The key to identifying talent is recognizing a player’s feel for the game.
I believe we should pay close attention not only to the abilities of young players, but also to how they understand and experience the game.
Feel for the Game
One of the most important aspects of talent identification is recognizing basketball sense. This is much more than a simple instinct.
A player must be able to make the best possible decision in a fraction of a second. He must understand the game, but he must also understand himself: what he can and cannot do on the court. At the same time, he needs to know what his teammates and opponents are capable of.
How often do coaches become frustrated when their big men begin playing like point guards, pounding the ball and disrupting the offense?
We also see defensive specialists trying to prove themselves by taking and missing shot after shot. Or a wing player keeps shooting threes despite being unable to make one, without realizing that the defense is leaving him open precisely because he is not a reliable outside shooter.
For a scout and a coach, one of the key questions is whether a player is capable of playing within his own limitations. If not, can this be improved?
Understanding the strengths, weaknesses and even the emotional state of teammates is extremely important, just as it is important to know what they can and cannot do on the court.
Will the point guard pass the ball to the center posting up on the left block, even though he knows that the center is unable to attack effectively from that side?
Or can he consistently find the wing player who simply cannot miss from outside?
Especially in the NBA and at the highest levels of European basketball, the best players know the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents extremely well. They study them and try to use this information to their advantage.
We may remember Chris Mullin, who could describe exactly how an opponent moved, where he preferred to shoot from, and whether he was more effective going left or right.
A player such as Jason Kidd went even further. He also understood the defenders guarding his own teammates, which helped him recognize who might have an advantage and where the ball should go.
Some players are also outstanding at recognizing mismatch situations and exploiting differences in size, speed or skill.
It is essential that players understand offensive sets, the overall concept of the game and how to think ahead.
They should not always search for the assist itself. Instead, they should recognize the pass that leads to the next pass and ultimately creates the scoring opportunity.
They should know how to break down the defense from the perimeter so that interior players become open.
They must understand which action should be used and when.
Players should remember the plays, but they should not execute them completely automatically.
This brings us to creativity.
To develop creative players, we need to spend a great deal of time developing their abilities and helping them make correct decisions in situations that have not been predetermined.
In these moments, timing changes. Shooting angles change. Responsibility changes. The game clock and possession situation also influence the decision.
A player’s position obviously matters as well, because it affects his feel for the game and changes what we should expect from him.
Point guards should function as the coach’s right hand on the court. They are required to make decisions very frequently, and they handle the ball more than most other players.
They initiate the action that eventually leads to the basket.
Big interior players are often the receivers. They must know when and how to ask for the ball, then decide which technique or movement is most appropriate in that particular situation.
At the same time, they must also recognize whether another teammate is in a better position.
Basketball sense should be developed through cognitive and creative decision-making.
Part of this ability can be taught, while another part comes from natural talent.
It develops through experience, age, basketball intelligence and the ability to understand situations.
The more often a player experiences different game situations, the more quickly he can recognize and solve them.
The speed of decision-making is extremely important.
Young players often think for too long. You can see them searching for the correct solution, but by the time they find it, the opportunity has disappeared.
Players moving up from lower-level competitions also need time to adjust to a faster game.
The faster the game becomes, the more difficult it is for an inexperienced player to process what is happening.
It is not easy to determine whether a player truly has basketball sense.
Did he make the correct decision?
Could he have made a better one?
Does he possess real basketball intelligence?
Were there other factors influencing the decision?
These questions require much more observation than evaluating physical talent, which can often be assessed within seconds or minutes.
We need to observe the player over a longer period and in many different situations.
As professionals, we must truly understand the game and then try to place ourselves in the position of the player being evaluated.
Would I have made the same decision?
What was the result of the action?
Could the player have performed better?
Do his teammates understand what he is trying to do?
What does his coach expect from him?
Do referees influence his behavior?
Does he repeatedly make the same mistakes?
We must also consider external factors.
What happened before the game?
Is there something happening in the player’s private life?
Has he received his salary?
How much pressure is connected to the result of the game?
The player’s personality is important as well.
Is he shy?
Does he take risks?
Does he accept responsibility?
Can he communicate effectively?
Are there other factors influencing his decisions?
How does he react when he comes to the bench during a timeout?
Does he accept instructions from coaches and teammates?
Does he cooperate with the coach?
Does he explain possible solutions to his teammates?
Does he watch basketball games?
How does he behave in practice?
Does he pay attention, or is he distracted?
Does he ask the coach for help?
Does he ever pick up the coaching board and draw something himself?
All of these details can provide information about the player.
Physical talent, mental talent and decision-making can all be developed to a certain extent, but improvement is not easy and requires time.
Some players may never become strong decision-makers.
Others can improve significantly.
In general, however, almost everyone can become somewhat better.
Experience is the key word.
We should place players and teams in many different situations, ask them to think, question them about possible solutions, give them simple instructions, and show them both their own performances and examples from other games.
