NBA Tv Playoff coverage..massive failure

[romsho]

Where do I start? Numerous host cut-ins during game action, split screen with studio hosts talking over the game, commercial cut-in...not during a timeout but right in the middle of the game, and of course, the Dallas announcing team calling the action. I can almost understand putting up with this every now and then during the regular season, but for the playoffs, it's unacceptable. It was just a really lousy game watching experience.

[Stamm32089]

Where do I start? Numerous host cut-ins during game action, split screen with studio hosts talking over the game, commercial cut-in...not during a timeout but right in the middle of the game, and of course, the Dallas announcing team calling the action. I can almost understand putting up with this every now and then during the regular season, but for the playoffs, it's unacceptable. It was just a really lousy game watching experience.

NBATV's production value is always shit. Give me TNT all day.

BTW Mark, Bob and Skin (our announcers) were the most biased I've seen them all year. Usually they're about as close to the middle of the road as you can go, but last night, they were pretty bad...

[fraga]

Fox Sports Southwest baby...

[romsho]

Fox Sports Southwest baby...

Yes, of course. I wish it were a choice-but unless you actually live in San Antonio, you get what NBATv gives you, which in this case, was crap.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Their in studio stuff is pretty good. I'd put it at #2 behind TNT but still ahead of ESPN in terms of overall watchability. The actual game presentation is pretty bad though, in no small part because of the wildly varying quality of home team broadcasters.

[Dex]

My NBATV was blacked out last night for some reason. FSN was also having some technical difficulties; the game went black a few times there as well, and the HD feed was doing that annoying choppy lag thing.

I guess if you're gonna watch a loss, that's the way to watch it.

[iflyabeech]

I get Fox Sports southwest in Corpus.. mucho bettero!! Directv!!!

[Spurs7794]

The telecast sucked because of how bad NBATV is in general. WHY DO WE NEED A SPLIT SCREEN OF DWADE AT THE PODIUM DURING THE GAME? And also, why do we need to see Brent Barry dissecting a Mavs play while the actual game is going on?

I was pleasantly surprised by the commentary. They weren't that homerish, they gave major props to the Spurs and weren't biased when I thought they would be (they agreed that Najera's foul shoulda been a flagrant while lots of commentators woulda disagreed). Then again I might have just been primed for it being much worse after listening to the awful Celtics telecast right before the game.

[SpurCharger]

NBA Tv Is shit, Garbage, and Should never Play Games on there.

[leemajors]

My NBATV was blacked out last night for some reason. FSN was also having some technical difficulties; the game went black a few times there as well, and the HD feed was doing that annoying choppy lag thing.

I guess if you're gonna watch a loss, that's the way to watch it.

that sucks, it was butter on uverse in Austin. Too bad the game itself was bad.

[Crookshanks]

I don't get NBA TV, so I watched the local Mavs channel (I live in Fort Worth). I turned the volume down before the second quarter started. But if the Spurs were going to lay a big fat egg, I'm glad they did it when not as many people could watch!

I wonder how the TV lineup is gonna go now that most of the Eastern Conference Series are already over?

[SenorSpur]

Where do I start? Numerous host cut-ins during game action, split screen with studio hosts talking over the game, commercial cut-in...not during a timeout but right in the middle of the game, and of course, the Dallas announcing team calling the action. I can almost understand putting up with this every now and then during the regular season, but for the playoffs, it's unacceptable. It was just a really lousy game watching experience.

I've had these EXACT same complaints about the NBATV telecasts, in previous posts. It's a goddamn ridiculous method to broadcasting a game - especially a playoff game. If I want to watch another game, besides the featured telecast, I'll switch the station. I don't need "bonus coverage".

The fact is that once the playoffs start, there should no longer be ANY NBA games on NBATV. All should be available via TNT, ESPN or ABC.

[Flux451]

Playoffs should never have home team announcers. Shit was horrible last night.

[TC-MAVS]

Awwwww, poor babies. You guys are used to the biggest Homer, most biased, and most unproffesional commentator in the business today. Sean Eliiot is a joke...... The Mavs home broadcast team is neutral mostly. Skin is the only guy that will get into homer mode but it was a beautiful thing last night. Suck it up spurs fans......

[MarceloM!]

