Court Sense

[UticaBusBarn]

Not too many years ago fans and announcers talked about basketball players having "court sense." However, the concept seems to have fallen into disuse as athletic ability and offensive numbers dominate conversations, observations and in-sights.

To put it into Warrior perspective, DJO had the highest "numbers", and was considered to be the most athletic participant, at the NBA combine the year he graduated. Crowder was rated as far less athletic, less of a shooter, etc. Both were very, very hard workers. However, Crowder is in the NBA and DJO is not.

Why? One could argue that Crowder simply had better "court sense" than his running mate. I don't know exactly how to explain court sense, but it involves seeing the court, getting the ball to the open man, getting to the free ball at the right instant, being in the right position for a rebound or steal, an easy put-back, knowing how to draw a foul, and the like.

I raise this point for two reasons. One, is because of the fixation a few bloggers have on high school ranking, scoring statistics, and/or athletic ability of players, to the exclusion of all else.

And, two, because the Warriors are losing in part this year because they have only one player, Carlino, who has some court sense. There have been flashes of court sense by Wilson the Younger, JJJ and Cohen. But, the only guy that seems to  have some degree of consistent success on the year's team because of his basketball instinct, and not his physical ability, is Carlino.

As Wojo builds the program and as we discuss recruiting, or, who we believe, in our wisdom, should be the starting five, it might be worth asking the amount of court sense these individuals bring to the game.

[vogue65]

I agree, Matt Stainbrook at Xavier and the Butler team demonstrates great understanding of the game.
My question, is it something that is recruited or can the coach teach it?

[naginiF]

agree but the issue is that 'court sense' is extremely subjective.  One man's "D. Wilson's rebounding and assist to TO ratio indicate that he has very high court sense" is another man's "if he had any court sense what-so-ever he'd be more offensive minded".

Then we'd quickly devolve into banning, ignoring and taunting posts.

[vogue65]

If we agree, the question remains, did they recruit Stainbrooks court sense or did they coach it?  Butler does not have the “athletic” ability of many teams, but they can win using court sense, again, is it teachable?

[Daniel]

I think court sense requires some talent as a pre-requisite.  Talented kids who can shoot, pass and dribble have some court sense to begin with. But I think talented kids can learn better court sense.  How better to dribble against pressure or a double team; how better to make better shot selections; how better to pass the ball and how better to find open teammates; how better to get open. 

Some talent is the foundation. The via hing is what is built on the foundation I think

[tower912]

If we agree, the question remains, did they recruit Stainbrooks court sense or did they coach it?  Butler does not have the “athletic” ability of many teams, but they can win using court sense, again, is it teachable?

Stainbrook's court sense transferred in.   He started his career at Western Michigan.   Watched him play as a freshman.   Against MAC competition, he reminded me of Davante, at the time a freshman at MU.   I thought Stainbrook saw the floor better than DG, a better passer and defender, but that DG was better in the low post.   But Stainbrook was capable in either the high or low post, even as a freshman.

[MerrittsMustache]

Not too many years ago fans and announcers talked about basketball players having "court sense." However, the concept seems to have fallen into disuse as athletic ability and offensive numbers dominate conversations, observations and in-sights.

To put it into Warrior perspective, DJO had the highest "numbers", and was considered to be the most athletic participant, at the NBA combine the year he graduated. Crowder was rated as far less athletic, less of a shooter, etc. Both were very, very hard workers. However, Crowder is in the NBA and DJO is not.

Why? One could argue that Crowder simply had better "court sense" than his running mate. I don't know exactly how to explain court sense, but it involves seeing the court, getting the ball to the open man, getting to the free ball at the right instant, being in the right position for a rebound or steal, an easy put-back, knowing how to draw a foul, and the like.

I raise this point for two reasons. One, is because of the fixation a few bloggers have on high school ranking, scoring statistics, and/or athletic ability of players, to the exclusion of all else.

And, two, because the Warriors are losing in part this year because they have only one player, Carlino, who has some court sense. There have been flashes of court sense by Wilson the Younger, JJJ and Cohen. But, the only guy that seems to  have some degree of consistent success on the year's team because of his basketball instinct, and not his physical ability, is Carlino.

As Wojo builds the program and as we discuss recruiting, or, who we believe, in our wisdom, should be the starting five, it might be worth asking the amount of court sense these individuals bring to the game.

Some good points in this post. However, the biggest reason that Crowder is in the NBA over DJO is because he's a strong 6'6" forward while DJO is a 6'1" shooting guard.

[brandx]

Some good points in this post. However, the biggest reason that Crowder is in the NBA over DJO is because he's a strong 6'6" forward while DJO is a 6'1" shooting guard.

I disagree. Crowder is not in the NBA because he has great athletic ability. He is 6'5" and his best position would be PF. But, unless your name is Charles Barlkley or Kenny Natt, you won't make it as a PF in the NBA at that height. Jae is there because he has "court sense"; because he is a complete player. DJO had no adaptability to his game; Jae does.

[MUfan12]

Jae read the game incredibly well. He got rebounds because he knew where the ball was going and get a body on someone. He had awesome steal numbers because of great awareness and anticipation. His senior year was the second best individual season I have seen, after Wade in 2003. Great player.

