SCREENED IN PLAY-CALL TRACKER HELPS PISTONS WORK THEIR MOVES.

Byline: Evan Pondel Staff Writer

Patrick Sullivan, assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons, spent the entire first game of the NBA Finals hunched over a laptop in the locker room.

He could hear the faint echo of Lakers fans clapping thunder sticks together in an attempt to ward off the Detroit Pistons' pugnacious defense. But he kept to the laborious task of logging the play calls that the team would eventually study to outwit the Lakers' offense.

Sullivan has spent 101 games in the locker room this season, plugging statistics and synchronizing video so the Pistons' defense could carry the team to a championship victory. The work paid off Sunday, and now Sullivan's data will be used in the Pistons' efforts to foil the Lakers' offense tonight.

``Don't get me wrong, it's difficult to stop someone like Shaq. But studying the play calls can help anticipate a pick and roll before it happens,'' said Sullivan, who played in three NCAA Final Fours for North Carolina between 1991 and 1995.

The process begins by watching the offense, labeling each play and then filing it on a hard drive. The more plays stored on the hard drive, the easier it is for Sullivan to spot trends. The technology allows the coaches to see pick and rolls, post-ups and transitions just by clicking on the appropriate file.

It all lines up like connect the dots in Sullivan's head. He is the Pistons' fortune teller, consulting an LCD screen instead of a crystal ball. And he is completely content as he sits in a dank locker room for his first season coaching in the NBA.

``I don't mind concentrating at this level,'' he said. ``I just don't want to mess up.''

After Sunday night's victory, he waltzed out of the locker room with a big smile on his face. Sullivan was finally able to unfurl his 6-foot-plus frame after sitting for nearly three hours in a folding chair.

He is usually flanked by two laptops during the game. His eyes are almost always fixed on a sliver of live video feed as his left and right hands engage different keystrokes.

``It gets a little tricky if you have to get up and do something like visit the bathroom,'' he said, his eyes visibly red from strain.

But multitasking is the least of Sullivan's worries. Most of the stress comes from dissecting the data and then spoon-feeding it to the rest of the team. Like translating the letter-number combinations of a chess match, Sullivan has to recount the game without bogging down the players with a bunch of statistics.

The Pistons certainly understood Sullivan's input Sunday night, ultimately beating the Lakers, 87-75, at Staples Center. The low-scoring game is a testament to tight defense on both teams, but it also proves Sullivan's abilities as an expert data cruncher.

``We were able to play as a unit on the defensive end,'' said Pistons guard Richard Hamilton.

Chauncey Billups, who scored 22 points and tirelessly defended the Lakers until the final minutes of the game, also touted his team's ability to stick and move.

``It's now pick your poison out there,'' he said.

Sullivan isn't solely responsible for developing a technological approach to the game. Steve Hellmuth, NBA senior vice president of technology, credits Bob Salmi, a former assistant coach who helped the New York Knicks perfect their defense in the mid-1990s. Salmi is now working for ESPN, but his eyes light up when he recalls the first time he melded live-video feed and play calls.

``Oh yeah, it brought a whole other level to the game,'' he said whilecourtside Sunday. ``The stats can help you win games, but obviously the physical aspects can get in the way of that.''

When he worked for the Knicks, Salmi had a set-up similar to Sullivan's. Laptops were not as streamlined back then, but Salmi said he was able to provide Pat Riley with enough information to vex the opposition.

The four critical elements to synchronizing live-video feed and play calls include tracking the ball possession, the subsequent action and the player involved. These elements are then time-stamped so that coaches can review the exact moment a guard wiggled his way to the net.

Hellmuth, whom Salmi credits for developing the technology, is in the process of wiring arenas to improve the tracking of players and the ball. The improvements will benefit the players and the video-game companies that want to depict the game more accurately.

``It's funny, getting your face on the front of a Wheaties box was something once coveted by players. Now it's getting your face on the cover of a video game,'' said John Acunto, an NBA spokesman.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Lakers' Kobe Bryant is guarded by two Pistons players, Tayshaun Prince (22) and Richard Hamilton, in the second quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Sunday.

(2) L.A.'s Shaquille O'Neal, right, shoots over Elden Campbell in the 2nd quarter of the first finals game Sunday against the Detroit Pistons. Detroit won, 87-75.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer