A Guide To Player Ratings (Scouting Tips)
A Guide To Player Ratings (Scouting Tips)
Some people have expressed they don't really have a reference for the numbers they are receiving in scouting reports for the draft combine. I'll provide a rough guide to better help you understand how valuable that information you are receiving actually is.
First and foremost, potential.
A - 81-100
B - 61-80
C - 41-60
D - 21-40
F - 0-20
Somewhat worth noting that potential is the only value that can be below 5.
For the rest of the ratings, I can't really break down what the letter grades are an exact representation of since they combine many of the under-the-hood ratings for the grade (Outside I can actually), but I can give you some insight.
Outside
Outside is a combination of Jump Shot and 3P Shot. The number you see next to the letter grades is the combined Jump Shot and 3P Shot rating numbers. You'll notice that the jump from B to A- is actually a relatively small gap.
A+ - 191-200
A - 171-190
A- - 151-170
B+ - 142-150
B - 131-141
B- - 122-130
C+ - 106-121
Inside Scoring
Inside is arguably the most important factor for scoring volume. One thing to keep in mind is PGs will typically have lower inside and still produce relatively high volume (For an example just look at Steve Kerr, his Inside rating is clearly very low in terms of the 5-100 scale, but dude still gets his). If you are seeing inside numbers of 40 or higher for PGs, that is very good. Above 60 and your talking excellent levels. Above 80 and they are probably one of the best scorers in the whole file. This is all assuming they have good outside shots of course, but it should still give some insight into the differences between inside numbers by position.
A good target number for other positions is above 60. This is what I would call "salvageable" for scoring prospects at the PF/SF/SG positions. Truly elite scorers will be over 80. The C position is a bit different. You won't see ridiculous, league leader levels of scoring for a C unless their Inside is in the 85-90+ range. That doesn't mean they can't score, but Centers with 60-80 Inside scoring are all capable of that 14-20 PPG range depending on strength and offensive focus.
Positional Defense
Post and Perimeter defense are incredibly important, but still a notch below Blocking and Stealing. Guys with <50-60 in their respective positional defense category will probably get lit up. Just how it is. I wouldn't necessarily advocate putting resources into increasing this value unless that player's Blocks/Steals are already high.
Blocks and Steals
First and foremost, C/PFs get more blocks. Wings get more steals. A big man with a blocking rating of 50 will probably get 1 block a game. Likewise, a wing with 50 steals will probably get 1 steal a game. However, a PG with a 50 in blocks will probably not get 1 block a game. Big men with 60 or higher in steals will probably contribute a steal a game, then break out into the elite at 80+. Wings blocking at a high level will likely be 75-80+ in blocks.
Both blocks and steals at the ranges of 70-90 will result in 2-2.5 per game for the expected position production (ie a big man with 80 blocks will probably get 2-2.5 BPG and a wing with 80 steals will probably get 2-2.5 SPG). Some manner of size, strength, quickness will elevate these numbers and it's hard to nail down exactly. Elite shot-blocking (3+ BPG) can come from 80+ but is probably guaranteed at >90. Steals will usually cap out around 3 SPG.
Keep in mind your trap and press settings also have a relatively significant effect on these numbers as well. Trapping more will result in more steals from your big men. Pressing more will result in more steals from your wings. However, it also increases fouls/"stamina" usage.
Also, just a little tip from me, steals are incredibly valuable. They are ALWAYS turnovers. Blocks are not. In the game, some blocked shots will be recovered by the offense or go out of bounds.
Rebounding
Strength and quickness play a role. Inside focus and being a scoring option plays a role for big men (It's why you'll typically see Shaq avg more Rebs than Rodman even though Rodman is perfect in rebounding). PGs are hard capped at 50 rebounding for both Off and Def Reb. SGs are hard capped at 60 rebounding for both.
If a PG has 30-40 Reb in each, that's a pretty good rebounding PG. 45+ is elite for PGs. SGs just scale it up by 10 and it's the same result. SFs you'd typically want to be above the 50s for them to be a plus in rebounding, the 65-80 range would put them in the high value range for rebounding at SF. For C/PFs, below 60 is not going to cut it, however, C/PFs have a better shot at developing rebounding in Training Camp. If you want an elite rebounding big, they're going to have to be >80, ideally 85+.
