Tale of the Tape Helps Lakers Prepare for Jazz : Riley Relies on Video Scouting Reports That Prove to Be Useful in Slowing Utah

It was just before dawn Saturday when Randy Pfund, the Lakers’ chief scout and assistant coach, left the Forum after spending the night breaking down videotapes of the Utah Jazz.

Pfund’s video breakdown on the Jazz enabled the Laker defense to shut down Karl Malone and the Jazz offense in the first quarter of the Lakers’ 110-91 win over Utah in the opening game of their second-round playoff series Sunday at the Forum.

While reviewing tapes of previous Jazz-Laker games with Bill Desser, the Lakers’ video coordinator, Pfund noticed that Malone, Utah’s all-star forward, likes to set up low in the post on offense, so the Lakers tried to force Malone farther away from the basket.

“Malone is 90% more efficient when he can catch the ball in the box (near the basket). So we tried to force him out farther,” Pfund said.

The strategy worked well in the first half as Malone scored just 3 points, missing 8 of 9 shots from the field. Malone was held scoreless until he hit a follow layin with 4:08 remaining in the second quarter.

“They did a great job of scouting me,” Malone said. “The way they play defense, nobody can beat them.”

Laker Coach Pat Riley, who relies more on videotape scouting reports than any other pro basketball coach, gave Pfund a lot of credit for having the defending world champions so well prepared for Utah.

“Randy Pfund is the best scout in basketball, hands down,” Riley said. “There isn’t anyone better at breaking down a tape and giving us a concise (scouting) report.”

When Riley and the players arrived at practice Saturday morning, each player received his own personal videocassette on the Jazz and a folder which contained Pfund’s scouting report.

The cassettes were prepared by Pfund and Desser, who runs the Laker videotape room in the Forum basement with about $100,000 worth of sophisticated electronics equipment. It’s a mini-TV studio which contains 14 videotape recorders which are fed by two TV satellite dishes. The technology enables the Lakers to simultaneously record as many as four games.

Desser, who was rewarded with a 1987 Laker championship ring for his efforts last year, practically lives in the Laker video room at playoff time.

“We spend so much time in here that we’ve thought about putting in a bed,” Desser joked.

Pfund on Desser: “He’s an extension of the coaching staff. Without him, the bags under my eyes would be five times as big.”

The Lakers, however, take their videotapes seriously.

Laker guard Michael Cooper, who has been known to stay up all night watching tapes of opposing players before games, thinks tapes were vital to the team’s preparation for Utah.

“The guys know what we have to do to be competitive (after looking at tapes),” Cooper said. “We came in thinking we had to defense the whole team. The first team came out and they were humming on defense and when the second team came in we couldn’t wait to get our chance.”

Said Magic Johnson: “The tapes always help us because we can see what the other team is doing.”

After completing a three-game sweep of the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs last Tuesday, the Lakers had three days to prepare for the Jazz. Utah, however, had just 38 hours to get ready for the Lakers after eliminating the Portland Trail Blazers Friday night to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1985.

And the homework that the Lakers did in preparing for the game may have been the difference as the Lakers limited Utah to just eight points in the first 12 minutes of the game, an all-time National Basketball Assn. playoff low for the first quarter.

“They did an excellent job of preparing for us. But the bottom line is that they’re better than us,” Jazz Coach Frank Layden said. “I’m not going to make any excuses. They would beat the hell out of us if it was the first game of the season.

“We probably haven’t played a team all year that was as defensively coordinated. There’s no time to be tired in the NBA.”

Layden’s son, Scott, as an assistant coach who handles the scouting reports for the Jazz, marveled at the thoroughness of the Lakers scouting.

“They probably do the best job of scouting in the NBA,” Scott Layden said. “They do a terrific job with videotape.”

Besides containing Malone in the first half, the Lakers also did a tremendous job of shutting down point guard John Stockton, who led the NBA in assists this season.

Stockton had just 3 points and 5 assists as Utah fell behind by 24 points (55-31) at intermission.

“They just took us out of our offense,” Stockton said. “They made us rely on our second and third options by taking away the first, and we didn’t react very well to that.

“They’re the champs and they’re not going to give it up easily.”

The Jazz, however, adjusted in the second half as Malone scored 17 points in the third quarter and finished with 29.

Pfund joined Desser in the video room immediately after the game to begin preparing for the second game of the series which is Tuesday night at the Forum.