The then-coach of a 1980s Atlanta Hawks team, Mike Fratello, described basketball IQ as, “seeing stuff better, understanding what people are trying to do. We’re making the right passes, the right decisions.” That about surmises it pretty well, don’t you think? These days, it’s a term that is used in almost every other sentence when talking about basketball players. While there is just about every metric to measure the different attributes of a player, basketball IQ is something that cannot be really measured.
As for former Philadelphia 76ers star, JJ Reddick; he believes that every player out there possesses basketball IQ. But they are of different levels. And there are some who use that to either their “advantage” or for “exploitation.” Having joined the The Big Podcast with Shaq, Adam Lefkoe wastes no time picking Reddick’s brain about a player who shocked him with their basketball IQ. Purely because he wasn’t expecting it.
And Reddick’s pick? Joel Embiid. “I met Joel two weeks before free agency. We were at Steve Nash’s soccer charity event in New York… Once I started playing with him, I was like “Holy sh*t! This guy just is smart,” he said.
“The level of intelligence required to be going into your dribble package at the elbow and time when you gather the ball right as the defender puts his hand out and go up and make the shot, like that’s basketball intelligence.”
(This story is still developing)
The post Joel Embiid’s Basketball IQ “Shocked” JJ Redick, ex-76ers Star Admits To Shaq: “Holy Sh*t This Guy Is Smart” appeared first on EssentiallySports.