From the recap of the Knicks-Blazers game
If you think you've seen the Blazers looking at iPads during games your eyes are not deceiving you. A quick survey of Portland's key players produced some interesting results. Lillard, Matthews, Batum and LaMarcus Aldridge all said that they are using iPads for help during games, but all pursued individual approaches as to what they wanted to see and all had individual habits about when and how they wanted to see the on-demand footage.
Matthews and Aldridge were the biggest advocates of the new technology. Matthews told Blazersedge that he uses the tablets to examine plays on both sides of the ball. On his offensive touches, he's concerned with his shooting form, whether he rushed his shots, and whether there were additional options available to him when the ball swings his way. On defensive plays, Matthews is checking for his stance, his spacing relative to his opponent, and how players are scoring on him.
Aldridge, by contrast, does not look at Portland's defensive possessions, instead reviewing the opposition's defensive coverages when he has the ball in the block or in isolation. Where are the double teams coming from? When do they come? Who are opponents leaving open? What are his passing options? He sounded like a football quarterback or offensive coordinator when describing this instant, in-game "reading the defense" process.
Both players painted the iPad study as a serious competitive advantage.
"It does [help] because you get to see it [again], and in the game everything happens so fast," Matthews, who finished with 17 points (on 6-for-14 shooting) and 6 rebounds, told Blazersedge. "You ask yourself, 'Did I rush it? I felt like I rushed it.' [The video can tell me] when I'm in that same situation off a flare screen, when Nic [Batum] passes over the top, [if] I have more time to get the shot off or [if] I have to shoot it at that speed again. Or, could I have driven it?"
The visual helps with maintaining his confidence too.
"You're not replaying in your head, psyching yourself out," Matthews explained to Blazersedge. "You can actually see it."
The feedback on the plays come nearly in real time. Starters are able to watch sequences from their first shift when they check out for the first time, minimizing the delay from action to correction. What might once have been a "halftime adjustment" can now take place before a player checks back in during the second quarter.
"I get double-teamed a lot so I just have them put my double teams on there," Aldridge, who had 18 points (on 7-for-20 shooting) and 14 rebounds, told Blazersedge. "I want to see how they're double-teaming me, where they are coming from. Of course [it helps]. If I'm getting double-teamed and I can see how they're doing it, that helps me and all my teammates."
Lillard and Batum also use the quick-hitting footage but with less regularity. Lillard said he prefers to watch the tape at halftime, while Batum, who finished with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, said that most of his videotape study comes before and after games. To my amusement, Batum said he enjoys looking over Aldridge's shoulder to watch whatever tape he's watching on the bench; anyone with younger siblings can relate to that phenomenon.
As a point guard, Lillard said there is plenty for him to digest, but he often saves the heavier lifting for next-day sessions or plane rides.
"[At halftime], I look at how they're playing pick-and-rolls, how I read something," Lillard told Blazersedge. "If one of the coaches is telling me 'You looked here, but the wing was open,' I'll go back and look at those plays where they corrected me. I'll go back and look at plays that I felt like I might have gotten fouled, to see if I was wrong. ... It's basically just watching film. You can watch film right now instead of tomorrow at practice. You can see what mistakes you might have made, you might be able to correct it in the second half. ... [It helps with the] adjustment process for a game."
