Behind the Baseline | My Note Taking and Database Creation Approach
Having the right system for note taking and creating your database is very important and this article might give you some ideas on how to do it.
In the first article of the “Behind the Baseline” series I wrote about the top 5 traits of baskeball scouts and I put “Organizational & Time Management Skills” as one of the traits. If you haven’t read the full article yet, now is the right time to do it.
I promise I won’t continue writing till you finish reading it..
Good! Now I can continue with writing..
I do believe being organized is very important and you need to create a process that works for you. There is no right or wrong and every scout has a different approach and system with writing notes/observations or creating shorlists/databases. The main thing is that you find something that works for you and you feel comfortable using it.
Unfortunately, there were not many articles or guides out there when I started with scouting and I wasted quite a lot of time with looking for the right process for me.
This article will be separated in two parts. The first part will be about the evolution of my note taking and database creation process where I will also point out what I did not like and what I was missing in a specific point.
The second part will be more like a guide where I am now and how I am doing and using it. So if you are interested just in the “how to”, you can skip the first part although I recommend you to read it all.
Part I - The Evolution
The Early Beginnings - Stone Age
First, I started with the “old school” pen & paper style. I had a notebook and dedicated a page or two pages for a team and wrote notes on players there. In the beginning that worked for me but later when I watched the team against a different opponent, I needed to search for the other team through the notebook and I wasted time with that. It was also a hassle to jump back and forth between the pages in the notebook to write when I saw something new.
So to make it more convenient, I changed my approach. I still stayed on the pen & paper system but replaced the notebook with sheets of paper. Every team had one sheet of paper and I could easily substitute the sheets when they played against different teams. I also got more organized and put the sheets of paper in file pockets and foldered them by leagues. Over time, there was just too much paper and folders and it was painful to navigate through it again.
Greta Thunberg, please forgive me for what I did to the environment with my note taking experiments..
The Digital Age
I believed it was time for a new approach again and ditch the pen & paper system that was not working for me and replace it with a digital one. I started with taking basic notes in Google Docs and Evernote. I tried both apps but liked Evernote a little bit more because I could create “notebooks” there to make it very similar to my first approach.
That approach also had one big benefit with synchronizing the notes from my PC to my phone and vice versa. I could carry the notes with me all the time and when watching games live from the spot, I could easily add comments or notes.
I could also use the search function in my notes (CTRL + F) to find the team and then copy & paste it close to their opponent so that both teams were close in my notes and I would not need to scroll much when taking notes.
I thought this is finally it and that I’ve found the right approach, it just can’t get easier and more convenient. Yeah, right. There was one question that a coach asked me and that changed everything again for me.
He asked: “Do you have any recommendations for a guard for our level? He needs to be a good shooter, capable of creating out of pick & rolls and has the size to defend both guard positions.”
My answer was: “Let me check my notes.”
And there I was skimming through a 200+ pages long document looking for guards that can shoot, create and defend. Again losing time. The approach was good for taking notes on players but it was bad when I needed to search for a specific player that fits the profile that I or someone else was looking for.
I had the note taking process but I lacked the process of creating databases and shortlist. Something needed to change again if I want to be more time efficient and effective.
Of course, the first though that came to my mind when I started thinking on how to create a database was Excel and Google Sheets. Again, the convenience to have it synchronized and on a cloud sounded good to me so I gave it a try.
To use Olimpia Milano 2021/22 team as a mini example how the spreadsheet looked like:
This spreadsheet was used in the 2021/22 season and there were 100s of teams and 1000s of players in the spreadsheet. I deleted the “level” and “short notes” for this example because I am sure nobody is interested in that or wants to read my evaluations. :)
It is self explanatory though. I used level rating from 1 to 5 - like a star system - where the value of 5 represented a player for the highest level and the value 1 for “low/entry” level player. I also used the filters to navigate when looking for players for different levels, positions or roles.
Since I was already adding notes to the spreadsheet, it did not make much sense to me to write notes first in the document and then writing shorter notes in spreadsheet but skipped the first part and wrote the notes immediately in the spreadsheet.
It worked pretty well for me but I still was not completely satisfied. I am a visual person and I wanted that the notes and spreadsheets are visually more pleasing. As you can see, there was nothing beautiful in the spreadsheet and when you spend hours and hours per day working with it, it sucks your energy and motivation.
Sometimes I also wanted to write some longer notes or add some intel on a player and the note taking in the spreadsheet became messy and I did not like it. To get around that for a while, I created a Google Docs document for those players and then linked it to the spreadsheet but again did not like visual appeal of that.
What To Do Now?
I needed to try something new. Close to that time I found out about ClickUp and started using that for different things in my life to stay on track or boost my productivity. I also used it later for organizational purposes when running Eurospects so it was convenient to have everything at one place.
