ShoogarBear
04-22-2007, 09:08 AM
Link (see the sidebar "Victory Through Video") (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/the_bonus/04/18/nba.video/index.html)
The Capture: In "the Cave," the video staff uses satellite receivers, DVD burners and (to indulge the old-school coaches on staff) VCRs to record the four most recent games of the next opponent. Servers with a half-dozen terabytes of memory store state-of-the-art editing software plus several seasons' worth of game tapes.
The Log: Video coordinator James Borrego and his assistants chop up a game using preprogrammed "hot" keys on their computers: The "one" key assigns a clip to one team; the "two" key assigns it to the other (That's why video coordinators call logging "doing your ones and twos."). This is the most tedious part of the job, because it must be done in real time. The latest software allows for each tape clip to be tagged with information marking everything from the type of play; to who shot the ball; to the result.
The Pregame Edits: The video coordinator prepares a "play edit": 5-7 minutes of up to a dozen of the opponent's most relevant sets. Paired with each clip is a graphic of the actual name and hand signal of the play, which a scout on the road has sleuthed out and sent in. Before their gameday shootaround the Spurs view the edit, and out on the floor block out the most common sets. They'll watch the same edit in the locker room a half hour before tip-off. Players also view a "personnel edit" of the opponent's top seven or eight players; defensive virtuoso Bruce Bowen prides himself on popping a customized DVD into his laptop on the team charter. "The key is to eliminate the fluff," says San Antonio assistant Mike Budenholzer. "[Spurs coach Gregg Popovich] believes you can't overburden your players or they'll be frozen on the court."
The Halftime Edit: It's always done at home, and more and more teams are taking their video coordinator on the road too, posting him in the locker room to capture the first half. As soon as the half ends, the video coordinator and coaching staff spend five minutes hashing out an on-the-fly edit. Digital technology makes it possible: "If Pop wants that play where we fouled Nowitzki on the pick-and-roll, I don't have to wind through the whole tape," says Borrego. The players watch a half-dozen plays just before heading out for the second half.
The Postgame: After a road game, Borrego will consult with Popovich on the bus from the arena to the airport, then cut an edit on the charter home. Popovich will screen the 10-minute edit.
The Film Session: By 10:30 a.m. the day after a game the players and coaches will have gathered in the Spurs' practice facility screening room, with its theatre-style seating and telestrator-like Smart Board video screen. Popovich both supplies and invites commentary during the half-hour session. "You can't argue with something right before your eyes," says Budenholzer. "Sometimes Pop kills 'em. Sometimes he makes 'em laugh."
The Payoff: Early in the 2005-06 season, before the Spurs were to play Phoenix, Popovich recalled a Suns-Mavericks playoff game the previous spring in which Dallas' Jason Terry failed to step forward on defense to challenge Steve Nash, who pulled up for a three-point shot in transition that forced overtime. Borrego fetched the clip from a digital folder called Nash/Transition/03 and wove it into the pregame edit. "Late in the game you could see that Nash wanted to pull a late-game transition three, but our guy wouldn't back up," he says. "It was almost as if he saw it coming -- and we won that game." --A.W.
The Capture: In "the Cave," the video staff uses satellite receivers, DVD burners and (to indulge the old-school coaches on staff) VCRs to record the four most recent games of the next opponent. Servers with a half-dozen terabytes of memory store state-of-the-art editing software plus several seasons' worth of game tapes.
The Log: Video coordinator James Borrego and his assistants chop up a game using preprogrammed "hot" keys on their computers: The "one" key assigns a clip to one team; the "two" key assigns it to the other (That's why video coordinators call logging "doing your ones and twos."). This is the most tedious part of the job, because it must be done in real time. The latest software allows for each tape clip to be tagged with information marking everything from the type of play; to who shot the ball; to the result.
The Pregame Edits: The video coordinator prepares a "play edit": 5-7 minutes of up to a dozen of the opponent's most relevant sets. Paired with each clip is a graphic of the actual name and hand signal of the play, which a scout on the road has sleuthed out and sent in. Before their gameday shootaround the Spurs view the edit, and out on the floor block out the most common sets. They'll watch the same edit in the locker room a half hour before tip-off. Players also view a "personnel edit" of the opponent's top seven or eight players; defensive virtuoso Bruce Bowen prides himself on popping a customized DVD into his laptop on the team charter. "The key is to eliminate the fluff," says San Antonio assistant Mike Budenholzer. "[Spurs coach Gregg Popovich] believes you can't overburden your players or they'll be frozen on the court."
The Halftime Edit: It's always done at home, and more and more teams are taking their video coordinator on the road too, posting him in the locker room to capture the first half. As soon as the half ends, the video coordinator and coaching staff spend five minutes hashing out an on-the-fly edit. Digital technology makes it possible: "If Pop wants that play where we fouled Nowitzki on the pick-and-roll, I don't have to wind through the whole tape," says Borrego. The players watch a half-dozen plays just before heading out for the second half.
The Postgame: After a road game, Borrego will consult with Popovich on the bus from the arena to the airport, then cut an edit on the charter home. Popovich will screen the 10-minute edit.
The Film Session: By 10:30 a.m. the day after a game the players and coaches will have gathered in the Spurs' practice facility screening room, with its theatre-style seating and telestrator-like Smart Board video screen. Popovich both supplies and invites commentary during the half-hour session. "You can't argue with something right before your eyes," says Budenholzer. "Sometimes Pop kills 'em. Sometimes he makes 'em laugh."
The Payoff: Early in the 2005-06 season, before the Spurs were to play Phoenix, Popovich recalled a Suns-Mavericks playoff game the previous spring in which Dallas' Jason Terry failed to step forward on defense to challenge Steve Nash, who pulled up for a three-point shot in transition that forced overtime. Borrego fetched the clip from a digital folder called Nash/Transition/03 and wove it into the pregame edit. "Late in the game you could see that Nash wanted to pull a late-game transition three, but our guy wouldn't back up," he says. "It was almost as if he saw it coming -- and we won that game." --A.W.