PREP NOTES : Students Reach for Computer to Keep Trabuco Hills’ Game Stats

Trabuco Hills students Rosie Manning and Leslie Thompson probably have more fun keeping basketball statistics than anybody in Orange County.

While their peers scribble on stat sheets mounted on clipboards, Manning and Thompson use a state-of-the-art tabletop computer to compile stats on the Mustang boys’ team.

“It’s as high-tech as anything you would want,” Trabuco Hills Coach Rainer Wulf said of the program’s new Dynasport computer. “It keeps every stat you could want for your team or an opponent. It’s a dynamic piece of equipment for a program to have.”

The 18-by-10-inch computer keeps track of shots, rebounds, assists, turnovers, steals and fouls.

The statistics are filed under the players’ name and number along with team statistics and a chronological list of scoring.

Manning and Thompson also keep a shot chart on a small diagram in the middle of the keyboard. After games, Wulf hooks the computer to a printer to get copies of the stats and shot charts.

“The great thing is that it keeps track of the game chronologically,” Wulf said. “You get a readout on the flow of the game, when situations occur.

“You can get shot charts for specific players. You can recall game stats at any time, field goal percentages for particular players, shot charts for each player.”

Wulf said the computer gives him quick, up-to-date stats and helps him with scouting. The computer memory holds up to as many as six games.

“It’s amazing what it can do,” Wulf said. “We’re still figuring out all the nooks and crannies with it. If we had a printer at courtside, we could print out stats at halftime of a game.”

Wulf said it takes two statisticians to run the computer--one to spot plays and the other to operate the keyboard.

When a player pulls down a rebound, Manning or Thompson enter the player’s number, then hit a key labeled “rebound”.

“This year’s sort of a learning experience for them,” Wulf said. “Leslie is a sophomore and Rosie is a junior, and both are very bright with computer backgrounds.”

Several colleges began using stat computers in the mid-1980s, but high schools are just beginning to use them. Wulf saw the Dynasport model at a Cerritos College coaching clinic and again last summer at a booth at the Servite tournament.

Trabuco Hills’ booster club paid $1,500 for the computer last fall out of its fund-raising budget, Wulf said.

“We’re fortunate to have a supportive booster club and community,” Wulf said.