ClickUp offers lots of things but is not primarly used as an app for note taking and it is more suited for project management, planning or collaboration. Also it is much more useful if you use it as a team than if you use it just for personal use.
I still could create the spreadsheets and have similar filters as in the Google Sheets but now everything was more visual pleasing and it was easier to add more informations on specific players. Bingo! I improved and fixed everything that I did not like in the Google Sheets.
The only downside (at that time) - the database was big and I created many documents in ClickUp; too many to be exact. Too many for the free version. The creators of those kind of apps are smart and they are offering you an upsell with more space/functions so that it fits your needs. I paid for the premium version and continued using it but in the meantime I was also looking for a similar app with those features that would be free.
Is This Finally It?
And I think I’ve found the right one when I came across Notion. Notion is much better than ClickUp for note taking and especially for individuals. If you want to use it as a team then it is better to get a premium version but for a “one-man team”, the free version is enough.
It has many features and you can use it for basically whatever you want. From journaling, expense tracking, making to-do lists, task management, note taking.. to creating basketball scouting notes and databases as you will see in next paragraphs.
I used all the knowledge that I’ve gathered in the four and a half years of scouting and note taking to create this database system that works perfectly for me. I believe I will stick with it for a while now because I am very satisfied with it and I don’t miss anything so far. I am still in the transitioning phase though and still have notes on those places as well but all the new notes and takes are in Notion now.
Part II - The Explanation
I have three separate databases - one for Youth, one for NCAA players and one for Pro teams. They have some differences but the main principles stay the same. The profiles of players that I was scouting in youth categories and in pro/NCAA are connected and linked to each other.
All players have their own player profile page where I take notes on their offense and defense in short bullet points. For example, something in a similar fashion as I did in the Nikola Topić report with his strengths & areas to improve.
That is a big takeaway that I’ve learned and most, especially new scouts are in my opinion doing it wrong. The best scouting reports are as short as possible, sometimes even one sentence is enough to describe a player.
We all want to go in the details and show our knowledge but trust me, the decision makers don’t have the time to read hundreds of long scouting reports. And from my experience, even you, the readers of my blog, are not reading the long scouting reports from the beginning till the end!
There is also no need to have long reports on all players and you need to dig deeper and in more details just in the few that get your attention or fit your needs.
Player Profile
Anyway, the (empty) player profile page looks like this in my database:
Most of the things are pretty obvious what they mean but I will still explain it in a little more details in the next paragraphs.
Player Jersey Number
First thing that I have in the profile is the players jersey number. That is more often than not my focus point when I am scouting the players that I am not familiar with. It is much easier for me to remember players by numbers than remembering all their faces, names and surnames. If you know his jersey number, you can always figure out his name throught the boxscore or asking around.
When I’ve watched the player more times and if he got my attention, I will remember his face, body and name too but in the beginning, I remember him mostly by his jersey number.
I also like to sort the players in my database by teams and then by numbers when watching a game and taking notes. It is easy to navigate and I always know where to find players profile page.
More on how my database looks like a little later but in the example for today’s derby between Partizan and Crvena zvezda, it would look like this:
Then if I would like to write some notes on, for example, Stefan Lazarević, I just open his player profile in a side peek and I can write the notes there. I can easily jump back and forth between different players when I want to add or write something.
Name, Year of Birth, Size, Position, Nationality
I think those things are obvious and need to be included in every report on players and there is no explanation needed what they mean.
YOB, size, positions and nationalities are all as dropdown menus so I just choose the options without wasting much time. I have the sizes listed in metric and imperial values.
In Notion I have the option to make the database more colorful and visual pleasing so I colored the years and green color represents young(er) players, yellow color is for players in their prime while orange and red colors are for experienced players and veterans. The “Marcelinho Huertas’s” and “LeBron James’s” of this world get a grey color.
Not really a very important detail but the colors help me to navigate quicker when I am looking for younger players, players in their prime or more experienced players and (ultra) veterans.
For positions I have three options: guard, forward, big. Self-explanatory what they mean.
For nationalities I also add the flag emoji and add the flag icon next to the players name. It gives the database a better look and it helps me when searching for domestic players. I also use different colors for different continents to add even more “life” to the letters and numbers.
Role
We’ve arrived to the point when there are more details involved in the process. Again I use a dropdown menu with many different options for player profiles. That is important for me because it eliminates the possibility of making a typing mistake which could leave some players out when I later use the filters to look for some specific player roles/profiles.
The coaches are often copying set plays that are working from other coaches and scouting is no different. I am not smart enough to figure out the specific roles of players on my own so I just researched the internet to get what works for me. You can also use different roles or add your own to the list if you want to.
