NBA on ABC/ESPN Halftime = Terrible!

[keond]

Worst panel ever:

Bob Myers: Token cac who is awkward as fukk.
Willbon: old ass nerd nikka who never played sports a day in his life
Stephen A. A c00n ass nerd nikka who thinks he is the spokesman for black people.
Malaika: tragic mulatto unlikable broad never played sports a day in her life.

Why can't we have some interesting ex players. All these bozos are unlikable and unqualified. We need at least one ex player. shyt Stephen A dont count with his 1.5 points at a HBCU in the 80s ass.

 

[FAH1223]

This is the more noticeable than anything else. It’s Breen doing play by play and two other people who seem nervous and unqualified to announce a championship series.

They mentioned Doug Collins on the broadcast

They should bring him back

 

[NOSaintsFan02]

Halftime is halftime. Only so much they can do in rushed time. It's their pregame that is atrocious. And their presentation. Game feels like a regular Wednesday night NBA game in January. Not the NBA Finals.

 

[tremonthustler1]

Halftime is halftime. Only so much they can do in rushed time. It's their pregame that is atrocious. And their presentation. Game feels like a regular Wednesday night NBA game in January. Not the NBA Finals.

that's because we're used to Bob Costas telling us why world peace was at risk if Jordan lost to the Jazz or Marv telling us the Knicks need a win to stop Lady Liberty's tears

they suck at the buildup.

 

[pete clemenza]

It makes no sense whatsoever as to why Wilbon and even SAS are on the show. Out of all the NBA talent out therein the stratosphere, how in the hell is Wilbon one of your main guys. Bob Myers ads absolutely nothing. TNT-Inside The NBA has mastered the old man "get off my lawn" basketball panel and format to a tee. What would've set espn apart and making a bold statement was to get all young cats like Josiah Johnson, Rob Perez, Shams, Gilbert Arenas, Brian Salabrini, etc for example and see what kind of pre and post game show you could come up with. Just not going the same old man route like TNT but far inferior of a product and production wise.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

It makes no sense whatsoever as to why Wilbon and even SAS are on the show. Out of all the NBA talent out therein the stratosphere, how in the hell is Wilbon one of your main guys. Bob Myers ads absolutely nothing. TNT-Inside The NBA has mastered the old man "get off my lawn" basketball panel and format to a tee. What would've set espn apart and making a bold statement was to get all young cats like Josiah Johnson, Rob Perez, Shams, Gilbert Arenas, Brian Salabrini, etc for example and see what kind of pre and post game show you could come up with. Just not going the same old man route like TNT but far inferior of a product and production wise.

Because they were trying to bring “stability” to the panel after the Taylor/Nichols situation. Remember they initially wanted Magic on the panel as well.

 

[Schadenfreude]

It makes no sense whatsoever as to why Wilbon and even SAS are on the show. Out of all the NBA talent out therein the stratosphere, how in the hell is Wilbon one of your main guys. Bob Myers ads absolutely nothing. TNT-Inside The NBA has mastered the old man "get off my lawn" basketball panel and format to a tee. What would've set espn apart and making a bold statement was to get all young cats like Josiah Johnson, Rob Perez, Shams, Gilbert Arenas, Brian Salabrini, etc for example and see what kind of pre and post game show you could come up with. Just not going the same old man route like TNT but far inferior of a product and production wise.

Agree except for Shams; his credibility is sus. Especially with his "reporting" of late.

 

[FakeNews]

They’ve been criticized before but not this heavily. Question is will they double down or will they finally make changes? I suspect it will be the former.

@keond pretty much hit the nail on the head about their crew. I’ll add the studio show is way too Stephen A. focused.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

They’ve been criticized before but not this heavily. Question is will they double down or will they finally make changes? I suspect it will be the former.

@keond pretty much hit the nail on the head about their crew. I’ll add the studio show is way too Stephen A. focused.

Nothing they can do for the halftime portion as long as Disney insists on it being a hub for ads to help pay for those NBA rights.

 

[FAH1223]

They’ve been criticized before but not this heavily. Question is will they double down or will they finally make changes? I suspect it will be the former.

@keond pretty much hit the nail on the head about their crew. I’ll add the studio show is way too Stephen A. focused.

Nothing they can do for the halftime portion as long as Disney insists on it being a hub for ads to help pay for those NBA rights.

They’re only paying $200M more than WBD is in the current TV deal.

Yet WBD on TNT and NBATV broadcasts still sells ads but is able to give you 6-7 minutes of halftime analysis and banter.

This is shameless.

And the scrutiny is getting higher because Silver is going to be keeping Disney for 11 more years with its subpar product.

