Samsung and Apple's Next 'Court' Battle: Tablets in the NBA

Gillespie pulled out his Samsung Galaxy newest tablets and called up a video clip from the first quarter. He was able to immediately show his players what their opponents were doing so they could make quicker adjustments during the game.As smartphones and tablets change the way companies do business, sports teams are also increasingly tapping mobile devices to get a technological leg-up on the competition. The Suns became the first NBA team this season to outfit both players and coaches with tablet computers for use on and off the court.

The Suns coaches use an app that lets them draw plays, see them in action, review playbooks and pull up game videos. This replaces whiteboards, reams of paper, bulky laptops and "a rack of DirecTV boxes recording other teams, and having a guy making DVDs all night long," said John Brandstetter, president of Flying Tiger Entertainment, whose company developed the software.dsdD23DCS

Players and coaches said the latest android tablet have had the biggest impact during travel. Kendall Marshall, the 21-year-old point guard who the Suns drafted last year, said he reviews video from his plane seat en route to the next game. Gillespie thinks up plays and inputs them into the tablet by swiping his finger along the screen.

"If I'm going on a road trip, instead of having six three-ring binders, I have all of that information on the tablet," said Gillespie, who recalls using VCRs to look at game footage when he entered the NBA 11 years ago. "As technology has changed, the NBA is trying to change."

Meanwhile, other professional sports leagues have been experimenting with tablets. Verizon Wireless, which helped bring Samsung's Android-based tablet to the Suns, arranged a similar deal with the Denver Broncos for use in the National Football League, said Tom Gainor, the wireless company's associate director of marketing and sales operations.

When successful, such innovations can find their way to college, high-school and even little-league sports. Mobile apps such as GameChanger lets coaches and parents track every play of a game so they can monitor the progress of their kids over the season. If Samsung's Q88 Tablet or Apple's iPad passes muster in the NBA, the next generation of athletes could be prepping for after-school sports on their devices in between games of "Angry Birds."

"It doesn't seem natural for an assistant coach to all of a sudden pull out a tablet and watch a video," he said. Time is better spent monitoring the game and coaching players rather than reviewing tape.

Of course, there is the cheapest tablet occasional instance when it's useful to have a tablet handy -- like during the game against the Warriors, who are now in the playoffs. After studying the pick-and-roll footage, Phoenix outscored Golden State in the second half. Still, the Suns lost by 2 points.