How to track opponent stats in basketball

To track opponent stats, keep a second set of rows for the other team, one per jersey number, and record the same events you record for your own players. Every call needs a side. Before you credit a basket or a rebound, decide whose it was. Ours or theirs?

The counting is the same job you already do. The hard part is keeping the two sides apart when the game moves fast.

Why keep the other team's stats

Start with the rematch. If you play them again, you'll know who shot well, who handled the ball and who got into foul trouble.

It also checks your book. Your players' points should add up to your score, and their players' points to theirs. If both totals match the scoreboard, you didn't miss a basket.

And it puts your own numbers in context. Shooting 40% means one thing when the other team shot 30% and another when they shot 55%.

Official statisticians keep both teams. The FIBA Statisticians' Manual credits stats to the players of both teams. The NBA's stats glossary lists opponent versions of many stats, such as opponent points.

What to record for them

Use their jersey numbers from the official scorebook. You usually won't know names, and you don't need them. Record the same events you keep for your own team:

• made and missed twos, threes and free throws
• offensive and defensive rebounds
• assists, steals, blocks and turnovers
• personal fouls, technical fouls and charges taken

What you can't fairly keep for them is minutes or plus/minus. Both need their substitutions, and you aren't watching their bench closely enough to get them right. HoopReads leaves those two columns off the opponent grid for the same reason. See the sample box score for how the two grids sit side by side.

Telling the sides apart

On paper you split the sheet in two. When you call plays out loud, the words have to carry the side. HoopReads uses one rule: a name or number with nothing in front means your team. To credit the other team, say so: "their 23", "Central's 23", "23 for them", or "they".

“their 23 hits a three”

“Central's 23 with the steal”

A bare number is read as your player:

“23 hits a three”

If a bare number isn't on your roster, HoopReads doesn't guess which team it belongs to. The play waits in the feed until you pick the side and the player:

“4 hits a three”

The same happens when you name the team but not the player:

“they hit a three”

One sentence can cover both teams. That's useful on a quick exchange:

“their 23 hits a three, James answers with a three”

“James misses the three, their 4 rebound”

Turn it on before tip-off

In HoopReads, keeping the other team is a setting called Track opponent. It starts off. Turn it on when you set up the game. Once any play is recorded, the setting is locked for that game. If it is off and you call a play for the other team, HoopReads tells you opponent stats are off and doesn't record it.

The other team's roster carries over. The next time you play them, their numbers are already there.

Their players are someone else's kids

The players on the other team are usually minors from another program. Their stats stay private to your team in HoopReads and never appear on a public page. Read youth data privacy for what is stored and who can see it.

Keep it simple

If you're new to keeping two teams, start with their points, rebounds and fouls. Add the rest once your own team's numbers feel automatic. For the basics of the job, see how to keep basketball stats. For what each column in the final table means, see the basketball box score guide. The full list of phrases is on the voice commands page.