This year's team shows me flashes of having some court sense. Duane at times makes the right decision, but loses it on execution. Sandy does a nice job moving with the ball to be in the right spots for an outside shot. Derrick has had several steals stepping into the passing lanes. On the whole, they're not there yet. The ball sticks to people on offense, and they don't put the defense in uncomfortable positions nearly enough. On the boards, they're abysmal, frankly. Not good with positioning or boxing out.

[muhoops1]

A recent article about JC's increased playing time was attributed to his high motor and hustle.  Jae plays incredibly hard and is built like a TE in football.  I think you have to carve a niche for yourself each time you elevate to a new level of basketball.  In the NBA most if not all are elite atheletes, some have created careers by playing D, or rebounding, etc.  

I think a lot of it is putting ego aside and realizing what it will take to stay at that level. Jae is figuring it out, Wes did a long time ago, Novak can shoot and he's 6'10".  All 3 are leveraging their assets.

[2TimeWarrior]

My question, is it something that is recruited or can the coach teach it?

I think it can be coached and can largely explain much of Wisconsin's success over Bo Ryan's tenure.  As much as I hate that SOB, he really makes the most out of what is largely considered mediocre talent.

[MerrittsMustache]

I think it can be coached and can largely explain much of Wisconsin's success over Bo Ryan's tenure.  As much as I hate that SOB, he really makes the most out of what is largely considered mediocre talent.

Just because it's "largely considered" mediocre talent, that doesn't make it true. Wisconsin has brought in its fair share of highly talented players. For the most part, they're considered "mediocre talent" because they're big, white guys from the upper Midwest.

[bilsu]

DJO would physically dominate smaller weaker guards, but his game disappeared against big strong guards, which is basically the whole NBA. It is kind of like JJJ dominated 200+ teams and disappearing against Big East caliber teams.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Jae's dad played in the NBA. Wes had family genes on both his mom and dad side. Duane and Jamil's dads played in college and coached AAU. Jamil had too much court sense to the point of passivity and unselfishness. But at the end of the Davidson game, his bridled talent became unbridled as he and Vander took over. Jamil was better when he dropped his court sense.

Over time as they were more open to Buzz's coaching aproach, Jimmy and Vander got it.  Wade gives Crean credit for his.  Steve got it from his dad. Same with Travis. Todd never got it from his brother, though.

[WarriorFan]

I don't know why, but the old "court sense" saying now seems to have morphed to "high basketball IQ".  Either way, it describes the players (regardless of raw athletic talent) in terms of their ability to see the right pass/ correct driving lane / open shot at the right time.

I thought that Brent actually coached court sense out of the players by requiring a certain number of paint touches and by having such strict red light/green light on 3's.  In my opinion, Davante had a natural court sense, and if he was just left to use it he could have contributed much more on offense. Otule is a great example of a guy who learned court sense.  He created open layups for others by pinning his man down and backed up the defense with good positioning.  When he joined MU 15 years ago, he had no court sense at all. 

Court sense also applies to Defense and to when to run in transition.  Derrick, for example, has almost zero court sense.  He could be replaced by a robot pre-programmed to slow the ball down, make the right pass in the offensive sequence, and protect the ball, and the robot would get more assists and shoot a higher percentage. 

Carlino does have a lot of court sense, but it seems to me that the closer he gets to the basket, the worse his decision making gets.  Or, perhaps he isn't athletic enough to get out of the situations he gets himself into.   Sandy has shown flashes (and lately, periods) of good court sense, especially with his shot vs. drive selection. 

I think it can be coached, and it can be taught, but nothing beats a coach's kid who grows up with it.

[Eldon]

Not too many years ago fans and announcers talked about basketball players having "court sense." However, the concept seems to have fallen into disuse as athletic ability and offensive numbers dominate conversations, observations and in-sights.

To put it into Warrior perspective, DJO had the highest "numbers", and was considered to be the most athletic participant, at the NBA combine the year he graduated. Crowder was rated as far less athletic, less of a shooter, etc. Both were very, very hard workers. However, Crowder is in the NBA and DJO is not.

Why? One could argue that Crowder simply had better "court sense" than his running mate. I don't know exactly how to explain court sense, but it involves seeing the court, getting the ball to the open man, getting to the free ball at the right instant, being in the right position for a rebound or steal, an easy put-back, knowing how to draw a foul, and the like.

I raise this point for two reasons. One, is because of the fixation a few bloggers have on high school ranking, scoring statistics, and/or athletic ability of players, to the exclusion of all else.

And, two, because the Warriors are losing in part this year because they have only one player, Carlino, who has some court sense. There have been flashes of court sense by Wilson the Younger, JJJ and Cohen. But, the only guy that seems to  have some degree of consistent success on the year's team because of his basketball instinct, and not his physical ability, is Carlino.

As Wojo builds the program and as we discuss recruiting, or, who we believe, in our wisdom, should be the starting five, it might be worth asking the amount of court sense these individuals bring to the game.

Spatial reasoning.

Steve Nash is the GOAT.  I agree that Crowder had more of it than DJO.  He just always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, far too often to be coincidental.