Basketball Stat Sheet

This stat sheet covers 15 players with columns for minutes, field goals (made and attempted), three-pointers, free throws, offensive and defensive rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers, personal fouls, and total points. The bottom row totals each column so you can see team-wide performance at a glance. Download it as an image or copy the table directly into a spreadsheet.

Basketball stat sheets use shorthand for every category so scorekeepers can record plays in real time without falling behind. The table below covers all standard abbreviations from youth leagues through the NBA. If you have kept baseball stats before (see our baseball scorecard guide), the concept is identical: one symbol per stat, tally marks during play, final totals after the buzzer.

Scoring Categories Explained

Points, rebounds, and assists are the three stats most people recognize. The rest of the sheet fills in the picture. Shooting splits (FGM/FGA, 3PM/3PA, FTM/FTA) show where points come from and how efficiently a player scores. A player averaging 15 points on 40% shooting tells a different story than 15 points on 55% shooting.

Steals and blocks measure defensive disruption. Turnovers and fouls measure mistakes. Plus/minus tracks how the score changes when a player is on the court, which captures contributions that individual stats miss. A player with modest counting stats but a strong +/- is helping the team win in ways the box score does not always show.

NBA Advanced Stats

Beyond the standard box score, the NBA stats portal(opens in new tab) tracks advanced metrics like Player Efficiency Rating (PER), True Shooting Percentage (TS%), Usage Rate, and Win Shares. These formulas weight traditional stats to account for pace, minutes, and team context. You will not track PER on a paper stat sheet, but understanding what feeds into advanced metrics helps you prioritize which basic stats to record accurately.

Not every game needs 19 columns of data. Youth leagues, recreational games, and parent scorekeepers benefit from a simpler format. This version tracks seven categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers, and personal fouls. No shooting splits, no minutes, no offensive/defensive rebound breakdown.

When Simple Is Enough

• Youth leagues (ages 8-12). Young players rotate positions and rarely shoot three-pointers consistently. Tracking PTS, REB, AST gives you the full picture without overwhelming your volunteer scorekeeper.
• Recreational adult leagues. Players want to know their points and assists, not their true shooting percentage. Keep it straightforward.
• Single-scorer situations. When one parent or coach handles stats alone, fewer columns mean fewer mistakes. You can always add shooting detail later once the process is comfortable.

When to Upgrade

Move to the comprehensive stat sheet when your program needs shooting percentages for player development, minutes tracking for rotation management, or offensive/defensive rebound splits for scouting. Most travel programs and high school teams reach this point by their second season of stat keeping.

High school basketball adds two categories most youth sheets skip: charges drawn and deflections. Both measure defensive effort that does not appear in steals or blocks. The NFHS basketball resources page(opens in new tab) publishes official guidelines for scorers and timers at the high school level, and many state athletic associations use NFHS standards as their baseline.

Why Track Charges and Deflections?

A charge drawn is a turnover forced without a steal, and it costs the opponent a possession plus a foul. Players who consistently take charges provide value that PTS and REB do not capture. Deflections (tipping passes without securing a steal) disrupt offensive flow and lead to rushed shots. College coaches increasingly request deflection numbers because they predict defensive impact better than blocks alone.

Shooting Splits Format

The high school sheet uses a compact "made/attempted" format (e.g., 4/9 for FG) instead of separate FGM and FGA columns. This saves space on printed sheets while preserving the data needed to calculate percentages after the game. Write the made number first, draw a slash, then the attempts. At halftime, tally each player's shooting line to give your coach in-game adjustments.

Keeping stats during a live basketball game requires preparation, focus, and a system. Unlike baseball where play stops between pitches, basketball is continuous. You need to record events as they happen without looking away from the court for more than a few seconds.

Before the Game

• Fill in player names and jersey numbers before tipoff. Do not waste game time writing rosters
• Sit where you can see jersey numbers clearly. The scorer's table or the first row behind the bench works best
• Bring two pens (one backup) and a clipboard. Pencil smudges during fast-paced games
• Print two copies of the stat sheet: one for each half, or one as a backup for mistakes

During the Game

• Track one team. Trying to record stats for both teams splits your attention and guarantees missed plays. Focus on your team and let the opposing scorekeeper handle theirs.
• Use tally marks for counting stats. For rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers, and fouls, make a tally mark each time the event happens. Convert to numbers at halftime and after the game.
• Record shooting as it happens. When a player shoots, immediately mark the attempt. If the shot goes in, mark the make. This two-step process keeps your FGA accurate even during fast breaks.
• Use quarter breaks to catch up. Between quarters, review your marks, resolve any uncertainty, and prepare for the next period. This is also the time to update running point totals.

After the Game

Convert tally marks to final numbers. Calculate shooting percentages (FGM divided by FGA). Double-check that individual point totals add up: each player's PTS should equal (FGM x 2) + (3PM x 1) + FTM, since three-pointers are already counted in FGM. Cross-reference the team point total with the official scoreboard. If the numbers do not match, check your shooting tallies first because missed or double-counted field goals are the most common source of discrepancies.

Paper stat sheets handle a single game well. They struggle when you need to compare performance across 20 games, calculate season averages, or share stats with players and parents the same night.

When Paper Works

• Single games where you want a physical record
• Youth recreation leagues with volunteer scorekeepers
• Tournaments where phone batteries and Wi-Fi are unreliable
• Teaching new statisticians who learn faster with pencil and clipboard

When Digital Tools Add Value

• Season-long tracking with automatic averages and totals
• Sharing game stats with players, parents, and assistant coaches immediately after games
• Comparing player performance across multiple games to guide practice plan decisions
• Connecting game stats to practice evaluations and skill assessments for a complete player picture

For programs that track player development alongside game stats, platforms like Striveon connect your stat data with practice evaluations, skill assessments, and season goals. See how Striveon tracks athlete performance across games and practices.