I borrowed some of the terms for my database from Bball Index so make sure you follow and support them. Their podcasts are also a very valuable resource of knowledge so I highly recommend a listen. The offensive and defensive roles are also explained on their website for those interested in more details.
I used different coloring for different group of roles so that it is easier to navigate. I can use multiple roles for a player and I believe I can describe the player very good with this descriptions:
Offensive Roles (brown): Primary Ball Handler, Secondary Ball Handler, Shot Creator, Slasher, Athletic Finisher, Shooter, Versatile Big, Post Scorer, Stretch Big, Roll & Cut Big
Defensive Roles (purple): Point of Attack, Chaser, Helper, Low Activity, Wing Stopper, Mobile Big, Anchor Big
Positions (grey): Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Small Forward, Power Forward, Center
Positional Roles (yellow): Combo Guard, Swingman, Wing, Point Forward, Combo Forward, Stretch Four, Inside & Outside PF, Hybrid Big, Playmaking Big, Undersized Big, Switch Big
Profile (blue): Playmaker, Scorer, Defender, Energizer
Skills
Next important thing that I have in my database are the specific players skills or attributes. A big role in this process played the popular NBA 2k game that I used to play in my late-teenage years. You had many different attributes for players in there so I decided to add that into my scouting reports and database as well.
In the game there were numerical values for all the skills but for me a simple tag is enough for now. I add in the notes as bullet points for the players if they are bad, decent, good, great or elite in something.
Most of the skills that I use are listed and described here already but I also added some of my own or changed a few of them:
Scoring/Offensive Skills (green): 3-Point Shot, Close Shot, Face Up Game, Free Throw, Layup, Mid-Range Shot, Off-Ball Movements, Offensive Consistency, PnP Target, PnR Roller, Post Up Game, Post Hook, Post Fade, Shot IQ, Slashing, Transitional Threat
Playmaking Skills (yellow): Ball Handling, Court Vision, Passing, PnR Creator
Defensive Skills (red): Block, Defensive Consistency, Defensive Rebound, Help Defense IQ, Interior Defense, Perimeter Defense, Rim Protection, Steal
Physical Skills (purple): Acceleration, Driving Dunk, Hands, Lateral Quickness, Positional Size, Speed, Speed With Ball, Stamina, Strength, Vertical
Mental & Other Skills (blue): Basketball IQ, Confidence, Court/Spatial Awareness, Draw Foul, Hustle, Intangibles, Overall Durability, Potential
Rating & Level
This is the toughest and worst part. It is very hard if not impossible to make any rankings of players especially if they are different ages and positions. There is no correct value here and the numbers are fluid and flexible but I try to put the players on a specific level and later to a numerical value so I can rank them.
I rate the players from 0 to 100 and put them in these level buckets:
Again I use different colors for different levels and I also color the teams with the color of their level. This way I can quickly see which player should go to higher level or which player in my opinion should not play on this level. Honestly, I don’t spend any time on the players on Entry and Low Level so those two lists are pretty much empty in my database but some teams/coaches need to scout them too.
As said, there is no correct ranking or value and more or less I rely on my gut feeling here when deciding which number to give to a player. It is more important to me to put them in the correct level bucket than to rank them from “best” to “worst.”
To make a short explanation how the levels work I will use the top NBA bucket as an example and explain what are the differences between a “95” and “100” in my database:
100 - MVP Caliber: the players I believe have a shot winning the MVP award in early future
99 - Super Star: elite players that dominate in the league but not really in MVP considerations
98 - All-Star: being a regular member of the All-Star teams/game
97 - Part-time All-Star: not a regular member of All-Star game but always close to making it or sometimes even making it on the roster
96 - Starter: starting the matches for his team and playing an important role
95 - Part-time Starter: sometimes starting the matches and important role player
You get the idea how it works and it goes similar for other buckets as well. Maybe this sounds too much for you and that it has too much details in the process but trust me, I am not wasting a lot of time thinking in this process. I just put the number to the player that I feel comfortable with. Scouting is a never ending process and the rankings and numbers could change anytime anyway.
At the end of the day, those rankings are not that important when assembling a winning team and a player that I have in the “bottom Eurocup/BCL” bucket could maybe be a great role player in Euroleague too. It is just a way to help me with my evaluations and creating shortlists but only I know why I gave a player the specific ranking number.
Final Version
To sum up everything that I have explained so far about how I approach editing and creating the player profiles, take a look at how the final version of my database looks like:
I spent some time and went in the details when creating it but now it is easy to use and navigate. I can use the “sort” and “filter” tools when I am looking for a specific group of players, there is a “search” tool available so that I can quickly find the player by their name and that is all that I need so far.
Started with a pen & notebook and now I am here.. Not a bad improvement, huh?