all the silly sarcasm...leave it to a coach to actually put it in words everyone, and i mean EVERYone, can understand.

It's something that can be taught.

Isiah throwing the inbound to Larry Bird (high high high bball IQ) and bird winning the game...Isiah learned and went on to win two titles.

BB IQ is usually associated with non athletic players...but I feel the abuse of the term is applying the opposite to athletic players.

Having it is great, not having it is a non factor.

that's all I'm saying.

Posted by rvhoss:

Posted by joec32033:

Posted by buddapaw:

Conforming to a playing style "so called Basketball IQ" can be developed, however there are some players who go against the grain. Perfect example Shaq was all power when he entered the league as his career continued and injuries persisted he learned how to pass out the post rather well. This shows that a player can choose to play certain way. Learning to play a certain way is not necessarily intelligence because you practise plays to become second nature to supress the players natural instincts. Alot of players who are deemed to have low bball IQ choose not to conform with a playing style, this does not make them unintelligent in playing the game of basketball.

Noone said you couldn't make your basketball IQ better and learn how to play.

I think the best example I can show is Hakeem Olajuwon vs Eddy Curry. Who do you think is a smarter player? It has nothing to do with the system, Olajuwon is obviously the smarter player. The way he set up defenders, the way his moves were so calculated to set up the defender, the way he read defenses...you are going to tell me that Curry and Hakeem are both on the same level intellectually when it comes to playing the game of basketball? That is one of the best examples I can give.

is he 'obviously' the smarter player? He had a hall of fame coach and he had no power...so he used the skills he obtained playing foosball (soccer) his entire career.

Same could be said for Duncan...he's a career swimmer, came into the game late, and when you come into the game late, hitting the white square above the rim is almost a sure bucket, so he uses the fundamentals.

It's not about being smarter. So give that up, please.

Are you serious? You totally agree with how Bip says it, I break it down a little more, as my example is exactly what Bip said and it was what you agreed with, and now you don't agree with it? Yes, Olajuwon is obviously a smarter player than Curry is now.

[Edited by - joec32033 on 08-09-2006 10:29 AM]

Posted by joec32033:

Posted by rvhoss:

Posted by joec32033:

Posted by buddapaw:

Conforming to a playing style "so called Basketball IQ" can be developed, however there are some players who go against the grain. Perfect example Shaq was all power when he entered the league as his career continued and injuries persisted he learned how to pass out the post rather well. This shows that a player can choose to play certain way. Learning to play a certain way is not necessarily intelligence because you practise plays to become second nature to supress the players natural instincts. Alot of players who are deemed to have low bball IQ choose not to conform with a playing style, this does not make them unintelligent in playing the game of basketball.

Noone said you couldn't make your basketball IQ better and learn how to play.

I think the best example I can show is Hakeem Olajuwon vs Eddy Curry. Who do you think is a smarter player? It has nothing to do with the system, Olajuwon is obviously the smarter player. The way he set up defenders, the way his moves were so calculated to set up the defender, the way he read defenses...you are going to tell me that Curry and Hakeem are both on the same level intellectually when it comes to playing the game of basketball? That is one of the best examples I can give.

is he 'obviously' the smarter player? He had a hall of fame coach and he had no power...so he used the skills he obtained playing foosball (soccer) his entire career.

Same could be said for Duncan...he's a career swimmer, came into the game late, and when you come into the game late, hitting the white square above the rim is almost a sure bucket, so he uses the fundamentals.

It's not about being smarter. So give that up, please.

Are you serious? You totally agree with how Bip says it, I break it down a little more, as my example is exactly what Bip said and it was what you agreed with, and now you don't agree with it? Yes, Olajuwon is obviously a smarter player than Curry is now.

[Edited by - joec32033 on 08-09-2006 10:29 AM]

agreed with Joe. Olajuwon knew how not to foul, how to play D, when to kick the ball out to his teammates, how not to travel over and over and over again, how to play weak-side D, how to make his teammates better. You get the point.

Let's throw names like David Robinson, Bill Russell, Karl Malone up there with The Dream; the list could go on forever really. What made these guys so good wasn't the fact that they had pure talent, its the fact that they were smart players on the court and didn't do stupid things like players on our Knicks team do, more importantly Curry. These guys knew that when you block a ball, you don't swat the thing out of bounds, you keep it inbounds and direct it towards a teammate so you can run out on a fastbreak. When ANYONE sees Eddy Curry do that, or anything like this, call Elias Sports Bureau because it'll be the first.

[Edited by - nyk4ever on 08-09-2006 10:53 AM]

Posted by nyk4ever:

Let's throw names like David Robinson, Bill Russell, Karl Malone up there with The Dream; the list could go on forever really. What made these guys so good wasn't the fact that they had pure talent, its the fact that they were smart players on the court and didn't do stupid things like players on our Knicks team do, more importantly Curry. These guys knew that when you block a ball, you don't swat the thing out of bounds, you keep it inbounds and direct it towards a teammate so you can run out on a fastbreak. When ANYONE sees Eddy Curry do that, or anything like this, call Elias Sports Bureau because it'll be the first.

[Edited by - nyk4ever on 08-09-2006 10:53 AM]

Absolutely, I just used Olajuwon because to me he is an obvious comparison to Curry to me, and it is very evident of his knowledge of the way to play basketball. I agree with everything you posted.

Why are we arguing that there are smarter players than others? It's obvious that there are. Who cares? You don't have to be smart to be a good player. You don't have to be a great athlete to be a good player. But if you have both you are in great shape. As to who the smart players are and who the dumb players are of courst that's individual opinion. Why can't that person have that opinion?

The only reason this is an issue is that people hear the term "basketball iq" and it immediately becomes a racial issue no matter how the term was used. I say poppycok. Let the politically correct police hijack politics but stay out of sports.

I'm just going to write a few high IQ players that come to my mind: Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Jeff Hornacek, Chris Mullin, Charles Barkley, KJ, Michael Jordan, Jason Kidd, Doc Rivers, Avery Johnson, Darrell Armstrong, Charles Oakley, Tim Duncan, Marcus Williams, Doron Sheffer, Nadav Henefeld, Ray Allen, Ricky Moore.

Those were just the first few that came to my mind as I was sitting here. 100% sure you would have a different list. My list is mostly black guys because I think most white guys get by on God given athletic ability and good relationships with the coaches.

do any of those guys have cornrows or no?

either that or it's that whole Equal Opportunity for Whites thing.

For the most part, I see that players with extremely LOW bball IQs DON'T make it that far, simply b/c they don't know what to do with the athletic abilities and bball skills that they've worked on their whole lives and they don't know how to translate it into NBA success. Martin said a good example is Stromile Swift. I wonder if you could put Keith Van Horn and Tim Thomas in the LOW BBall IQ players list. Obviously Thomas was lazy but that to me just adds to it. As for KVH, he just couldn't do anything with his great talent. Now he's like the 8th option on the Mavericks. Actually, I don't even know if he signed with anyone now.