5 Key Elements of a Good High School Basketball Team Scouting Report

Professional basketball teams spend millions of dollars to create a perfect scouting report before their games. It is a crucial element of any coaching regimen, and high school basketball is no exception.

A quality scouting report talks accurately about the strengths, weaknesses, style, and other tendencies of the opposing team and the players. Without this knowledge, the coach will most likely lead the team to a situation where his players will be metaphorically playing in the dark.

But the question is, what makes a good and reliable scouting report?

There are certain elements and traits that will increase the chances of the team’s success if included in the scouting report. A coach must carefully watch the opposing team play to learn about all these aspects thoroughly. These aspects include the key players, offense and defense info, their playing tendencies, and key movements/ formations.

Let us now talk in detail about these aspects and what they entail.

Key Players and Team Dynamics

The first element of a good scouting report is analyzing the opposing players and who stands out among them. It might be possible that a team has a good number of scorers but has weak defenders. Ideally, a coach should analyze closely and individually the strengths of scorers (shooters and slashers), facilitators (passers), defenders, and rebounders.

A team can not be perfect in all these aspects. Therefore, a coach should also note where the team is lacking in the areas mentioned above. Based on these players, coaches will find it easier to train their players. If the opposing team has weak defense, a coach will focus on making his scoring players better.

One can further break these down into two key aspects of the opposing team, the offense and the defense. As a high school basketball team coach, one must carefully look for the relevant strengths and weaknesses in these two areas.

Offensive Tendencies

When it comes to offense, the coach should look at whether the team has a pattern of playing or is it a free-style game where they do what comes to their minds. If there are patterns, it will help to note them down and gather info about their best players. If their game lacks patterns, coaches can do well noticing how the players jump in the game and what are their initial moves. Noticing and writing these things down in the report will help a coach decide how to carry their own game.

If the opposing team continuously leads pattern after pattern of offense, that indicates that it is their main strategy. To compete with such teams, a coach should focus more on defense and do all it takes to make it better in his team.

Another noteworthy thing when it comes to offense is to look for the offensive identity. Every team has one, and noting it down in the report helps understand the competition better. Some teams like to move the ball and keep passing, while others attack with drives. Whatever the case may be, noting these aspects of offense down helps, and the team should always be ready to adapt to different play styles.

Defensive Tendencies

Like the offense, defense is a crucial aspect that coaches should not ignore in their scouting reports. Some teams are more inclined towards defensive strategies, and the failure to get a good look at them can lead to bad results. Defensive information is also useful when it comes to figuring out a team’s weaknesses. Naturally, a team will be more defensive in the aspects it lacks.

First and foremost, coaches should focus on the defensive identity of the opponent. A team’s on-ball defense will tell coaches how aggressive their opponents are on the ball. If the opposing team is more inclined to pressure the ball, the coach’s strategy should be to pass the ball more. Off ball defense will tell coaches how good their opponents are when it comes to helping the defense. If the opposing team’s off-ball defense is bad, coaches should lean towards using back door cuts and driving the lanes.

The next thing to look for and note down in the scouting report is the pick and roll defense of the opposing team. It is one of the most important offensive actions and also most used. If a coach finds the opponents defending the pick and roll using drops and being low, he should lean towards passing the ball to reliable mid-range shooters. They will exploit the space and will have more chances of scoring.

Key Player Tendencies

At an individual level, every player has something unique to offer to the team. Looking at key player tendencies will allow the coach to train his players against every single opposing team player effectively. This is why it is an important feature that should be in a scouting report.

These tendencies include things like:

• From where on the court does a particular player score, along with the best shooters on the team?

• Are there any specific players on the team the guards are passing to more than others?

• Where are they best and most comfortable when it comes to defending?

• What are their rebounding methods, i.e., boxing out, hustle, size etc.?

• Can they handle ball pressure?

Key Movements and Formations

Thoroughly looking at the key movements and formations of the opposing team will give a reliable insight into how the team performs as a single unit. Noting these things down in the report will allow coaches to devise formations and movements that can counter those of the opponents.

Here are some things to look for when noting down movements and formations:

• What offensive moves do they run most?

• How many set plays do they run?

• What defense(s) do they run most?

• How do they defend ball screens? (switch or hedge)

• Do they run a press, and where do they apply most pressure if they do?

These are the crucial elements and traits of a good scouting report. If a scouting report covers all these elements, the chances of success for a high school basketball team go up.