Which basketball skill is hardest to acquire?

magicman1978 · Post #61 » by **magicman1978** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:13 am

Those of you knocking the court vision choice and choosing ball handling and shooting, think of it this way:

How many players can you name that are great ball handlers?
How many players can you name that are great shooters?
How many can you name with great court vision?

overpaid · Post #62 » by **overpaid** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:24 am

Play-making....just goes to show you how much skill is required by players like lebron

nykballa2k4 · Post #63 » by **nykballa2k4** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:35 am

Iman Shumpert wrote:Ball handling. If you didn't master that skill at a young age, you're never picking it up. It's not something you can just add to your game like a 3 point shot.

Speaking from personal experience, my ball handling goes from an embarrassment to humanity to good enough to get me to the basket after a week of playing with some regularity (after a long lay off). More you practice better you will get.
In HS i played with friends, I just posted up for the most part, so I never needed to learn how to dribble well. All i would do is the Mark Jackson.

Lakers05 · Post #64 » by **Lakers05** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:43 am

Iman Shumpert wrote:Ball handling. If you didn't master that skill at a young age, you're never picking it up. It's not something you can just add to your game like a 3 point shot.

This is an unproven statement. If a guy spent say 6 hrs a day dribbling up and down the court, shortening his dribble as time goes on, or around a series of obstacles even, I fail to see why he wouldn't improve.

Spurtatcus · Post #65 » by **Spurtatcus** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:04 am

Court vision is something you have to be born with

FullCapacity · Post #66 » by **FullCapacity** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:05 am

Winsome Gerbil · Post #67 » by **Winsome Gerbil** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:37 am

I think its the ballhandling and playmaking that are notoriously the most difficutl aspects. The ones where you are either gifted with those abilities or not entering the NBA. Playmaking probably #1, you either have that vision by the time you reach the NBA level or not. It either makes sense, or not. Ball handling a clsoe second. Guys do improve that somewhat though sometimes, but by the time they've reached the NBA nobody goes from dribbling with two hands to being a wizard.

giordunk · Post #68 » by **giordunk** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 6:35 am

height

_Game7_ · Post #69 » by **_Game7_** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 6:39 am

Spurtatcus wrote:Court vision is something you have to be born with

Not really, just keep your head up when you dribble, and have the confidence to make the right play.

tha_rock220 · Post #70 » by **tha_rock220** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 6:51 am

It's playmaking. There's a difference between getting assists and being a playmaker. Guys like Devin Harris and Monte Ellis have the ball so much that they're bound to get assists, but they miss plays all the time. Basically the majority of their assists either come from running the break or driving and kicking. Compare them to guys like Chris Paul or Nash. They know where their teammates are and they recognize scoring opportunities as they happen instead of simply passing to the open man. Plus look at the angles they keep between them and their players. It's kind of like being a quarterback who delivers the ball only where his receiver can catch it.

Miamis3rdRing · Post #71 » by **Miamis3rdRing** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:15 am

Toss-up between ball handling and play making for me.

I've tried working on my ball handling quite a bit, and have only marginally improved over the years. This goes for NBA players, if you don't come into the league with handles you're never going to be great at it. Like others have said, it's a skill you develop at a young age. You can improve always, but not that much.

Same for play-making. You have to keep your head up and know where everybody on the court is.Tthat's very difficult to do if you didn't grow up doing that.

Certain people just have feel for the game. They know when to pass, which move to make on offense, when to shoot, where to be in position for rebounds. Instincts are key.

That Nicka · Post #72 » by **That Nicka** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:20 am

Court vision and height/size are not skills.

dangermouse · Post #73 » by **dangermouse** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:14 am

playmaking and its not even close.

in highschool i tried to make the transition from SG to PG, being a little undersize. i sucked majorly at running an offense.

Monksorlo · Post #74 » by **Monksorlo** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:22 am

Very very interesting point being made about ball handling.

I think it's true that ball handling has to be mastered at a young age.
We've seen plenty NBA players going from a clueless shooter/play-maker to great one,
but ball handling?? I haven't seen anybody.

Even tho from personal experience, i've felt that my ball-handling has improved quite a bit after I started working on it, but things are just very different at the NBA level.
When you think about it, it is true that ball-handling is the difference between good and great ones.

I've played with some guys who are just very athletic, however, because their handle is not good, they can be easily defended. Whereas the players with less athletic ability, but good ball handling who can switch directions and change speed, are much much harder to guard.

