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Role Player in Basketball: Basic Information Explained

What is a role player in basketball

A role player in basketball specializes in a certain offensive and/or defensive skill set that could ultimately help their respective team win against the opposition.

Also, most role players do not usually play at the beginning of the game as a part of their team’s starting five lineup.

Instead, the majority of role players are initially on the bench and enter into the game later, particularly when their offensive and/or defensive skill is needed by the coaching staff or the team in general.

What are common types of role players

Three-point specialist

The three-point specialist is a role player who heavily emphasizes scoring points, particularly from three-point range, as the name implies.

The skill set of the three-point specialist could be valuable to a team because it could help to stretch or extend the defense towards the three-point line.

Essentially, if one or more three-point specialists are in the game, then it would be risky for one or more defenders to give those offensive players too much space, particularly by moving towards the lane area.

In other words, when three-point specialists are on the court, it is typically more challenging for defenders to effectively pack the paint or provide extra basket protection in general.

Additionally, other offensive players would have a much easier time cutting to the basket without the ball or attacking the rim while in possession of the ball, especially when there are less defenders near the lane area.

Furthermore, when a three-point specialist is on the same side as a low post player in possession of the ball, it makes it more risky for the three-point specialist’s defender to execute a double team alongside the defender that would be guarding the low post player.

This is even more of a factor when that offensive low post player possesses a high degree of scoring ability as well.

Basically, if the three-point specialist’s defender sags off to set a double team, then the offensive low post player could simply throw the ball to the three-point specialist, who would only be one pass away, typically near the wing or corner.

Afterwards, the three-point specialist could easily catch and shoot the ball before the defender who was guarding them would have enough time to closeout and contest the three-point shot attempt.

In terms of basketball positions, the three-point specialist is commonly a shooting guard but a point guard or small forward could specialize in shooting three-pointers as well.

Moreover, in some cases, the three-point specialist could be a power forward or perhaps a center, which would be typically known as a stretch four or stretch five, respectively.

Defensive specialist

The defensive specialist, as the name implies, is a role player who focuses on implementing tough pressure defense, especially against the opposing team’s best scorers.

Additionally, as it relates to offensive scoring, the defensive specialist doesn’t necessarily emphasize that aspect.

However, the defensive specialist sometimes will have the opportunity to take a handful of field goal attempts, particularly high quality scoring options such as layups or wide open jump shots.

In terms of skill set, the defensive specialist has great footwork, especially as an on-ball defender and because of that, this particular role player is able to execute effective lateral slides, which could potentially diminish an offensive player’s ability to easily attack the rim.

Additionally, great footwork could help the defensive specialist perform excellent closeouts, particularly with choppy steps towards the offensive player in possession of the ball.

As a result of performing an exceptional closeout, the defensive specialist could possibly limit the offensive player’s ability to utilize a pump fake followed by dribble penetration towards the rim, also known as fake and drive action.

Moreover, the defensive specialist has very good hand-eye coordination, which helps them to disrupt actions of the offensive player whom they would be covering.

More specifically, the on-ball defensive specialist could use their quick hands to deflect passes thrown by the offensive player or potentially steal the ball without fouling as the offensive player dribbles it.

What’s more, the off-ball defensive specialist could possibly steal the ball by intercepting it when another offensive player passes it to the player that the defensive specialist is covering.

Also, this role player does not excessively reach in to steal the ball from an opponent while playing on-ball defense.

Furthermore, the defensive specialist rarely makes the mistake of fouling a three-point shooter, especially if that three-point shooter is also adept at making free throws.

In addition to that, the defensive specialist rarely gets tricked by most offensive shot fakes. Instead, the defensive specialist generally stays grounded, mainly by executing proper closeouts as stated earlier.

It should be noted that the team’s best defensive specialist could be any particular basketball position and in some instances, the defensive specialist could even have the capability to guard multiple opposing positions.

