Basketball Scouting Report Template and How to Fill It Out

A printable basketball scouting report template with team, offense, defense, player and game plan sections, the questions to ask and how to brief players.

This basketball scouting report template gives five printable tables for the team, offense, defense, players and game plan, and explains how coaches gather the information, write the report and brief players.

A basketball scouting report template is a fixed set of sections a coach fills in for every opponent, so the report always reads the same way. This page gives a printable version in five tables, one each for the team, the offense, the defense, the key players and the game plan.

It then explains how coaches gather the information, what to ask about each player, how much to hand the team and where coaches disagree. The method works at every level, from a small-town high school to the NBA, and every table can be cut down for a youth team.

Use the same sections for every opponent, fill them from film first and a live game second, and hand players only what they can absorb.

The Scouting Report at a Glance

Section	Answers	Gathered from
Team snapshot	How do they play and win?	Recent film and results
Offense	What do they run and how often?	One chart per set, then a live game
Defense	What defenses do they show and when?	A second viewing of the film
Players	Who are the top seven or eight and how do we play them?	A third viewing with a shot chart
Game plan	What are our keys, our answers and our matchups?	Everything above

How to Scout an Opponent

Run a three-step procedure that a staff repeats for every opponent. The first step is a pregame video review in three viewings. The second is a live game to confirm what the film showed. The third is a final written report.

Step 1: Pregame Video

If you can, call a coach who has played the opponent and ask what worked, what failed and what he would change. Use the answers only as a starting point, since rosters and styles differ. Then watch a recent game three times.

Offense. Chart each half-court set or pattern. Diagram the movements of each player by number, record the call if you can and diagram each play only once, with a mark in a frequency box when it repeats. Chart the organized fast break, early offense, throw-ins from both sides and end-of-period plays the same way. Total the possessions at the end.
Defense. Use the second viewing to record the defensive action on each possession. One set can have several entries. One example is the UCLA set, since defending it covers a rub at the high post, post-ups, down screens and entries off a side screen.
Personnel. Use the third viewing to profile only the top seven or eight players. Note speed, strength, jumping ability, aggressiveness, roles, strengths and weaknesses, and note shot locations on a shot chart or on court diagrams.

A pro staff adds a planning step before any film.

Plan first. Decide how much time you have, how much your team can absorb and what is useful.
Watch for pace and concepts. The scout watches full games to judge pace, watches clips for possessions and concepts, and looks at the last three to five games and conference games for the numbers.

A small high school program keeps it simpler:

Review old film. Review old film and the stats and shot charts from earlier games with that team.
Write notes right away. Write notes right after your own game with them while it is fresh.

Let each viewing answer one question.

Step 2: A Live Game

Use a live game to confirm the film. Chart the frequency of each set and defense you already logged, diagram anything new, confirm the play calls and correct the player profiles. Take home the final box score and season stats before you leave. Stop writing constantly, because that misses what is happening on the floor, and write at timeouts and stoppages. Confirm, correct and take the numbers home.

Step 3: The Written Report

The report covers an offensive overview, a defensive overview, a personnel overview and a game plan. The tables below follow that outline.

Basketball Scouting Report Template

Print this section and fill one set per opponent. Add rows when you need them.

Table 1: Team Snapshot

Item	Notes
Opponent, date, record, last five results
Style: control, semi-control (runs when available) or transition
Tempo and how they handle pressure and a press
How they score and how they have been beaten
Offensive thumbs up and thumbs down
Defensive thumbs up and thumbs down
Their coach: timeouts, substitution pattern, first play of each half

Table 2: Offense, Sets and Frequency

Set or call	What it does (diagram on the back)	Times run	Who gets the ball	How we defend it
Transition and early offense
Half-court set 1
Half-court set 2
Half-court set 3
Baseline throw-ins
Sideline throw-ins
Press break and end of period

A pro staff shows how to count:

Mark frequency and go-to players. The play call table marks each set with how often it was run and the go-to players.
Add a crunch-time line. It lists the calls to expect late in the game with the number of times each was seen. A call counted eight or more times was marked most-used and four to seven times was marked occasional.
Count by game. A five-game count tracks how many times each call was run in each of five games.

