The Foundation of Basketball Player Evaluations

An accurate basketball player evaluation is an important part of a player’s development. It is also important to coaches that currently work, or plan to work, with players. Player evaluations are used by college recruiters and scouting services. Basketball player evaluations are also used by the Select Basketball coaching staff when selecting players for our teams.

When making a basketball player evaluation the goal is to get a thorough feel for the player as they stand today and project the type of player they will be in the future. The basketball player evaluation is based on both tangible and non-tangible factors. Though a decent evaluation can be made in a single session (such as a short tryout) the best evaluations are pieced together over multiple sessions and over a period of time.

The 4 Areas of a Basketball Player Evaluation

Evaluating a basketball player is not easy and it often helps to break down a player’s abilities into different areas. This gives evaluators a way to compare one player against another and for multiple evaluators to compare the same player from different perspectives.

The Skill Set Evaluation

This area is pretty straightforward and is exactly like it sounds. How well does a player shoot? How do they handle the ball under pressure? Does a player know how to get position for a rebound and block out their opponent? Feel for the game is also considered a skill as it can be developed over time. One of the easiest things to evaluate is a player’s skill level at their position.

The Athletic Evaluation

Evaluating a player’s athletic ability is also straightforward. Often it is an area that lends itself to a player’s potential as most coaches feel like they can take an athletic player and develop their fundamental skills later. Athleticism includes things like a player’s lateral quickness, ability to get vertical and the ability to control your body through contact. A player’s athletic ability used to be considered an attribute that you are born with but it is now known that athleticism can be improved with hard work.

The Body Evaluation

The harsh reality about evaluating a basketball player’s body is that some factors are out of a player’s control. Their height, their length, and their frame are usually things that a player is born with and cannot be altered. But they do factor into a basketball player evaluation.

However, the player does control a lot of other factors. And these factors can also positively or negatively affect their athletic evaluation.

Does the player have the right kind of size and strength and is it improving? This is where working in the weight room and agility training pays off.

Is the player in good physical condition? Are they carrying extra weight? This is often controlled by their workouts and their diet.

The Game Time Evaluation

Let’s face it, often a player’s evaluation can come down to how they respond to game situations. Do they continuously make the smart play, no matter how simple? When the pressure is on to make a shot or make a stop, do they deliver, or do they shy away from the challenge? How do their teammates respond to them? Are they a leader when they are in the game? Do they lead from the bench? If things are going poorly, do they respond with bad body language or do they find other ways to contribute?

Often this is also referred to as mental toughness. This is an area where multiple evaluations over time can give an evaluator a more accurate picture of who the player is.

Developing an accurate basketball player evaluation can be tough. But done thoroughly it can provide great insight to the overall quality of a player and help project how that player will do in the future.