 

[En Sabah Nur]

It makes no sense whatsoever as to why Wilbon and even SAS are on the show. Out of all the NBA talent out therein the stratosphere, how in the hell is Wilbon one of your main guys. Bob Myers ads absolutely nothing. TNT-Inside The NBA has mastered the old man "get off my lawn" basketball panel and format to a tee. What would've set espn apart and making a bold statement was to get all young cats like Josiah Johnson, Rob Perez, Shams, Gilbert Arenas, Brian Salabrini, etc for example and see what kind of pre and post game show you could come up with. Just not going the same old man route like TNT but far inferior of a product and production wise.

Yeah the bar for the new age has clearly been set by NBA on TNT as well as the NFL on every network when it comes to live coverage. If you don't have the special veteran chops of a Marv Albert or Bob Costas a panel of ex-players is the way to go for game coverage. Ernie is the only non -player on Inside, but he's a TNT og going back to the late 80's. Nobody wants to hear those boring ABC/ESPN doofs. They can keep Stephen A but replace everyone else with ex-players with a personality.

If they want a token female, why Malika instead of all people? Why not someone like Sheryl Miller, Cheryl Swoopes, Lobo or somebody?

 

[Rev]

Is ESPN in need of change behind the scenes in the NBA dept? The decision-making has seemed to be a consistent mess.

- Halftime is still a major issue
- Pregame / Halftime / Postgame talent is widely criticized
- Doc Rivers decision backfired
- Doris and JJ Redikk have Mike Breen talking to himself a lot of times…and JJ might leave too
- The Mark Jackson / JVG layoffs backfired publicly even though it was probably an NBA decision
- The way the company covers the NBA overall on different shows needs a makeover

Jimmy Pitaro might have to step up and step in…

 

[Legal]

They’re only paying $200M more than WBD is in the current TV deal.

Yet WBD on TNT and NBATV broadcasts still sells ads but is able to give you 6-7 minutes of halftime analysis and banter.

This is shameless.

And the scrutiny is getting higher because Silver is going to be keeping Disney for 11 more years with its subpar product.

Comparing them to WBD in this case is apples and oranges. Disney's spend on sports rights is exponentially larger than WBD's, so they're in a situation where they absolutely need as much ad revenue as they can get. It's manifested in nearly everything they do now, but the NBA just happens to be getting hit the worst right now with their atrocious halftime show. If both companies swapped positions, TNT's halftime shows would probably be just as shytty.

Is ESPN in need of change behind the scenes in the NBA dept? The decision-making has seemed to be a consistent mess.

- Halftime is still a major issue
- Pregame / Halftime / Postgame talent is widely criticized
- Doc Rivers decision backfired
- Doris and JJ Redikk have Mike Breen talking to himself a lot of times…and JJ might leave too
- The Mark Jackson / JVG layoffs backfired publicly even though it was probably an NBA decision
- The way the company covers the NBA overall on different shows needs a makeover

Jimmy Pitaro might have to step up and step in…

There's a significant chance Pitaro helped guide them in this direction in the first place.

 

[Piff Perkins]

It makes no sense whatsoever as to why Wilbon and even SAS are on the show. Out of all the NBA talent out therein the stratosphere, how in the hell is Wilbon one of your main guys. Bob Myers ads absolutely nothing. TNT-Inside The NBA has mastered the old man "get off my lawn" basketball panel and format to a tee. What would've set espn apart and making a bold statement was to get all young cats like Josiah Johnson, Rob Perez, Shams, Gilbert Arenas, Brian Salabrini, etc for example and see what kind of pre and post game show you could come up with. Just not going the same old man route like TNT but far inferior of a product and production wise.

Honestly it's less about the old man problem and more about the old men they have. I like Wilbon on PTI but he's terrible at live sporting events. There are plenty of older guys who could do a great job, and have in the past. Like Isiah Thomas and Magic. But they talk about the actual game whereas ESPN clearly prefers narrative/hot take driven discussions via SAS. He has completely ruined that network.

If they want a white guy why not get a former player instead of a former GM whose track record looks worse the more people look back at it. I'd rather have Larry Bird up there, or Dirk, or Steve Nash or just about any former white player.

 

[tremonthustler1]

Yeah the bar for the new age has clearly been set by NBA on TNT as well as the NFL on every network when it comes to live coverage. If you don't have the special veteran chops of a Marv Albert or Bob Costas a panel of ex-players is the way to go for game coverage. Ernie is the only non -player on Inside, but he's a TNT og going back to the late 80's. Nobody wants to hear those boring ABC/ESPN doofs. They can keep Stephen A but replace everyone else with ex-players with a personality.

If they want a token female, why Malika instead of all people? Why not someone like Sheryl Miller, Cheryl Swoopes, Lobo or somebody?

Because Malika's the host. She doesn't provide what those players provide. Those players would be there alongside her the same way Ogunmike and Carter are alongside Elle Duncan (side note: somehow ESPN has figured out the women's basketball lineup college and pro)