Basketball Tier List Template
A basketball tier list template is a ranking grid preloaded with basketball positions, plays and shot types, ready to be sorted into S, A, B, C, D and F tiers.
Drag an item onto a tier, or tap it and then tap a tier.
Items to rank
Making a basketball tier list
Basketball suits tier lists better than most sports because the game is built from repeatable, nameable actions. A pick and roll or a step back is a discrete thing you can place in a tier, which is not true of most of what happens in, say, rugby.
Rank shot types by how satisfying they are rather than by efficiency. The analytics answer is well established and slightly boring; the enjoyment answer starts an argument.
What is in this template
- Point guard
- Shooting guard
- Small forward
- Power forward
- Centre
- Pick and roll
- Fast break
- Step back
- Alley oop
- Corner three
- Post up
- Full court press
- Free throws
- Zone defence
- Buzzer beaters
Frequently asked questions
- How do you rank basketball positions?
- Decide whether you are ranking importance to winning or enjoyment to play, then sort from S to F. Modern positionless basketball muddies the first question, which is part of what makes the list interesting.
- What is S tier in basketball?
- On a play-type list, S tier usually means something that works even when the defence knows it is coming. That is a much shorter list than plays that simply work often.
- How many tiers should a basketball tier list have?
- Five is usually enough. Basketball has fewer discrete play types than people assume, so a six or seven tier grid tends to leave rows empty and makes the placements look more precise than they are.