Most youth and high school teams have only two or three sets they run most of the time, so they are fairly easy to identify.

Table 3: Defense Profile

Defense shown	When we saw it	Strength	Weakness	Our attack
Man-to-man: packed in or pressure
Zone: which one
Press or trap: full court, three-quarter or half court
Ball screen coverage and post defense
Transition defense and defensive rebounding

Ask whether the opponent plays mainly man or zone, which zone and whether the two are mixed, whether they press and whether they sag back or pressure. The final report asks the same question: packed-in man, pressure man, zone or extended pressure, trapping or not, soft or tough. These are the looks to name on the sheet.

Basketball scouting report diagram of a man-to-man defense with each defender between his player and the ball

Man-to-man. A scout notes whether the defenders sag off the ball, stay tight or deny, and which man helps first.

Basketball scouting report diagram of a 2-3 zone with two guards on top and three defenders across the baseline

2-3 zone. Two defenders on top and three across the bottom. The scout records when it shows up and what the offense did against it.

Basketball scouting report diagram of a 3-2 zone with three defenders on top, one of them the rover, and two on the baseline

3-2 zone. Three defenders on top with the middle one as the rover on the high post and two on the baseline, which leaves the short corners to check.

Basketball scouting report diagram of a 1-3-1 zone with a defender on the ball, three across the middle and one on the baseline

1-3-1 zone. One on the ball, three across the middle and one on the baseline. A scout charts where it traps.

Once the zone is identified, How to Beat a 2-3 Zone, How to Beat a 3-2 Zone and How to Beat a 1-3-1 Zone give the attack. For the types of defense, see Types of Defense in Basketball.

Table 4: Player Profiles

No. and name	Position and role	Strong hand and shooter or driver	Where and how he scores	Weakness	How we play him

Add the depth chart, the most used lineups, the substitution pattern and a ranking of the players to this table, as a personnel overview does.

Table 5: Game Plan

Item	Plan
Keys to win on offense (two or three)
Keys to win on defense (two or three)
Defenses to expect and how we attack each
How we defend their main sets, transition, out of bounds and go-to actions, with a second answer for each
Matchups
End of game: who we foul and who we do not

Ask for secondary recommendations in this section in case the primary plan is not effective. Build the practice plan with sessions around the opponent's most used strategies and their strengths and weaknesses. Related pages are Basketball Game Planning, Basketball Offensive Game Plan and Basketball Defensive Game Plan. Fill every table the same way for every opponent.

Questions to Ask About Each Player

These defender questions fit the player profile table. Ask them for every player.

Can he shoot from outside? It is the number one factor, because a poor shooter lets the defender help off him, and a good shooter does not.
Where and how does he score? Off screens for mid-range shots, driving to the rim with the right hand, a pull-up or the low post.
Which hand does he prefer? The advice is to overplay the preferred side with a higher lead foot on that side, so he has to retreat or drive through the defender's chest.
What are his weaknesses? From film, a live game or by finding it during the game.
How does he respond to pressure? Some scorers frustrate quickly and some stay calm.
Does he crash the offensive glass? If so, make contact after every shot.

Two team questions follow, how the offense starts and the two or three sets the team runs. If every possession opens with the player at the top of the key passing to a wing, denying that one pass can take them out of their offense.

A late-game checklist adds:

The go-to player. Who it is when the game is on the line.
The best player's habit. Whether he spots up or drives and which way he goes.
A dominant post. How to defend him.
Free throws. Who the worst free-throw shooters are.

Ask the same questions about every player, every time.

Scouting During the Game

The report keeps working after the tip. Chart what the opponent does and adjust in the game.

