2007-2008 NBA Announcing Preview: ESPN

Thursday, October 25, 2007

I'll get to TNT sometime this week, but wanted to touch on ESPN first because there's a TON of randomness going on over at the "Leader" in regards to the NBA. I do these different every year (well last year since I've only done one), so I'm going to touch on the Studio Show, The Booth Pairings, and lastly the reporters. You can basically stop after the Announcing Teams because the reporters are the same boring ones as last year sans one new addition.


Let's get into it shall we?

The Studio Team:

The rumors are true folks! The studio team is actually Stuart Scott, Stephen A. Smith, and Bill Walton. Just kill me now. This is like the perfect storm of awfulness, and while they'll make your ears bleed....they'll be perfect for this website. I can picture them all just going off the deep end by Mid-December. Walton will be in the corner hitting bongos and repeating "Throw it down Big Man...THROW IT DOWN!". Stu Scott will be reciting Slam Poetry on the other side of the room. And Stephen A. Smith will be the only one at the desk yelling into the camera about how Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony are just NOT GETTING ALONG!

How can one network make so many ridiculous decisions? It blows my mind. They are going to get hammered for this move.

The Announcing Teams:


Your lead trio is the same as last year's playoff team and that's Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy. Mark Jackson should really only be an in-studio reporter, but again....if you're an ex-player you have a seat courtside. I was cold on Breen at first, but I've warmed up to him, and Jeff Van Gundy was a welcome change of pace for the playoffs last year.

The majority of their games will be on ABC's Sunday coverage, but they'll kick off the season Halloween night as the Mavs travel to Cleveland.

Your #2 squad is going to be Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown for the majority of the season, but Dan Shulman will fill-in for Tirico when his schedule has him somewhere for Monday Night Football.

I'm not sure when Hubie Brown's shelf-life expires, but I can't stand him. Never really could actually. As you know there are some people who I give a pass on the site because of their age (Madden, Keith Jackson, etc.), but there's a difference with Hubie. He was never good. Ever. I'm sorry, but he's just one of those Announcer that just grate on my nerves (see: Brent Musburger).

The other remaining teams will feature Mark Jones and Dave Pasch as leads and Walton and Jon Barry as analysts. I have no idea what happened to Tom Tolbert, but I will miss him greatly. Hopefully you end up in the ESPN NBA Announcer graveyard (NBA TV) with Snapper Jones. Keep getting rid of the only good broadcasters you have ESPN.

Sideliners for the year will be Ric Bucher, Doris Burke, Lisa Salters and Michele Tafoya.

The Rest of the Cast:
This is the part you can skip because the contributors to Fastbreak are the same as last year. They've hired Jalen Rose and Rick Carlisle full-time, and the rest of the studio analysts will include Greg Anthony, Tim Legler, Jamal Mashburn and Kiki Vandeweghe, Ric Bucher, and ESPN.com’s Marc Stein. Jon Saunders will host NBA Matchup and feature many of the previously listed analysts.

The new person I was referring to is Jackie MacMullan. The Globe Reporter will contribute in some capacity, but I'm not exactly sure how or why.

2006-2007 ESPN Announcing Preview (Awful Announcing)

Posted by Awful Announcing- at 10:29 AM

10 Comments:

Shulman does basketball now? That's awesome.

We used to have him in Toronto as our play-by-play guy, but we always kind of had the feeling he would get snatched up.

Oct 25, 2007, 11:32:00 AM  

I cannot stand tolbert, boring and talked shit about everybody. Korny jr.

Anonymous said...
Oct 25, 2007, 11:33:00 AM  

Mr. Cosby....

Sorry, but I feel no need to defend that I'm not a racist. Go back and read the rest of the site and find the praise that I give to other black commentators...Hell I praise Snapper Jones in the article.

Until then I'm going to delete racist comments. Hope everyone understands.

Oct 25, 2007, 11:46:00 AM  

No need to explain or defend yourself from the bullies out there.

White people can criticize African Americans without being racist. Some people don't understand that.

Hope you don't consider that a racist statement. I know some people will

Anonymous said...
Oct 25, 2007, 11:48:00 AM  

He'll get tired sooner or later.

Oct 25, 2007, 11:58:00 AM  

Hubie Brown is awesome. Giving Madden a pass because of his age is redonkulous. He's on the #1 game each week in front of a national audience.

Anonymous said...
Oct 25, 2007, 1:00:00 PM  

awful announcing is right! Mark Jackson was best suited with Michael Wilbon and Dan Patrick on the ABC pregrame. That was the best decision besides Al Michaels and Doc Rivers a few years back that ESPN and ABC has ever made since having the contract for the NBA.

If ABC had those to combos now, everybody would be happy watching the NBA ON ABC.

By the way, I am black and I cant stand Stuart Scott and is puzzled on why he got the job as host for both networks! I am willing to bet by the playoffs they will fired the NBA studio team for both networks excluding Mike Wilbon! They are so erratic on ESPN AND ABC with their NBA coverage.

They need to hire some CBS Sports staff to help their coverage....

Dr.Drew said...
Oct 25, 2007, 3:53:00 PM  

I thought Tolbert was on NBA TV now.

Also, how can you not like the studio team of Cheetos, Acid, and Eyepatch???

GMoney said...
Oct 25, 2007, 4:13:00 PM  

ESPN better come up with better commercials for their basketball coverage than the one I saw with Melo, Jason Kidd & Stephen A. Smith.

Anonymous said...
Oct 25, 2007, 7:07:00 PM  

Tom Tolbert is the best, but I assume ABC is not looking for knowledge and entertainment, just big names.

Anonymous said...
Jan 27, 2008, 8:17:00 PM  

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