Okay this doesn't make any sense to me. They have half of the playoffs on their channel, and they are linked with ABC also I believe, so that's more like 60% of the playoffs. Instead of marketing it really well and hyping people up, they focus on baseball;s regular season most of sportscenter. Their show on after sportscenter is baseball tonight, not NBA fastbreak. Come on, this is the playoffs vs baseball's regular season. It's kinda ridiculous IMO, what do you guys think?
ESPN's coverage of the NBA is terrible
- Thread starter BMiller52
- Start date
Somewhat related: does anyone else hate the coach interviews during the quarter breaks? They don't tell the viewer anything unique or interesting, and the coaches seem uncomfortable, as if they just want to say "OK, now let me go coach my team!" Pop had a priceless one word answer for some asinine question yesterday, and the sideline reporter was shocked into several seconds of on-air silence. I'm all for mic-ing the players, coaches, and refs, but these quarter interviews are downright awkward and unecessary.
I don't mind the 3rd quarter interviews... they're experimenting, wouldn't be surprised if it's not back next year.
I hate baseball season in general. Always turns into all baseball highlights on ESPN. That and hockey.
Argh.
Well, hopefully next year NBA TV won't suck as much.
I hate baseball season in general. Always turns into all baseball highlights on ESPN. That and hockey.
Argh.Well, hopefully next year NBA TV won't suck as much.
I agree with you especially about baseball. I can't watch that if I tried and that's all they show on sportscenter. There's nothing good to watch on ESPN all summer long. Atleast we should have Olympic basketball this year though.
I agree
It hasn't been about the NBA for a while.
This is Sportscenter on terms of the NBA (if you're talking on terms of Kings coverage, you can forget it, half the time unless you look at the sports ticker at the bottom, you'll never know if they played according to ESPN):
When the season starts, their focus(Sportscenter) is the NFL and College Football. Some games named Kobe, LeBron, Shaq, Wade, Steve, Dirk, the Spurs and everybody else around Christmas. Then the focus comes to the NFL and college basketball. The All-Star Game gets discussed a little bit but then it's on to Spring Training in baseball. Racing on weekends Then they maybe talk about the NBA when the playoffs races are being decided, but of course THE DRAFT(NFL) is coming up. So now we're at the following: THE DRAFT, baseball, hockey, basketball, racing.
I watch NBA Daily if I need to hear highlights of NBA games
It hasn't been about the NBA for a while.
This is Sportscenter on terms of the NBA (if you're talking on terms of Kings coverage, you can forget it, half the time unless you look at the sports ticker at the bottom, you'll never know if they played according to ESPN):
When the season starts, their focus(Sportscenter) is the NFL and College Football. Some games named Kobe, LeBron, Shaq, Wade, Steve, Dirk, the Spurs and everybody else around Christmas. Then the focus comes to the NFL and college basketball. The All-Star Game gets discussed a little bit but then it's on to Spring Training in baseball. Racing on weekends Then they maybe talk about the NBA when the playoffs races are being decided, but of course THE DRAFT(NFL) is coming up. So now we're at the following: THE DRAFT, baseball, hockey, basketball, racing.
I watch NBA Daily if I need to hear highlights of NBA games
I quit watching Sportscenter - and pretty much every other ESPN program - a long time ago so I wouldn't have noticed any difference.
I like football as well, so I don't have much to complain about when coverage shifts that direction later in the summer.
Am I the only one though looking forward to a revamped NBA TV now run by TNT? I doubt we'll see Kenny and Charles there, but surely they will do a better job than the hokey 80's vibe it gives off now. Something like NFL Network would be great. I do hope they keep showing the old classic games however...
Am I the only one though looking forward to a revamped NBA TV now run by TNT? I doubt we'll see Kenny and Charles there, but surely they will do a better job than the hokey 80's vibe it gives off now. Something like NFL Network would be great. I do hope they keep showing the old classic games however...
Seriously.
And Pop does it again! His team is down big after the first, and instead of letting him coach, they pester him with questions.
Reporter: Shaq's been making his free throws so far. Is that going to deter you from going to the hack-a-Shaq later on?
Pop: Probably not.
...
silence
...
Priceless.
And Pop does it again! His team is down big after the first, and instead of letting him coach, they pester him with questions.
Reporter: Shaq's been making his free throws so far. Is that going to deter you from going to the hack-a-Shaq later on?
Pop: Probably not.
...
silence
...
Priceless.
Having just watched the opening hype package on TNT for Wizards/Cavs and Hawks/Celtics, I am more convinced now than ever that whoever says that they need to bring back the NBA on NBC ought to be hit in the head with a snow shovel. TNT's hype packages are a million times better than the best stuff NBC ever did, ever, and they have a much better musical selection.
Not that I think that there's anything wrong with ABC's coverage personally but, if anything, instead of people lobbying for the NBA to return to NBC, they should be lobbying for the Finals to be given to TNT.
Let the Truth be told!
Not that I think that there's anything wrong with ABC's coverage personally but, if anything, instead of people lobbying for the NBA to return to NBC, they should be lobbying for the Finals to be given to TNT.
Let the Truth be told!
A lot of people in this country still don't have cable TV, and with the signals going digital next year, there's no incentive for them to get it, aside from programming. And if that hasn't been enough in the past 15 years, it might not be enough going forward.
I think the NBA is reluctant to lock non-cable fans completely out of the Playoffs or the Finals.
I don't so much mind the ABC broadcasts, aside from what seems to me to be more commercial breaks. Plus, I don't care too much for Mike Tirico, although I can stand him on basketball games much more than on Monday Night Football (I know you don't watch football, so you can't relate). I didn't even mind the Pussycat Dolls intro as much as most people did last season.