Chart the trap points. Bob Huggins' West Virginia staff charted inbound sectors and next passes against the press so trap points could be adjusted in the game.
Find the 1-3-1 trap early. A team facing a 1-3-1 finds out in the first five minutes where the zone traps.
Scout every out-of-bounds possession. Scout every opponent baseline and sideline possession, not only late ones, to learn who they run actions for and whether they set up or look to score at once.
Count strong side or weak side. Mike Dunlap counts how often an opponent enters its out-of-bounds plays to the strong or weak side and sets his defense there.
Use the bench. Use bench time to scout, and tell every substitute the substitution order, because a substitute who has not been told ends up watching the clock.
Keep a possession log. Del Harris charts a possession log in the game that shows pace and momentum.

For the out-of-bounds side, see Basketball Inbound Plays and How to Defend Inbounds Plays.

The same approach applies to your own team.

Ask what they should not see. Erik Spoelstra's self-scout asks what the opponent does not want you to see.
Invite former coaches. Invite former coaches to watch practice and evaluate your team.
Install late. Opponents have scouted the full regular-season menu by tournament time, so install a new play or an out-of-bounds alignment late.
New card each game. Print a new play-call card for each game.

Scout your own team the way you scout theirs.

Briefing the Team

The report is for the coaches. What players see is smaller.

8 to 10 minutes of clips. Show negatives and positives, and chart actions and results.
Know what they can absorb. Understand how much the team can absorb, test players with pop quizzes, and make sure guards know their posts and posts know their guards.
Defend the top plays. Take the top two or three plays and defend them.
Same format every game. Present the information the same way each game, because players remember a familiar format.
Keep it simple. Do not overwhelm players with statistics.
Work it in the gym. Work on the star post, deny and double the star shooter, work on your zone offense if they play zone and your press offense if they press.
Tweak, do not overhaul. John Wooden's advice is not to change a successful game plan only to stop an opponent, with a few tweaks on how to guard their best players.

Films help with the rest. See Basketball Film Study. A press team will also want Creating a Winning Game Plan Against a Press Defense. Give players one clear picture, not the whole file.

Where Coaches Disagree

Question	Approach	Model
Film or a live game first?	Film first in three viewings, then a live game to confirm, then the report	Three viewings, then live
	Review old film, stats and your notes from the last game, and send a film person to a live game when you cannot go	Small-staff high school
How much do players carry?	A walk-through of tendencies without giving the team too much, and the scout built on season stats and the last four games	Mike Krzyzewski
	A coverage for each opposing player, such as doubling one post and trapping one guard's two-man game	Player-by-player coverage
Change your plan for the opponent?	Keep what works and make a few tweaks on their best players	John Wooden
	Choose ball screen coverage from the scouted ball handler and screener, usually one or two per game	Bruce Weber
	A fixed team rule: the 1 through 4 hedge every ball screen and the 5 protects the rim	Fixed team rule
Be easy or hard to scout?	Run a read-based offense with no called plays	Read-based offense
	Install new plays late and change the card each game	New card each game

Pick one answer to each question before the season starts.

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Questions Coaches Ask

What goes in a basketball scouting report?

A report lists an offensive overview, a defensive overview, a personnel overview and a game plan. Each overview has strengths and weaknesses, called thumbs up and thumbs down.

How do you scout a basketball team with limited time?

A small staff reviews old game film and the stats and shot charts from earlier games and writes notes right after each game. A person who films also goes to games for the coach.

How many players should a scouting report cover?

Profile the top seven or eight players. Ask six questions about each, from whether he can shoot to whether he crashes the glass.

How long should a scouting presentation to players be?

Use 8 to 10 minutes of clips and the same format every game. Take the top two or three plays and defend them.

Should you scout your own team?

Spoelstra's self-scout asks what the opponent does not want you to see, and an outside observer can scout your team, especially early in the preseason.

What do you chart during the game?

Coaches chart inbound sectors and next passes against a press, where a 1-3-1 traps, each baseline and sideline possession, and a possession log for pace and momentum.

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