They tend to be a dispassionate group. Players are reduced to X's and O's in their neatly filed reports. Personality and emotion have no place in their craft.

But as they sit and watch Alonzo Mourning battle his way not only through the rigors of the NBA but also against kidney illness, they admit detachment can be difficult.

As advance scouts, their job is to seize on the weakness of opponents. But when thoughts turn to Mourning, impassiveness gives way to reality.

"He's such a great player," a Western Conference scout said last week, "it's heartbreaking to watch him."

"It's really sad, and I feel for the guy," another Western Conference scout added. "But this is the NBA."

Over the past week, before the start of the three-game trip that began Tuesday night against the Clippers in Los Angeles, several scouts, in the midst of filing reports on the Heat, were asked their views on the Heat center. They were asked how Mourning's game has changed in the face of the kidney illness that robbed Mourning of the first 69 games of last season and in the face of a virus that cost him an additional five games this season.