Kori Ellis
06-16-2005, 12:41 AM
Technology is changing the way the game is played
Web Posted: 06/16/2005 12:00 AM CDT
L.A. Lorek
Express-News Business Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA061605.1E.nba_Tech.1258cd18.html
In the coaches' room at the SBC Center, a digital video recorder captures all the action on the court. At halftime, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich shows the team up to five minutes of video clips that he has flagged for review.
Popovich highlights the plays on a 61-inch plasma TV with built-in smart board technology that allows him to draw on the screen. He might circle a Tony Parker and Tim Duncan pick-and-roll, or point out a great block by Bruce Bowen.
Gone are the days of chalkboards and clipboards overflowing with hand-drawn plays. They've been replaced with laptops, high-speed computer networks, smart board technology and digital video.
For the Spurs, video technology provides insight into past performances when the NBA's top defensive team battles the Pistons, the league's No. 2 defensive team, said Spurs assistant coach Mike Budenholzer.
Bowen, who has made the NBA all-defensive team twice, says the video technology helps identify his opponents' characteristics and tendencies — but the play on the court can still be unpredictable.
"Just because they do something a certain way on that film doesn't mean they'll play that way," Bowen said after the Spurs' game 2 victory.
The video technology can provide a competitive edge because each team uses the system differently, said James Borrega, a Spurs video coordinator. During the first half of the game, Borrega labels video in the coaches' room and creates an easily searchable computer database.
Paul Rivers, another video coordinator, sits behind the bench and sends notes back to Borrega when Popovich says, "I want that." The video comes off 13 cameras positioned around the SBC Center.
"The beauty of having everything digital is that it takes minutes to get everything ready," Rivers said.
By the time the team makes it back to the locker room, up to 10 video clips are ready for Popovich to review. The computer system gives the coach the ability to edit on the fly and make changes immediately that the old VHS system never allowed.
"In 2003 (during the Spurs' last championship series), the halftime wasn't as smooth as it is now," Budenholzer said. "The technology has just gotten better and better."
Before the game, the video coordinators cue up the previous game on the locker room television for the players to watch while they're getting ready. At the end of the game, they create DVDs of the entire game for coaches and players.
"For our coaching staff, everything gets transferred over to the laptops," Rivers said. "We've made them more efficient and more productive with this technology."
The video technology really comes in handy when studying the performance history of other teams, Borrega said. If the coach wants a Pistons play from the Miami series, the video coordinators can pull it in 10 seconds.
"When we go to play them, we're more comfortable with our game decisions," he said.
Twenty-eight of the 30 NBA teams now use video technology systems to review player performance, said Steve Hellmuth, NBA Entertainment's senior vice president of operations and technology.
The Pistons use the same digital video system, by XOS Technologies, as the Spurs. Both teams have access to the technology at away games in the visitors' locker room.
The video can help players in training and provide a competitive edge, said Randy Eccker, executive vice president with XOS Technology. XOS has also invented a product called the bench monitor that allows coaches to call up plays during the game using a wireless laptop, which is connected remotely to the digital video recorder storing the game film.
The coach can use a pen-based stylus to circle plays on the computer screen and review them during timeouts. The technology has gone through trials with some NBA teams but has not yet been approved by the league.
The NBA uses video technology to review how the referees performed, Hellmuth said. Each referee has to produce a written report on his performance after the game.
This season, the NBA launched a digitized library of every game broken down play by play. Next year it'll make the library available to coaches, who'll be able to search for specific plays or players from any game.
"It's all digitized and it's available," Hellmuth said. "Ultimately we will be responsible as a league for our video as well as our statistics."
Next year, the NBA plans to introduce player-tracking video. Four high-definition cameras will hang from the stadiums' ceilings and hook up to computers loaded with video-recognition software that will be able to identify and track the ball along with all 10 players on the court.
The system will help the NBA compile the next-generation statistical system, Hellmuth said. The NBA will also sell the video to game developers looking to create more realistic entertainment.
"We'll be able to tell who was guarding who, the ball movement, the speed of the ball," Hellmuth said.
