The first thing I want to know is the individual shooting habits of each player.
What type of shot does he shoot? Can he be hurried? Does he have to be set when he shoots? Can he shoot while moving both ways? How was he guarded when he shot? Can he shoot over a zone? Can he drive against a man-on-man? Almost all of this information can be recorded on the shot chart that I include in the scouting kit.
Now I want to know about the individual size and speed of each opponent.
Can we floor five men who compare favorably with them in size and speed? How is their speed and size affected when they substitute? Will the use of the substitutes weaken their team? Do they appear to be in good physical condition, or do they begin slowing down late in the game?
If we cannot stay with them in a man-for-man situation, then what type of zone would be best to use? Should we use a set zone defense, or should we vary it? Why?
Our opponent’s style of offense is the next thing in which we are interested. Do they fast break? If so, how do they get the fast break started? Is it organized, or do they “race horse”? Do they pass to the middle, side, or use the long pass? Do they have any “half court Charley’s”? Do they use single-pivot, double-pivot, or flash pivot? Do they run a continuity pattern or freelance? Chart out-of-bounds plays. Chart jump ball situations to see where the tip goes. Do they foul a lot; especially, do key men foul a lot. Are there any poor free-throw shooters? Are there any out standing free-throw shooters?
These are the key things that I, as a coach, want answered by my scouts. I then ask him to match our team with theirs man-on-man, and explain the reasons for the matchups. After the matchups are made, our team members are assigned an opponent, and we make every attempt to impress upon them the individual characteristics of the opponent they will be guarding.
I will set up situations in practice using the individual patterns of the opponent and stress to the boys the things they are to look for.
There will be occasions when your team will probably get to see a future opponent play. This happens quite often in tournaments and can be very good or very bad, depending on the circumstances. If your future opponent looks very bad on that particular night, then your team might get overconfident and tend to take them lightly. If your future opponent has an outstanding night and looks unbeatable then your team might react that way too. During tournament play I often will let our players “scout” our next opponent with us. I will give every boy an idea of which member of the opposition he is likely to defense and have him keep notes of the boys individual maneuvers. This has worked very well for us on most occasions.
On several occasions the scouting done by the boys has paid rich dividends. Last year, in a Holiday Tournament, we observed one of our future opponents on three different occasions. Although we never met in the tournament, we did meet during the regular season, and the scouting information we gathered enabled us to defeat our tough opponent rather easily.
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