Using the Basketball Playmaker

The Basketball Playmaker is a revolutionary tool for coaches, scouts, press and fans . . . enabling basketball plays to be digitally created and saved for future reference.

Modeled after the ubiquitous coach’s whiteboard, the Basketball Playmaker provides offense and defense avatars that can be dragged around the screen (the court) to simulate plays and formations.  As plays are designed, the system stores movement, passes and shots and the associated track lines.

Plays can be saved and played back at any time (during a timeout, a practice or a bench conversation).  Snapshots of these plays can be made with a click of a button and the resulting “photo” can be emailed and/or filed as needed.

Setting Up the Court   

Touch the Setup button in the lower left hand corner of the Court Window and that will take you to the Setup Window.

From the Setup Window, configure the size of the court (High School, College, Pro or International); the color scheme of everything on the Court Window; and the way Player Avatars are represented (Uniform Numbers, Names, or conventional  1 thru 5 nomenclatures).

Next Select a standard Offensive and Defensive formation.

Finally, the Basketball Playmaker has internal database for the user to enter teams and players.  Thus if your team is up against a terrific athlete . . . his Player Avatar can be represented on the court by his uniform number or name instead of a cryptic position number or code.

Sizing the Screen

Touch the Sizing On Button and then use the pinch and drag gestures to position the Court Window appropriately.  This can be full court, half court, three point circle only, left side of screen, etc.

Touch the Sizing Off Button when you have thing arranged as necessary.

Rotaing your iPad to may provide a better  configuration for certain court layouts.

Moving the Player Avatars

Simply touch a Player Avatar to move it.  You will hear a click sound when you touch a Player and a slightly different one when you release it.  

If you drag a Player Avatar that is touching the Basketball, the Ball will move with the Player.

Recording a Play

Once you have figured out what you want your play to do, reposition your players (this is can be done quickly by jumping to the Setup Windows and returning), touch the Record Button and draw out your play.  You’ll note when recording is on . . . the Basketball Playmaker automatically draws Movement, Dribbling and Passing lines.

When your play is complete toggle the Record Button. 

Running your Play

Once a Play has been recorded (or Opened . . . discussed below).  It can be “Played” by touching the Play Button, or “Stepped” throough by progressively touching the Step Button.

Plays can be Saved and Opened by touching the Open and Save Buttons.

The Open and Save Windows use standard iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch table maintenance interfaces.

Making a Photo Copy

At anytime, touch the Camera Button and a photocopy of your play/screen will be copied to your device’s Photo Album.

From the Photo Album you can export the Basketball Playmaker photos to your Mac or PC, e-mail and/or organize them.

Shot Mapping

To Begin . . . Tap the New Game Button.  This presents you with the game setup screen with  two spinners with all of the active teams on your device.  The Basketball Shot Mapper comes with a handful of sample team (several NBA teams, a small town middle school travel team, and a generic “opposition team”).

Pick a home team and an away team and select the game date and tap Ok.

Before you begin:

  • Use switches to specify which team is shooting at which basket.
  • Use the Court Setup button to specify the court type (NBA, WBA, World, Collegiate Men/Women, High School and Middle School).
  • Make sure the Period switch is set to Period 1 (periods should be used as appropriate for your game: periods are halves in college and quarters at other levels)

Once the game begins:

Tap at the approximate location on the screen where the first shot is taken from and you’ll see an Orange Basketball appear. From the resulting popup specify who took the shot; whether they made it  (Basketball turns Green) or missed it  (Basketball turns Red); whether it was a 3 point attempt; and whether the shooter was fouled while shooting. 

If you make a mistake:

Tap on the Basketball (Orange/Green/Red) and from the resulting popup change the parameters (made/missed etc.) or tap delete to remove the shot from the game.

As the game goes on:

  • Remember to change the switches when team change direction after periods.
  • Increment the period switches after each period.
  • Toggle the Shot History switch off and on to hide the “clutter” of past shots.

Shot Display:

  • Tap the Shot Display button to change what shows on each Basketball (Orange/Green/Red) . . . the Shooter’s Uniform Number; the Shooter’s Name or the Shooter’s photo (if available).
  • You can also show a subset of shots:
    • Home Team Only 
    • Away Team Only 
    • Made Shots 
    • Missed Shots 
    • Individual Players 
    • By Period

Setting Up New Teams:

Tap the Game Setup Button and then tap Team Setup and Navigate through the Screens

Entering Foul Shots

  • During the game Tap the Foul Shots Button and then Select the Shooting Team from the resulting Popup.
  • Select the Shooter and specify whether the shooter Made or Missed the Foul Shot.

Game Recap:

Tap the Game Recap Button and you can:

  • Replay the entire game shot by shot (watch as the score changes after each shot).
  • Shot Diagrams and Game Stats can be Printed (AirPrint required) 
  • Shot Diagrams and Game Stats can be E-mailed
  • Images can be saved (and incorporated in other apps)