Passing
Higher passing means more turnovers. Bad passes happen all the time in FBB, dudes will just sail the ball into the crowd sometimes. No way around it. It's generally regarded as not good to have higher passing, but I think there is some value in slower paces/Inside or Balanced focuses. For Outside and high paces, probably not the best.
Passing is like 90%+ the determining factor for the Handles letter grade you see, and its ranges are ridiculously narrow. Once you are in the 60-65 range for Passing, the Handles letter grade is likely an A-. C+ to A- is such a laughably small range that it's not even worth breaking it down for you. Also, Quickness is weirdly calculated into it, sometimes raising Quickness can slightly lower the letter grade is Passing is not above the aforementioned threshold. Don't know why, but it doesn't really matter.
Handling
Arguably one of the most important ratings in the game. Handling does one thing and one thing only. Reduce turnovers when the player has the ball. The C position is capped at 75 for Handling and the PF position is capped at 80. For the most part, all positions are pretty solid when around 60 handling with the exception of PG. 60 handling is really bad for PGs. PGs with 60-70 handling will likely do 3+ TPG. Lower passing can reduce the overall TPG however, so a guy with 65 Handling and 30 Passing might be okay. It's not the end of the world for PGs if their handling starts at 60, because Handling can jump big time in TC for PGs (honestly PG TCs can be insane overall) but typically the 2 TPG mark for PGs with good passing is around 80 Handling. 90+ is ridiculous and I'll be honest when I say I will probably never create a PG starting at 80+ Handling. It can be game-breaking. So when you read my notes, mentally work with a 60-75 range based on what I say.
C/PF/SF/SGs tend to be turnover prone when they are in the 40-50 range of Handling. 55+ is definitely salvageable. The 30 range would be "this guy is going to average 3 TPG and I just gotta deal with it."
Anyways, I think this is a pretty good guide to give you guys an idea on how to interpret the numbers you're receiving. I cannot stress enough how invaluable this information is. This guide isn't perfect, there are definitely a lot of nuances and intricacies that can't fully be covered, but you pick those up with time and experience. Enjoy!
First and foremost, potential.
A - 81-100
B - 61-80
C - 41-60
D - 21-40
F - 0-20
Somewhat worth noting that potential is the only value that can be below 5.
For the rest of the ratings, I can't really break down what the letter grades are an exact representation of since they combine many of the under-the-hood ratings for the grade (Outside I can actually), but I can give you some insight.
Outside
Outside is a combination of Jump Shot and 3P Shot. The number you see next to the letter grades is the combined Jump Shot and 3P Shot rating numbers. You'll notice that the jump from B to A- is actually a relatively small gap.
A+ - 191-200
A - 171-190
A- - 151-170
B+ - 142-150
B - 131-141
B- - 122-130
C+ - 106-121
Inside Scoring
Inside is arguably the most important factor for scoring volume. One thing to keep in mind is PGs will typically have lower inside and still produce relatively high volume (For an example just look at Steve Kerr, his Inside rating is clearly very low in terms of the 5-100 scale, but dude still gets his). If you are seeing inside numbers of 40 or higher for PGs, that is very good. Above 60 and your talking excellent levels. Above 80 and they are probably one of the best scorers in the whole file. This is all assuming they have good outside shots of course, but it should still give some insight into the differences between inside numbers by position.
A good target number for other positions is above 60. This is what I would call "salvageable" for scoring prospects at the PF/SF/SG positions. Truly elite scorers will be over 80. The C position is a bit different. You won't see ridiculous, league leader levels of scoring for a C unless their Inside is in the 85-90+ range. That doesn't mean they can't score, but Centers with 60-80 Inside scoring are all capable of that 14-20 PPG range depending on strength and offensive focus.
Positional Defense
Post and Perimeter defense are incredibly important, but still a notch below Blocking and Stealing. Guys with <50-60 in their respective positional defense category will probably get lit up. Just how it is. I wouldn't necessarily advocate putting resources into increasing this value unless that player's Blocks/Steals are already high.