Nevertheless, if the defensive specialist is a point guard, shooting guard, or small forward, then that player will typically emphasize guarding the perimeter areas of the court and would sometimes be referred to as a lockdown defender.

On the other hand, if the defensive specialist is a power forward or center, then that player will commonly focusing on protecting the basket and would sometimes be known as a rim protector.

3-and-D

3-and-D is a term primarily associated with the NBA that describes a type of basketball athlete who is adept at making jump shots, particularly from three-point range, and playing high level defense, especially against the opposing team’s best offensive scorers.

Simply put, the 3-and-D role player is a three-point specialist as well as a defensive specialist.

In relation to physical characteristics, the 3-and-D role player typically possesses above average height with optimal arm length.

That also helps the 3-and-D specialist to guard multiple offensive players or shoot the ball over the extended arms of certain defenders.

The 3-and-D role player also possesses at least an adequate amount of athleticism, which includes speed, quickness, agility, and vertical leaping ability.

What’s more, the 3-and-D player is usually one of the best conditioned players on their respective team with a sufficient amount of stamina and overall energy.

Position-wise, the 3-and-D player is usually a wing player such as a shooting guard, small forward, or swingman.

Rebounding specialist

The rebounding specialist, as the name implies, is a role player who focuses on gathering offensive and/or defensive rebounds throughout the course of the basketball game.

Essentially, as it relates to offensive rebounding, this type of role player is able to utilize their footwork, general quickness, and/or overall strength to move around defensive opponents who would be attempting to keep them away from the basket with box out actions.

Afterwards, this particular specialist could then gain possession of the ball via an offensive rebound and immediately generate second chance points by attempting to score via a high quality layup or dunk near the basket if that is a viable option.

Moreover, this type of scoring method is one of the primary ways that the rebounding specialist is able to generate points for themselves.

Nonetheless, if an offensive rebound gets collected by this type of role player but a high quality shot near the basket is not available, then the rebounding specialist could simply pass the ball to another teammate, usually near one of the perimeter areas of the court.

Furthermore, in relation to gathering defensive rebounds, this role player typically achieves this by utilizing their strength to box out an offensive player as well as their long arms and vertical leaping ability.

Position-wise, the rebounding specialist is almost always one of the traditional post players such as the standard power forward or center.

This is mainly due to those players typically being the tallest members of the team in addition to those players generally being near the basket, especially close to the low post areas, offensive or defensively.

Sixth man

The sixth man is a role player who is, as the name implies, the sixth player to enter the game or the first player to come off the bench.

The sixth man is interesting because a player in that role is usually just as skillful and talented as the team’s starting five players, who play immediately at the beginning of the game.

With that said though, the sixth man is generally one of the more important roles for a roster.

The main reason being is because it gives the team’s coaching staff an opportunity to take out a starter when necessary and insert another player (i.e. the sixth man) from the bench via substitution without losing a large amount of talent and/or skill on the court.

Essentially, the sixth man is the team’s most talented/skilled bench player and is usually the primary or secondary scoring option when at least one of the team’s main scorers from the starting five is resting on the bench or simply not able to play in the game at that time for whatever reason.

It should also be noted that some coaches may elect to purposely start a player that is less talented than the sixth man as opposed to giving the sixth man the opportunity to start.

For example, let’s say that a team contains two shooting guards known plainly as shooting guard A and shooting guard B.

From there, let’s say that shooting guard A is more talented than shooting guard B, especially in relation to scoring points near the basket, from mid-range, or behind the three-point line.

Unfortunately though for this team, let’s also say that there are not many (or any) bench players that could consistently score points if any of the starters have to leave the game for rest or other reasons.

When that happens, the coaching staff may decide to actually start the less talented shooting guard B over shooting guard A, especially if the other four starters are able to score points and/or defend.

As a result, the coaching staff and the team as a whole, has now made it easier for themselves in terms of executing basketball offense if any one of the main starters has to be subbed out of the game for any reason.