Web Posted: 06/16/2005 12:00 AM CDT
L.A. Lorek
Express-News Business Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA061605.1E.nba_Tech.1258cd18.html
In the coaches' room at the SBC Center, a digital video recorder captures all the action on the court. At halftime, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich shows the team up to five minutes of video clips that he has flagged for review.
Popovich highlights the plays on a 61-inch plasma TV with built-in smart board technology that allows him to draw on the screen. He might circle a Tony Parker and Tim Duncan pick-and-roll, or point out a great block by Bruce Bowen.
Gone are the days of chalkboards and clipboards overflowing with hand-drawn plays. They've been replaced with laptops, high-speed computer networks, smart board technology and digital video.
For the Spurs, video technology provides insight into past performances when the NBA's top defensive team battles the Pistons, the league's No. 2 defensive team, said Spurs assistant coach Mike Budenholzer.
Bowen, who has made the NBA all-defensive team twice, says the video technology helps identify his opponents' characteristics and tendencies — but the play on the court can still be unpredictable.
"Just because they do something a certain way on that film doesn't mean they'll play that way," Bowen said after the Spurs' game 2 victory.
The video technology can provide a competitive edge because each team uses the system differently, said James Borrega, a Spurs video coordinator. During the first half of the game, Borrega labels video in the coaches' room and creates an easily searchable computer database.
Paul Rivers, another video coordinator, sits behind the bench and sends notes back to Borrega when Popovich says, "I want that." The video comes off 13 cameras positioned around the SBC Center.
"The beauty of having everything digital is that it takes minutes to get everything ready," Rivers said.
By the time the team makes it back to the locker room, up to 10 video clips are ready for Popovich to review. The computer system gives the coach the ability to edit on the fly and make changes immediately that the old VHS system never allowed.
"In 2003 (during the Spurs' last championship series), the halftime wasn't as smooth as it is now," Budenholzer said. "The technology has just gotten better and better."
Before the game, the video coordinators cue up the previous game on the locker room television for the players to watch while they're getting ready. At the end of the game, they create DVDs of the entire game for coaches and players.
"For our coaching staff, everything gets transferred over to the laptops," Rivers said. "We've made them more efficient and more productive with this technology."
The video technology really comes in handy when studying the performance history of other teams, Borrega said. If the coach wants a Pistons play from the Miami series, the video coordinators can pull it in 10 seconds.
"When we go to play them, we're more comfortable with our game decisions," he said.
Twenty-eight of the 30 NBA teams now use video technology systems to review player performance, said Steve Hellmuth, NBA Entertainment's senior vice president of operations and technology.
The Pistons use the same digital video system, by XOS Technologies, as the Spurs. Both teams have access to the technology at away games in the visitors' locker room.
The video can help players in training and provide a competitive edge, said Randy Eccker, executive vice president with XOS Technology. XOS has also invented a product called the bench monitor that allows coaches to call up plays during the game using a wireless laptop, which is connected remotely to the digital video recorder storing the game film.
The coach can use a pen-based stylus to circle plays on the computer screen and review them during timeouts. The technology has gone through trials with some NBA teams but has not yet been approved by the league.
The NBA uses video technology to review how the referees performed, Hellmuth said. Each referee has to produce a written report on his performance after the game.
This season, the NBA launched a digitized library of every game broken down play by play. Next year it'll make the library available to coaches, who'll be able to search for specific plays or players from any game.
"It's all digitized and it's available," Hellmuth said. "Ultimately we will be responsible as a league for our video as well as our statistics."
Next year, the NBA plans to introduce player-tracking video. Four high-definition cameras will hang from the stadiums' ceilings and hook up to computers loaded with video-recognition software that will be able to identify and track the ball along with all 10 players on the court.
The system will help the NBA compile the next-generation statistical system, Hellmuth said. The NBA will also sell the video to game developers looking to create more realistic entertainment.
"We'll be able to tell who was guarding who, the ball movement, the speed of the ball," Hellmuth said.