Blocks and Steals
First and foremost, C/PFs get more blocks. Wings get more steals. A big man with a blocking rating of 50 will probably get 1 block a game. Likewise, a wing with 50 steals will probably get 1 steal a game. However, a PG with a 50 in blocks will probably not get 1 block a game. Big men with 60 or higher in steals will probably contribute a steal a game, then break out into the elite at 80+. Wings blocking at a high level will likely be 75-80+ in blocks.
Both blocks and steals at the ranges of 70-90 will result in 2-2.5 per game for the expected position production (ie a big man with 80 blocks will probably get 2-2.5 BPG and a wing with 80 steals will probably get 2-2.5 SPG). Some manner of size, strength, quickness will elevate these numbers and it's hard to nail down exactly. Elite shot-blocking (3+ BPG) can come from 80+ but is probably guaranteed at >90. Steals will usually cap out around 3 SPG.
Keep in mind your trap and press settings also have a relatively significant effect on these numbers as well. Trapping more will result in more steals from your big men. Pressing more will result in more steals from your wings. However, it also increases fouls/"stamina" usage.
Also, just a little tip from me, steals are incredibly valuable. They are ALWAYS turnovers. Blocks are not. In the game, some blocked shots will be recovered by the offense or go out of bounds.
Rebounding
Strength and quickness play a role. Inside focus and being a scoring option plays a role for big men (It's why you'll typically see Shaq avg more Rebs than Rodman even though Rodman is perfect in rebounding). PGs are hard capped at 50 rebounding for both Off and Def Reb. SGs are hard capped at 60 rebounding for both.
If a PG has 30-40 Reb in each, that's a pretty good rebounding PG. 45+ is elite for PGs. SGs just scale it up by 10 and it's the same result. SFs you'd typically want to be above the 50s for them to be a plus in rebounding, the 65-80 range would put them in the high value range for rebounding at SF. For C/PFs, below 60 is not going to cut it, however, C/PFs have a better shot at developing rebounding in Training Camp. If you want an elite rebounding big, they're going to have to be >80, ideally 85+.
Passing
Higher passing means more turnovers. Bad passes happen all the time in FBB, dudes will just sail the ball into the crowd sometimes. No way around it. It's generally regarded as not good to have higher passing, but I think there is some value in slower paces/Inside or Balanced focuses. For Outside and high paces, probably not the best.
Passing is like 90%+ the determining factor for the Handles letter grade you see, and its ranges are ridiculously narrow. Once you are in the 60-65 range for Passing, the Handles letter grade is likely an A-. C+ to A- is such a laughably small range that it's not even worth breaking it down for you. Also, Quickness is weirdly calculated into it, sometimes raising Quickness can slightly lower the letter grade is Passing is not above the aforementioned threshold. Don't know why, but it doesn't really matter.
Handling
Arguably one of the most important ratings in the game. Handling does one thing and one thing only. Reduce turnovers when the player has the ball. The C position is capped at 75 for Handling and the PF position is capped at 80. For the most part, all positions are pretty solid when around 60 handling with the exception of PG. 60 handling is really bad for PGs. PGs with 60-70 handling will likely do 3+ TPG. Lower passing can reduce the overall TPG however, so a guy with 65 Handling and 30 Passing might be okay. It's not the end of the world for PGs if their handling starts at 60, because Handling can jump big time in TC for PGs (honestly PG TCs can be insane overall) but typically the 2 TPG mark for PGs with good passing is around 80 Handling. 90+ is ridiculous and I'll be honest when I say I will probably never create a PG starting at 80+ Handling. It can be game-breaking. So when you read my notes, mentally work with a 60-75 range based on what I say.
C/PF/SF/SGs tend to be turnover prone when they are in the 40-50 range of Handling. 55+ is definitely salvageable. The 30 range would be "this guy is going to average 3 TPG and I just gotta deal with it."
Anyways, I think this is a pretty good guide to give you guys an idea on how to interpret the numbers you're receiving. I cannot stress enough how invaluable this information is. This guide isn't perfect, there are definitely a lot of nuances and intricacies that can't fully be covered, but you pick those up with time and experience. Enjoy!
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