DATE: Wednesday, April 2, 1997              TAG: 9704020719

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   58 lines

PIT IS LAB FOR NBA SCOUTS PORTSMOUTH TOURNEY GIVES THEM A CHANCE TO STUDY PLAYERS OUTSIDE THE SCHOOLS.

The casual will be wearing warm-up suits and sneakers. The more fashion-conscious will go with slacks and blazers.

But if they really wanted to be true to their mission, the NBA scouts and executives who will be at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament for the next four days would show up in white lab coats and horn-rimmed safety glasses.

``It's a laboratory,'' said Dick Percudani, director of college scouting for the Phoenix Suns.

Tonight through Saturday, the gym at Churchland High will be converted into a basketball lab, a controlled, uncontaminated environment in which scouts can get a long look at 64 NBA prospects, outside their college systems and pitted head-to-head against other good players.

For that reason, scouts love the PIT. Never mind the fact that it's been years since the tournament produced an all-star-caliber player. Or that the top seniors don't come, that underclassmen aren't eligible, and that increases in TV exposure and scouting budgets mean there are fewer ``sleepers'' out there waiting to be discovered.

The PIT, scouts say, remains an important first step in culling the herd of NBA prospects.

Did a player play mostly zone defense in college? The PIT will show whether he can play man-to-man. Was he forced to play with his back to the basket because his team had no size? The PIT will reveal whether he can play facing the basket. Is he an undersized shooting guard? At Portsmouth, scouts will learn whether he has the skills to play point guard.

The winnowing starts tonight. Most of the players have already been scouted, some ad nauseum. For example, scouts already have a thick dossier on a player like Duke's Jeff Capel. By contrast, not much is known about a player like Juergen Malbeck, the NAIA player of the year from Hawaii-Pacific.

Gary Fitzsimmons, director of player personnel for the Cleveland Cavaliers, said his team's scouting reports cover four main areas.

First, does a player have the physical tools to play in the NBA? The size? Strength? Quickness? Sometimes players who are listed at 6-foot-7 turn out to be 6-5.

Next comes an evaluation of a player's skills. Can he handle the ball? Pass? Shoot correctly? In what areas is he limited fundamentally?

Does the player know the game? Does he have good instincts? How well does he read offensive and defensive situations?

Last, but certainly not least, are character and work habits.

Common sense says most players will not be picked in the June NBA draft. Last year, 12 PIT players were selected, only one in the first round.

All will be thoroughly scouted, though. All will have an equal chance to impress. For the scouts, and the players for that matter, that's the beauty of the PIT lab.

``It levels the playing field,'' said Chris Wallace, director of college and international scouting for the Miami Heat.

And when it comes to the ``science'' of scouting, you never know. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

PIT at a Glance

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