There are many learning models, and I do not want to discuss all of them here.
I will mention only one example: a cognitive computer program originally used in the training of fighter pilots in Israel and later adapted to basketball situations.
In a very simple computer game, players learn to think ahead, make decisions in fractions of a second, recognize situations and process complex information.
As the player improves, the program increases the level of difficulty.
I mention this example not because of the program itself, but because of the learning concept behind it.
How can we create more learning moments during the hours we spend practicing with a team?
More importantly, this example highlights the fact that decision-making in basketball can be developed.
Level of Technical Skill
Evaluating the level of technical skill is more complicated than it may first appear.
Some things are relatively objective.
Is the player left-handed or right-handed?
Can he perform a crossover?
Can he make a three-point shot?
Can he execute a bounce pass?
Can he shoot a hook shot?
Does he have proper lateral defensive footwork?
Every scout and coach can observe these elements.
However, the real challenge is not simply identifying whether a player possesses a skill.
The important question is the level at which he can execute that skill and under what conditions.
Are some basketball skills more important than others?
We can probably all agree that the answer is yes.
A player who cannot shoot will have limited opportunities.
A player who cannot handle the ball will struggle to create in one-on-one situations.
A player who cannot pass will have difficulty functioning within a team concept and may be responsible for many turnovers.
On the other hand, a player who is not a great shot blocker or an outstanding rebounder may still become a very good basketball player.
I do not know whether anyone has ever attempted to rank every offensive and defensive skill in basketball, but it would certainly be interesting to ask coaches how they would evaluate them.
The answers would probably vary from country to country, just as coaching philosophies differ.
However, there would likely be broad agreement about which technical skills are the most important.
Mental and physical pressure have a major influence on technical execution.
A young player may dominate everyone in his age group with a crossover move, for example.
At the next level, however, he may no longer be able to use the same move successfully because defenders are stronger, quicker or technically better.
The stakes also become higher.
That added pressure may cause the player to hesitate and think twice before attempting a move, which can prevent him from executing it effectively.
Regardless of the level of competition, imagine two players whom we evaluate as having similar abilities.
One of them may still be a significantly more effective player than the other.
As coaches and scouts, our task is to anticipate whether a young talent will be able to perform the same skills at the next age group or competitive level.
Can the player improve?
What is the definition of an attractive or technically beautiful movement?
How should it look?
And how effective does it need to be?
Think of a wing player with an ugly shooting technique — a shot that may make a coach want to cry.
But then we look at his three-point percentage and see that he shoots 40%.
Suddenly, the technique does not seem quite so bad.
The true level of a technical skill is more closely related to whether the player can execute the shot or pass effectively than to how the movement looks.
The important questions are:
Will changing the technique make the player more effective?
Can we improve it?
Can the player execute the same movement successfully at a higher level?
When estimating whether a player can improve technically, two important areas must be considered.
The first is physical limitations or physical advantages, as well as medical factors that influence the quality of execution.
Shooting is a good example.
If a player has poor coordination, it may take significantly longer for him to become a good shooter.
A player with limited mobility in the shoulder joint may never shoot in the same way as a player with excellent shoulder mobility.
The same may be true for a player with an excessively muscular upper body and shoulders who does not yet possess a clear understanding of the correct shooting motion.
Coordination, strength, speed and flexibility all play major roles in learning and executing technical skills.
The second area is the individual learning model for motor skills.
Some players learn new techniques almost immediately.
Many others need to repeat a movement again and again before they begin to use it successfully — if they ever use it at all.
I remember one of my classmates at the University of Physical Education.
After watching a gymnastic movement demonstrated once, he mentally rehearsed it, walked over to the apparatus and performed it.
I needed several days to learn the same movement, even though I was certainly not among the least talented students.
We can probably agree on several things.
Technical skills can be learned and, in general, they can be developed to a high level.
Technical learning cannot begin too early.
Physical and mental training, on the other hand, should become increasingly important as players grow older.
We also try to create automatic movement patterns and combine simple techniques into more complex actions.
During a game, players cannot consciously think about every detail of dribbling, passing or shooting mechanics.
They simply have to perform the movement.
It is similar to driving a car.
For a scout, it is also useful to understand where a player comes from.
Which country?
Which club?
Who were his previous coaches?
Basketball cultures, philosophies and playing styles have a major influence on a player’s technique and on the way he learns.
The countries of the former Yugoslavia traditionally devoted much more time to true fundamentals, footwork and shooting mechanics than many Western European countries.
They also placed greater emphasis on passing than was common in many American basketball schools.
In Lithuanian basketball, practice has almost become a religion, with players spending hours developing technical skills.
Unfortunately, in our environment, this type of technical work often becomes less common as players grow older.
Ultimately, technical skill can be taught.
This is where good coaching begins, together with the willingness to spend meaningful and effective time developing young players.
