What Is The Most Important SKILL In Basketball?

[DCAllAfrican]

SKILL
SKILL
SKILL
SKILL

NOT physical attribute

What do YOU think is the most important SKILL in basketball. And try to explain why if you can

 

[xtapolapacetl]

Shooting (mid-range)

 

[mr subliminals]

depends on the position...a centers most important skill is not gonna be the PG

 

[brownin187]

how about something relative to all players: defense. it wins championships says the cliche saying.

 

[foot clan]

if its not physical attribute then it has to be D

 

[damnthosejs]

well, the first thing you learn: shoot the ball. if you can't shoot the ball, then why play basketball right? I mean yes you can play without scoring atleast a point, but really now, I think that's the first thing they wanna look at.

but if you ask me the most important thing that a point guard should have: court vision.

 

[jmause3]

i would say dribbling

 

[nycknicks105]

depends all on what postition your playing

PG- Court Vision/distribution
SG- Shooting range/movement around the court
C- Defense/ rebounding
SF- Shooting/defense
PF- Rebounding/blocking

 

[fede dpt]

IQ

 

[classy freshman]

Dribbling.

You can be average at every other skill but if you have a handle, you can make a major impact. You can get to spots on the floor where you can make a play foryourself, or make others commit to you in turn making a play for someone else.

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Originally Posted by Fede DPT

IQ

Exactly...

High b-ball IQ can make up for certain shortcomings in other departments (to a certain extent)

 

[high st]

IQ is a skill??

anyway i'd say shooting.....if you cant score you aint winning nothing.

 

[craftsy21]

Dribbling.

You can be average at every other skill but if you have a handle, you can make a major impact. You can get to spots on the floor where you can make a play for yourself, or make others commit to you in turn making a play for someone else.

I would say ballhandling (both dribbling and passing are included in that for me) is priority number 1 when building a team.. you can have all the other skills in the world, but if you can't get to where you need to be on the court with the ball, you'll never get the shots you want or even be able to run your offense.

It's becoming such a lost art now that any decent dribbler/passer looks like a young Pistol Pete nowadays - but seriously, if a young kid came up to me and asked what he needed to develop in order to assure himself a starting position on his varsity team when he is old enough, I'd tell him ballhandling, plain and simple - learn to have that ball on a string and you can play with anybody.

Next you want to develop your court IQ, like everyone else said - know who will be where and when, learn the angles and situations.

Lastly - goto work on your jumpshot and finishing skills.

Defense is mostly desire and court IQ - it's not necessarily something you can develop on your own, per sae - as good man to man is a team game (it's rare that you see somebody who can stay in front of a good offensive player on their own, it's just the nature of the game, that's what help defense is for)... You can work on your quickness and what not with defensive slides, and yu can practice boxing out and such - but if the rest of your team isn't working in tandem with you, it won't matter much. Just learn the other stuff first.

 

[stringer bell 32]

Passing

 

[japanair21]

BEING
ABLE
TO
CATCH
THE
DAMN
BALL.

Some players make it look SO hard.

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Originally Posted by High St

IQ is a skill??

anyway i'd say shooting.....if you cant score you aint winning nothing.

Yeah.....Sort of an intangible....

But, If you don't consider it a skill....

The I would say ball handling.....Like Craftsy said...

 

[jmoneybaggz]

Originally Posted by Xtapolapacetl

Shooting (mid-range)

I think this may be the one time, I'll agree with you. It's like shooting a ball in soccer....it's the most important, but overlooked skillthere is..Every player on the court should be able to shoot a jump shot(more importantly a mig-range jump shot)....Oversees every basketball player is taughthow to shoot. In America, there is so much emphasis placed on being a specialist, that people forget that shooting a jump shot is essential to being aneffective player...

 

[lnmymind]

Shooting...and nothing else really can compare. Look at how many dudes have had jobs in the league SIMPLY because they were able to knock down mid/long rangeshots...regardless of size

And if ballhandling was more important than shooting...guys like Taliek Brown, Ed Cota, Terrell Stokes, etc. all would have had jobs in the NBA...but theydidnt. Meanwhile...for example...a guy like Chris Quinn...who isn't HALF as good as those guys handling the ball or passing...has a job because he canshoot the ball.

 

[crossisom]

Awareness... if you know where the ball is, where it's going, and can predict what other players are going to do, you can combine this with any skill andit will make you that much better.

 

[blackmagnus514]

IQ
Good Shot selection.

 

[chikickz]

Footwork. If you don't how to pivot you will fail miserably at basketball. If you can't move your feet you will fail at basketball.

 

[airjordan jb23]

In general...shooting. But I agree, it really depends on the position.

 

[the pga tour]

Originally Posted by High St

IQ is a skill??

anyway i'd say shooting.....if you cant score you aint winning nothing.

Ability to read the floor..AKA Basketball IQ is the most important skill IMO.

 

[grittyman20]

Shooting (mid-range)
Mid-range game is overrated...at least in HS and college basketball.

Most teams play some sort of zone where you will find a lot of open 3pt shots or layups....I see more midrange shots in the NBA because of the man defense

I'd say the most important skill to master is ball handling...if you can't dribble then you'd be limited to being only a catch and shoot player.

 

[classy freshman]

And if ballhandling was more important than shooting...guys like Taliek Brown, Ed Cota, Terrell Stokes, etc. all would have had jobs in the NBA...but they didnt. Meanwhile...for example...a guy like Chris Quinn...who isn't HALF as good as those guys handling the ball or passing...has a job because he can shoot the ball.


The shooting success of Chris Quinn, depends on the dribbing success of Dwayne Wade.

If Dwayne Wade is not successful at his skill, Chris Quinn will not even get the opportunity to be successsful at his.

EDIT:

Taliek Brown, Ed Cota, Terrell Stokes