025 min
How to Scout a Basketball Player After a Team or Role Change
Separate established skills from the new team's opportunities with an old-role/new-role worksheet, explicit season labels and a provisional plan.
Read analysisPrepare with purpose
Game Prep.Win before the opening tip.
Opponent tendencies, coverage choices, matchup planning, and the details that make a scouting report usable.
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A First-Year Basketball Assistant's Scouting Workflow: What to Deliver
5 min
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0311 min
Basketball Game Plan Template: The One-Page Plan Players Actually Remember
A scouting report says what the opponent does. A game plan says what you will do about it, on one page, in words players can repeat. Here is a seven-box template, a filled-in example, the four numbers worth putting on the whiteboard, and how AI can draft the first version in minutes.
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0411 min
The Shot Clock Comes to Alabama, Illinois, Oklahoma and Florida: What Changes for Coaches in 2026-27
Alabama, 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 analysis0510 min
How to Validate an AI Basketball Scouting Report Before Game Night
AI 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.
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0611 min
25 Basketball Scouting Prompts to Ask Before Your Next Game
Better 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 analysis0711 min
NBA Opening Night 2026-27: What Coaches Should Actually Watch
Three 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 analysis0810 min
Who Should Guard Their Best Scorer? A Decision Framework for Coaches
Putting 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 analysis0911 min
How to Defend the LeBron James 76ers
LeBron 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 analysis1010 min
Scouting the 2026-27 76ers Offense
LeBron, Brown, Maxey, and Embiid give Philadelphia four shot creators and a spacing problem. Here is the offensive identity and how to game-plan it.
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1110 min
Scouting the Paul George Celtics
Boston 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 analysis1210 min
Los Angeles Lakers 2026-27: How to Defend the Luka Doncic Offense
With LeBron gone to Philadelphia, the Lakers run everything through Luka Doncic. Here is the scouting plan to slow a pure Luka-centric attack.
Read analysis139 min
Milwaukee Bucks 2026-27: Scouting the Post-Giannis Bucks
The 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 analysis149 min
How to Attack Drop Coverage in Basketball
Drop 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 analysis1510 min
How to Attack a Switch: Switch Hunting in Basketball
Switching 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 analysis169 min
How to Beat a Hedge in Basketball
A 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 analysis1710 min
What Is ICE Coverage and How to Beat It
ICE 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 analysis1810 min
How to Beat a Blitz or Trap on the Pick-and-Roll
When 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.
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199 min
How to Defend in Transition
Transition 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 analysis209 min
How to Defend the Dunker Spot and Baseline Cuts
The 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 analysis2110 min
How to Guard a Stretch Big: Drop, Up-to-Touch, and Closeouts
A 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 analysis2210 min
How to Guard a Slasher: Angles, Walling Up, and No Middle
A 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.
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2310 min
How to Guard a Knockdown Shooter: Top-Lock, Chase, and Closeout Short
An 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 analysis2410 min
How to Guard a Ball-Dominant Lead Guard: Pressure, Coverage, and Gaps
A 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 analysis2512 min
How to Scout an Opponent Before a Game: A Player's Checklist
A lean pre-game scouting checklist for players and small staffs with no video coordinator, covering tendencies, personnel, and sets.
Read analysis269 min
LaMelo Ball to the Timberwolves: A Backcourt Scouting Breakdown
LaMelo 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 analysis279 min
How to Defend Ja Morant in Portland: A Pick-and-Roll Coverage Guide
Ja 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 analysis289 min
Caleb Wilson's 35-Point Summer League Debut: A Bulls Rookie Breakdown
The 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 analysis2910 min
Jaylen Brown to the 76ers: How to Defend the New Maxey-Brown Wing Pairing
A 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 analysis309 min
How to Guard Darryn Peterson: A Scouting Breakdown
A 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 analysis319 min
Cameron Boozer Scouting Report: How the No. 3 Pick Projects
A 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 analysis329 min
Giannis on the Heat: How Defenses Adjust to Him in Miami
Giannis 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 analysis339 min
How to Guard AJ Dybantsa: A Scouting Breakdown
The 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 analysis3410 min
How Much Time Do Coaches Spend on Film? (And How to Cut It)
NBA 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 analysis3510 min
Opponent Scouting Report Template (What Every Coach Should Include)
A 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 analysis369 min
How NBA Scouting Reports Evolve from Game 1 to Game 5
A scouting report isn't a static document, it's a working file that gets thinner, sharper, and more opinionated each game.
Read analysis378 min
Game 1 Is a Recon Mission (NBA Playoffs 2026)
Game 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 analysis3812 min
Pick-and-Roll Coverages: Drop, Switch, Blitz, ICE (2026)
Every 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 analysis396 min
Late-Game SLOBs That Work at Every Level
Side out-of-bounds plays with under 10 seconds left. The principles that translate from high school to the NBA.
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