If Queen Elizabeth I played basketball: shooting guard, rated 81

Queen Elizabeth I as a basketball player: scouting report

Queen Elizabeth I plays shooting guard because nobody on the floor would out think her. She reigned for more than four decades and gave her name to an entire era, and she did it by staying patient, reading every rival and acting at exactly the right moment. That is how a great shooter plays. Her basketball IQ is the top mark on her card and her shooting is right behind it, so she waits for the defense to commit, then punishes the mistake from range.

Her education was extraordinary for any era. Tutored by the scholar Roger Ascham, she read Latin and Greek and spoke French and Italian, and she was known for answering foreign ambassadors in their own languages. That gift shows in how she communicates on the court. Her playmaking is strong enough that she can initiate the offense, calling sets and switches with the same command she brought to her council. Her defense is solid rather than spectacular; she reads passing lanes better than she slides her feet.

Athleticism is where the card dips. She will not run the floor with the fastest wings, so pair her with a quick point guard or a slasher who draws help and kicks the ball out to her on the wing. If you need a primary ball handler instead, she moves to point guard with barely any drop, and she can hold small forward in a bigger lineup. Draft her in the early rounds as the shooter who also thinks for the whole team. A monarch who spent her reign staying a step ahead of every rival will not be rattled by a late double team.

Plays like A deadeye shooter with a point guard's brain

Put Queen Elizabeth I in your lineup

8 rolls, a starting five and a bench, 82 games. Can you go 82-0? Free, no account.