Strong Basketball IQ’s On National Train Your Brain Day
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October 13 is National Train Your Brain Day. The day is used as a reminder to work your brain like every other muscle, to make it stronger in every type of situation. We should also celebrate the mental growth that…
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Continue ReadingOctober 13 is National Train Your Brain Day. The day is used as a reminder to work your brain like every other muscle, to make it stronger in every type of situation. We should also celebrate the mental growth that we’ve each been able to attain. Basketball players have to train their brain in order to have a strong mental game and a high basketball IQ. To honor National Train Your Brain Day, we’re going to look at 5 players that have strong basketball IQ’s.
Smythe is one of those players that just gets it. He knows what he’s good at and he knows how to take advantage of it. His jumper for instance. Smythe can shoot the ball, but he also knows how to get open and when he has a good look at the rim. This understanding of his own game helps him be an elite player.
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You want and need a player that has a high basketball IQ to take the lead both on and off the floor. Well, that’s what Kendall Bentley Kendall Bentley 6’2″ | SG River Rouge | 2024 State MI does best – lead. He reads the game and realizes what his team needs from him in order to get a win. Need a big stop? Bentley will get it. Need a big bucket? Give him the ball and let him go to work. It takes a great mental game to be that type of player.
People focus too much on height at the point guard position and not enough on mental toughness. Stone is as mentally tough as they come and you can see it in his game. He’s willing to match up with anyone nationwide, and trust me when I say, he’s gone toe to toe with some nationally ranked guys and more than stood his ground. Stone leads by example and is willing to take the ball in key moments and make key plays.
You can’t be what Vis is athletically without a strong mental game. Basketball IQ doesn’t sum it up with this young man. He has more of a sports IQ. Vis can grab a ball of any shape and size and just be great. That doesn’t happen by accident or by just with physical tools. An athlete like Vis has to be exceptional upstairs.
There are great athletes up and down the rankings, both in state and nationally. When you’re at the top something has to set you apart usually beyond athleticism. For Sanderson it’s his feel for the game and his mental toughness. The young man plays beyond his years, and that’s probably still not saying near enough. There’s a lot of reasons why he has a laundry list of high major offers, but I think a major one is his game between the ears.