It's just a matter of bussiness. That's all about.

[said7]

NBA TVs production is just horrible. Like i really want to see an analysis in the MIDDLE of the game. Most people don't have 70 inch plasmas. If you watching at a bar you couldn't even see whats going on. Not to mention commercials on top of game action. One thing a company can never do is screw up their own product.

[samikeyp]

Playoffs should never have home team announcers. Shit was horrible last night.

Agreed. National broadcasts should have neutral announcers. Local coverage is fine for the home team's announcers.

[timaios]

NBA TV has no respect for the game of basketball, they prefer to show pointless analysis and interviews rather than the game itself...
It is ridiculous !!! :bang

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I will say this much for NBA TV the commercials are awesome. The big boys like ABC and ESPN don't have ads for the Snuggy or HD sunglasses.

[benefactor]

The telecast sucked because of how bad NBATV is in general. WHY DO WE NEED A SPLIT SCREEN OF DWADE AT THE PODIUM DURING THE GAME? And also, why do we need to see Brent Barry dissecting a Mavs play while the actual game is going on?

The Mavs call didn't bother me near as much as this did. It only exacerbated my anger at the game.

[romsho]

Awwwww, poor babies. You guys are used to the biggest Homer, most biased, and most unproffesional commentator in the business today. Sean Eliiot is a joke...... The Mavs home broadcast team is neutral mostly. Skin is the only guy that will get into homer mode but it was a beautiful thing last night. Suck it up spurs fans......

I don't expect to hear home announcers for playoff games when I don't actually live in San Antonio. But I also don't expect to hear a couple of Mav honks doing a playoff game for a national audience. A national playoff broadcast should not have any local announcers. Period.

As for you...jackasses like yourself are what is going to make your never won anything, shit talking soft azzz franchise getting run out of the playoffs all the more sweet. Go run your fucking mouth in some lame Mavs forum. None of us in here give a flying rats ass what you think.

[ElNono]

Their in studio stuff is pretty good. I'd put it at #2 behind TNT but still ahead of ESPN in terms of overall watchability. The actual game presentation is pretty bad though, in no small part because of the wildly varying quality of home team broadcasters.

Wow, I couldn't disagree more. Rick Kamla is probably one of the worst anchors in pro sports. Not to mention the constant interruptions during the game. WGAF what Chris Webber thinks, and why does he gets 1/2 of the screen while the game is ongoing?
They're showing a playoff matchup between Dallas and San Antonio. Why would anyone that tuned in care more about what Dwayne Wade has to say or wether Lebron farted? It's fucking criminal that they're showing playoff games on that thing.

[elbamba]

Wow, I couldn't disagree more. Rick Kamla is probably one of the worst anchors in pro sports. Not to mention the constant interruptions during the game. WGAF what Chris Webber thinks, and why does he gets 1/2 of the screen while the game is ongoing?
They're showing a playoff matchup between Dallas and San Antonio. Why would anyone that tuned in care more about what Dwayne Wade has to say or wether Lebron farted? It's fucking criminal that they're showing playoff games on that thing.

Ditto. For having ex-NBA stars, you would think they would know something about basketball. The McHale/Webber lineup made me sick. I do like it when Bones and Smith are on the show but only because they are ex-Spurs players. I am sure most people from other teams hate them.

[DBMethos]

Wow, I couldn't disagree more. Rick Kamla is probably one of the worst anchors in pro sports. Not to mention the constant interruptions during the game. WGAF what Chris Webber thinks, and why does he gets 1/2 of the screen while the game is ongoing?
They're showing a playoff matchup between Dallas and San Antonio. Why would anyone that tuned in care more about what Dwayne Wade has to say or wether Lebron farted? It's fucking criminal that they're showing playoff games on that thing.

Couldn't agree more.

"Wow, (insert fake tough guy here) is such a WARRIOR! Props to him."

STFU, tool. :ihit

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I'll give you Kamla, he blows goats. Most of their ex-player analysts are better than anything ESPN's puts out there though.

And I was unaware they ever rolled out a McHale/Webber line up. Glad I missed that shit.

[Thompson]

I hate NBA tv games because my cable provider doesn't carry the channel and FSSW only covers the Rockets and Astros in my area. I have to go to Buffalo Wilds for every NBA tv game, which wouldn't be so bad if I could actually get a seat there.