My question is...............how do these people who have great ball handling skills master them? Is it just a matter of practice at a very young age, or that combined with some innate talent? are there certain drills that are more effective than others? also, any tips for me?? even tho I'm already 25, I still want to get better!!!!

turk3d · Post #75 » by **turk3d** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:40 am

Drills work. When I was young I was a pretty good all around ballplayer but at just 6'0 a pretty good rebounder and defender with a good outside shot, I didn't have great handles so I decided to work on them. I use to walk to the park (about a half a mile) so I developed drill for myself where I dribbled the ball all the way switching hands each block while walking.

I realized to be a good dribble you needed to be able to do it with both hands. When I was coaching, I developed a drill of my own which I used (for boys and girls teams) where I would have them run the length of the court dribbling the ball and switch hands each way. This helped quite a bit and is a very simple exercise. Then I'd have them shoot layups with the opposite hand as part of another exercise.

Wone · Post #76 » by **Wone** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 9:26 am

coolstorybro wrote:Toss-up between ball handling and play making for me.

I've tried working on my ball handling quite a bit, and have only marginally improved over the years. This goes for NBA players, if you don't come into the league with handles you're never going to be great at it. Like others have said, it's a skill you develop at a young age. You can improve always, but not that much.

Same for play-making. You have to keep your head up and know where everybody on the court is.Tthat's very difficult to do if you didn't grow up doing that.

Certain people just have feel for the game. They know when to pass, which move to make on offense, when to shoot, where to be in position for rebounds. Instincts are key.

I disagree on handles. Richad Jefferson absolutely sucked with his handles back when he was in Arizona and he turned into a respectable one while in the NBA. I agree that playmaking is the hardest skill to acquire.

MilBucksBackOnTop06 · Post #77 » by **MilBucksBackOnTop06** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 9:53 am

I say, the sound descision making/bball IQ skill set. that adds to your team winning.

Being able to manage the game is a skill set in and of itself. It is not a physical skill set, but a mental skill that should be developed the longer you play.

Some guys like Bird, Magic, Jordan, Oscar are born with this skill. In today's game Nash, CP3, Deron, and at times Wade, Bogut, Love, Duncan, and Ginobili has it.

Whether knowing when to move or cut off the ball, pass, rotate, or in shot selection...

This basketball skill is the hardest to acquire for all players that is not on your list. You did not have an other option so I took the liberty to make up my own.

Poor basketball IQ in the area of shot selection, when to guard the pick and roll etc. I say developing a basketball IQ or a head, heart, and feel for the game.

Guys like Manu Ginobili who I say is the epitome of a high basketball IQ guy are too far and wide.

doctorfunk · Post #78 » by **doctorfunk** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:02 am

I disagree on IQ

It comes with time and experience. I used to be dumb as rock now I do pretty decent on my level. When I play with guys from my group age say 24-34yrs we just play much smarter ball than young players. If you'd play with people say 16-23 and then 24-34 you'd see the difference assuming they are on similar level. Maybe there aren't many drills to work on this besides playing/watching games but naturally improve on this if you continue to play a lot in your 20s. Some guys get it faster and just have more feel for it, but it is the case with any skill.

Mamba Venom · Post #79 » by **Mamba Venom** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:25 am

Height

ShabazzMuhammad · Post #80 » by **ShabazzMuhammad** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:19 pm

HartfordWhalers wrote:
ShabazzMuhammad wrote:
HartfordWhalers wrote:
Really?? So you believe the subset of NBA plaers that seem to have a penchant for jacking bad off balance (deep) outside shots are encouraged to by their coaches? I find that very hard to believe, especially when the same players tend to be like that for multiple coaches.

I think they're job on any roster is to spark or microwave offense. I could be wrong but I highly doubt that erratic shot selection is a lack of play making skills or awareness. Just look at guys like Iverson, he makes (made) plays at the highest level even with questionable shot selection.

Sure, if your a hof player it might not be so bad, or at the very least you compensate for it. But then you have players like Blatche who shoot a huge percentage of their shots as very deep 2's and makes them around 1 in 3. That is just awful shot selection. Most teams have at least one player that just likes to jack shots regardless of team offense, whether it is a big man who is in love with his jump shot and doesn't understand why the 16 footer is so often open, or a guard that is in love with his 3 even though he can't hit a respectable rate.

Listen to Hawks fans rag on Josh Smith for shot selection. No coach is encouraging to him randomly shot those shots to microwave the teams offense. I also wouldn't view it as an element of playmaking, but trigger happily shooting definitely can be lumped into BBIQ and is a trait that seems to stick to some players.

Good points, I overlooked guys like Josh Smith and Andray who aren;t great outside shooters.