Prepare with purpose
Opponent tendencies, coverage choices, matchup planning, and the details that make a scouting report usable.
Start here · Latest brief
Category archive
36 more
02Alabama, Illinois, Oklahoma and Florida start this season under a new 35-second shot clock requirement, and New Jersey follows in 2027-28. The clock rarely matters in the first 25 seconds of a possession. It matters enormously at the end of quarters, in late-game fouling decisions and in how much your press is worth. Here is what to change before the first scrimmage.
Read analysis03AI can compress the first draft of opponent prep, but a coach still owns the game plan. This five-check protocol shows exactly what to verify before a report reaches players.
Read analysis
04Better opponent prep starts with a narrower question. Use these 25 prompts to find the coverage, matchup, counter, lineup, and late-clock answers that change a game plan.
Read analysis05Three games on October 20: Celtics at Pistons, 76ers at Knicks, Thunder at Spurs. The tactical questions each one answers, and the specific possessions worth rewinding.
Read analysis06Putting your best defender on their best scorer is the default, and it is often wrong. Four questions that decide the assignment, plus where to hide the defender you cannot fix.
Read analysis07LeBron joined a Sixers team with Maxey, Edgecombe, Brown, and Embiid. Here is the coverage tree for the deepest half-court gauntlet in the East.
Read analysis
08LeBron, Brown, Maxey, and Embiid give Philadelphia four shot creators and a spacing problem. Here is the offensive identity and how to game-plan it.
Read analysis
09Boston swapped Jaylen Brown for Paul George next to Jayson Tatum. Here is the new Celtics look, what changes offensively, and how to defend it.
Read analysis10With LeBron gone to Philadelphia, the Lakers run everything through Luka Doncic. Here is the scouting plan to slow a pure Luka-centric attack.
Read analysis11The Bucks traded Giannis to Miami and reset around Tyler Herro, Myles Turner, and young pieces. Here is their new identity and how to defend it.
Read analysis12Drop coverage tells you exactly what it will give up. Here is how the ball-handler and screener read the pocket pass, the pull-up, and the short roll to punish a big who sits back.
Read analysis13Switching kills most actions cold, unless you go looking for the mismatch it creates. Here is how to hunt a switch on purpose, attack the slower foot, and score before the help arrives.
Read analysis14A hard hedge tries to stall the ball-handler and take away the pull-up. Here is how to split it, hit the short roll, and turn a two-on-two into a four-on-three before the big recovers.
Read analysis15ICE refuses the screen and forces you to the sideline. Here is what ICE (also called blue or down) actually does, and the reject, snake, and re-screen counters that beat it.
Read analysis16When the defense sends two to the ball, you are playing 4-on-3 behind it. Here is how to get the ball out, short-roll into the numbers, and score before the defense recovers.
Read analysis
17Transition defense is decided in the first three seconds. Protect the rim, stop the ball, then match up. Here is the order and the reads that stop easy baskets.
Read analysis18The dunker spot and the baseline are where drives turn into dunks. Here is how to tag the roller, guard the cutter, and take away the backdoor without giving up a three.
Read analysis19A big who shoots threes breaks your drop coverage. Here is how to defend the pick-and-pop, choose your coverage, and close out without giving up the drive.
Read analysis20A downhill slasher lives at the rim. Here is how to take away his best angle, wall up without fouling, and force him into the help instead of the paint.
Read analysis
21An elite off-ball shooter never stops moving. Here is how to top-lock him off his spots, chase over screens, and close out short so he never gets a clean look.
Read analysis22A high-usage lead guard controls the game with the ball in his hands. Here is how to pressure him, pick your pick-and-roll coverage, and use gap help to shrink his floor.
Read analysis23A lean pre-game scouting checklist for players and small staffs with no video coordinator, covering tendencies, personnel, and sets.
Read analysis24LaMelo Ball now shares a backcourt with Anthony Edwards in Minnesota. Here is how the fit works on offense and how to defend the two-guard look.
Read analysis25Ja Morant is a Trail Blazer now. Here is how defenses take away his downhill attack and what changes when he runs Portland's pick-and-roll.
Read analysis26The Bulls' No. 4 pick opened Summer League with 35 points and seven threes. Here is the scouting read on what is real, what to watch, and how he fits.
Read analysis27A film-room look at how the Brown for Paul George swap reshapes Philadelphia and Boston, plus a concrete plan for guarding the Maxey and Brown backcourt.
Read analysis28A defensive game-plan for the Jazz's No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson, from his three-level scoring to the coverages that make him work for his points.
Read analysis29A film-room breakdown of Cameron Boozer, the Grizzlies' No. 3 pick, from his Summer League tape to how his game translates to the NBA.
Read analysis30Giannis Antetokounmpo is a Miami Heat now. Here is how NBA defenses re-scout him in a new system and what Miami's thinner spacing changes for opponents.
Read analysis31The No. 1 pick punished single coverage in Las Vegas but went 1 of 11 from three. Here is how a defense actually game-plans him.
Read analysis32NBA staffs watch 6 to 8 hours of film on a non-game day. Most of it is collection, not coaching. Here is where the hours actually go, and the specific ways to cut them without cutting the quality of your prep.
Read analysis33A scouting report players ignore is wasted work. Here is the template that actually gets read, the sections that matter, what to cut, and a step-by-step way to build it in under an hour.
Read analysis34A scouting report isn't a static document, it's a working file that gets thinner, sharper, and more opinionated each game.
Read analysis35Game 1 isn't a flex, it's a feeler. Here's how staffs use the first 48 minutes of a series to set the next 240.
Read analysis36Every pick-and-roll defense is a choice about what you give up. Here is how drop, switch, blitz, and ICE actually work, the math, the personnel fit, and the read for the ballhandler.
Read analysis37Side out-of-bounds plays with under 10 seconds left. The principles that translate from high school to the NBA.
Read analysis