Advanced roles

When it comes to basketball roles, the first thought goes to the classic point guard, shooting guard, wing, power forward, and center. However, such a classification is outdated for modern basketball: these five roles partially “classify” the players on the court.
If before the point guard was unquestionably the back-court player, one who led the attack, today it is also possible that the big man plays the playmaker role. Or again, the clear difference between wings and power forward of the past has now faded: with the evolution of the game, classic PF today are small centers suitable for small-ball.

In a nutshell, the five classic basketball roles were valid during the 80s and 90s, as the game had fewer unconventional players. The player’s height identified the role, and the role identified the technical skills to be improved by the player. Today, however, coaches first look at what a player can do, regardless of height or physical and athletic skills.

Several analysts have therefore identified the modern basketball roles through the use of statistics. I also wanted to do the same for the Euroleague, introducing the advanced roles, calculated using playtypes (PnR played, ISO played, ecc…).

Why use roles in basketball

A question like this might arise: how can assigning more specific roles to basketball players? There are several positive points. Firstly, having now a lot of data available, it is easy for someone to lose some in reading them. Furthermore, if you do not know in depth what you are analyzing, it is easy to run into incorrect readings. Instead, through the reading of roles, it is immediately clear what the main players’ skills are, without the need to get lost among a thousand statistics. This aspect is perhaps trivial, but it helps the average user to identify the team hierarchies without the need to consult statistics that may not be available or that they do not know.

Giving roles in basketball also simplifies the scouting and analysis of the opponent. Through modern roles, it is possible to make the first selection of some players in a long list to identify the most suitable one to reinforce the roster. Or, knowing the roles, it is easier to build effective strategies to limit the opponent’s offense.

BACK-COURT PLAYERS

BALL HANDLER
Ball Handlers are players who create shot chances for themselves and their teammates, mainly through pick&roll (or pop) situations in which they are the ball handlers. They are identified by the number of P&R, including the ones ended with a shot (or a turnover) by another teammate. 

SHOT CREATOR
Shot Creators are very similar to Ball Handlers but differ from the previous ones in the number of isolations played, including the ones ended with a shot (or a turnover) by another teammate.

SECONDARY BALL HANDLER
A role similar to the Ball Handler, but playing fewer PNRs than the Ball Handler.

SCORER
Scorers are players with a high number of individual possessions, able to score in different situations (from isolation to off-screen). Compared to the previous roles, however, they tend to share the ball fewer times.

FRONT-COURT PLAYERS

POST-UP CREATOR
They are big men capable of creating shot chances for themselves and their teammates through post-up situations.

POST-UP SCORER
The Post-up Scorers have similar numbers to the previous role. Compared to the previous roles, however, they tend to share the ball fewer times.

POST&3
When a big man is good in post-up situations, but can also shoot from behind the arc, he is a Post&3..

RIM RUNNER
They are the big men who end most of their possessions in pick and roll situations (obviously as a roller). They also have a good number of cut situations.

ROLL&POP
They are the big ones capable of being dangerous both inside and outside the arc. They then play roll and pop situations..

GENERAL OFFENSIVE ROLES

The following roles are valid for both back-court and front-court players.

OFF-SCREEN SHOOTER
As the name suggests, they are the classic shooters who use teammates’ screens. 

SPOT-UP SHOOTER
They are also shooters, but they shoot most of the time in catch-and-shoot (spot-up situations).

OFF-BALL PLAYER
Players who do not fit into any of the previous roles, but at the same time finished a decent number of possessions (most of the time using their off-ball movements and cuts) are to be considered Off-ball Players.

MARGINAL OFFENSIVE ROLE
Lastly, a role that includes all those players who have not played enough minutes and games to be classified into a specific role.