I think the longing for NBC is more about nostalgia than anything else. Bob Costas and Doug Collins is still my favorite two-man crew of all time, far superior to anything any other network has ever put out, but other than that, the broadcasts are similar to me. I don't watch halftime shows for basketball games, so that doesn't really count to me.
I think the NBA is reluctant to lock non-cable fans completely out of the Playoffs or the Finals.
I don't so much mind the ABC broadcasts, aside from what seems to me to be more commercial breaks. Plus, I don't care too much for Mike Tirico, although I can stand him on basketball games much more than on Monday Night Football (I know you don't watch football, so you can't relate). I didn't even mind the Pussycat Dolls intro as much as most people did last season.
I think the longing for NBC is more about nostalgia than anything else. Bob Costas and Doug Collins is still my favorite two-man crew of all time, far superior to anything any other network has ever put out, but other than that, the broadcasts are similar to me. I don't watch halftime shows for basketball games, so that doesn't really count to me.
The first part of that is opinion, the second part I'll challenge: I say that Harlan/Collins and Albert/Fratello are both as good as Costas/Collins. In fact, I felt about Costas about the way that you feel about Tirico, as I actually do think that Tirico does a good job with Hubie Brown calling basketball games. I actually think that the Pasch/Burke combination is pretty good, too, but there's probably a lot of people that don't care for women calling games.
I think that the studio analysis is about equal between NBC and ABC, but I'll admit to being biased towards ABC, simply because I like Wilbon. Personally, I think that the only reason people want NBA on NBC to come back is because they have some kind of stalker-ish love affair with "Roundball Rock."
I think that the studio analysis is about equal between NBC and ABC, but I'll admit to being biased towards ABC, simply because I like Wilbon. Personally, I think that the only reason people want NBA on NBC to come back is because they have some kind of stalker-ish love affair with "Roundball Rock."
Yes, the John Tesh intro was great. I know you don't necessarily agree, but there was something about it. I still miss it. And how can you not like Bob Costas?
I like Hubie Brown most of the time, but he gets on my nerves after a while. As a stickler for details, he seems to be much more critical than other analysts, and sometimes I just want to watch the game, not hear him coach. I definitely prefer Hubie to the guys who just heap lavish praise over every player for no reason. ("Manu Ginobili is probably the greatest left-hander ever to come off the bench for a contender in the Southwest division in the history of the NBA." Why can't he just be a good player, without you having to make up some category that only he qualifies for?)
About Mike Tirico, the reason I don't like him is mostly because he ruins MNF games for me. He talks waaaay too much, when his job is to set-up the analysts who actually have something worth listening to. Unlike most people, I enjoyed Joe Theissman and the rest of the old Sunday Night Football crew, because they were passionate about football, and didn't bore us with meaningless statistics. No one cares who leads the NFC in arm tackles. That disdain for Tirico carries over to basketball broadcasts, where he's definitely better than he is with football, but I still don't care for his play-by-play.
I like Hubie Brown most of the time, but he gets on my nerves after a while. As a stickler for details, he seems to be much more critical than other analysts, and sometimes I just want to watch the game, not hear him coach. I definitely prefer Hubie to the guys who just heap lavish praise over every player for no reason. ("Manu Ginobili is probably the greatest left-hander ever to come off the bench for a contender in the Southwest division in the history of the NBA." Why can't he just be a good player, without you having to make up some category that only he qualifies for?)
About Mike Tirico, the reason I don't like him is mostly because he ruins MNF games for me. He talks waaaay too much, when his job is to set-up the analysts who actually have something worth listening to. Unlike most people, I enjoyed Joe Theissman and the rest of the old Sunday Night Football crew, because they were passionate about football, and didn't bore us with meaningless statistics. No one cares who leads the NFC in arm tackles. That disdain for Tirico carries over to basketball broadcasts, where he's definitely better than he is with football, but I still don't care for his play-by-play.
TNT is great, don't get me wrong. But like other posters have said, there's no way they put the finals on cable. And NBC>ABC.
But TNT aint perfect. I, for one, am absolutely sick of their promos. I will NEVER watch the Closer, Saving Grace, or whatever dumb family sitcom they've come up with. It's a wonder how they make any money off ads, considering at least half of them are their own in house promos.
But TNT aint perfect. I, for one, am absolutely sick of their promos. I will NEVER watch the Closer, Saving Grace, or whatever dumb family sitcom they've come up with. It's a wonder how they make any money off ads, considering at least half of them are their own in house promos.
Based on what? The studio analysis is the same, the play-by-play is the same, and I would personally give the edge to ABC in both. I would, in fact, consider NBC's studio analysis to be sub-par.
Frankly, I don't think that there's anything that NBC did better with the NBA than ABC, unless you somehow attribute the Bulls dynasty and the Kings being good to some conscious effort on NBC's part. And I stand firm in my assertion that the only reason why ninety-nine percent of people like the NBA on NBC's coverage was because of Roundball Rock.
Frankly, I don't think that there's anything that NBC did better with the NBA than ABC, unless you somehow attribute the Bulls dynasty and the Kings being good to some conscious effort on NBC's part. And I stand firm in my assertion that the only reason why ninety-nine percent of people like the NBA on NBC's coverage was because of Roundball Rock.
I think that the content and actual meat of the two stations was the same quality-wise, but the presentation for NBC was just a lot better. Partially because TNT is hogging all of the good commentators like Harlan and Albert, leaving ABC stuck with dull and repetitive talent like Tirico and Breen (the next time you here "Bang!" might just be me shooting myself). And you have to admit, Roundball Rock became synonomous with the league for a while, so its understandable to miss it.