Last night it was so crowded I had to go to Wings N' More. They didn't play the game audio on their speaker system, so I had to watch J.J. Barea grope Tony Parker to the music "Your Body is a Wonderland" by John Mayer. Kinda creepy.

[Typical London Boy]

Woohoo! Just found out that ESPN UK over here is showing the game tomorrow night (at 1am local time)! Was really hoping they would as it's the first of the series since the opening game, and obviously the most important thus far. Can't wait. That's another night of binge drinking sorted then.

On topic, just be glad that you get to see every game (NBA TV issues aside), regardless of the coverage quality. Over here we get three games a week, all at ridiculous hours of the morning (some starting as late as 3.30am).

[AFBlue]

I'm glad someone made a thread about this. The coverage on NBA TV yesterday was totally amatuer hour. The in-game commercial break, random blackout periods, split-screen post game interview clips and Brent Barry disecting plays that already happened when the ball is in play (save it for halftime Brent!).

What made it worse for me is that I had to add the sports package for my Verizon FIOS service ($15) just to see the Spurs get blown out...well, at least I saw some of it, when they weren't interrupting the game for countless absurd reasons.

The fact that the NBA puts this product out is rediculous. For God sakes, if you're going to telecast playoff games at least have a dedicated NBA TV commentator/color analyst crew to do the damn game and don't rely on local media to cover it...I heard all I ever wanted to hear about Stevenson's shaved beard or Manu's changed bandages.

/rant

[duncan228]

Add another vote for how horrible the coverage was. But I am glad I have it, at least I can see the games. I also like having it during the off-season. They run a lot of great games on their 'Hardwood Classics'. It helps keep the basketball jones at bay. :lol

[Doe]

Since I don't get NBA TV I hate when they cover any Spurs games. I don't care about their half-time show, I usually mute that shit and find something else to do anyway. Besides that I hate their stupid split screens DURING games, it annoys me to no end. I remember they left a Spurs game during the regular season while it was in progress to show the last few minutes of the Cav's game.

Add me to the list of people who think Kamla and Weber are hacks. I don't really mind McHale when he's a commentator for the game though.

[bostonguy]

The way the NBA scheduling is for the playoffs these days sucks major ass.

The way it was before the 2003 playoffs was the best. TBS/TNT having double headers on the same night. NBC broadcasting triple headers for the first two rounds.

[AFBlue]

I will admit there was one thing I thought NBA TV did that was superior to ESPN...they kept the camera shots simple.

I remember watching the game the other day on ESPN and thinking "what kind of camera angle is that? Why am I looking at a straight-line shot of Matt Bonner's sock? For God sakes, stop trying to be cute with it and just show the damn game!"

It may have even been TNT, not sure, but either way I thought it was rediculous. Kudos to NBA TV (i.e. local coverage) for not trying to get "cute" with the cameras.

[TDMVPDPOY]

we get shown 3 games down here free to air

worst shit of it all, you got alot nba playoff games, but they prefer to show bs sports on during that time slot and fkn stupid replays or sports thats not even popular down here

[slick'81]

thank god for fssw and the ninja

[LoneStarState'sPride]

I will admit there was one thing I thought NBA TV did that was superior to ESPN...they kept the camera shots simple.

I remember watching the game the other day on ESPN and thinking "what kind of camera angle is that? Why am I looking at a straight-line shot of Matt Bonner's sock? For God sakes, stop trying to be cute with it and just show the damn game!"

It may have even been TNT, not sure, but either way I thought it was rediculous. Kudos to NBA TV (i.e. local coverage) for not trying to get "cute" with the cameras.

TBH, I don't mind too much when ESPN switches up the camera angles every now and then. The one baseline high camera allows you to see plays develop from a different perspective, and the one on the floor opposite the scorer's table does a fabulous job of capturing the speed of the game up close.

That said, I don't mind the alternate angles during non-pivotal moments. When there's 2 minutes left and a team is making a run, I don't want the viewing experience to be about which lens I'm gonna look through next. I wanna forget about the camera and let the game provide the drama.

[AFBlue]

TBH, I don't mind too much when ESPN switches up the camera angles every now and then. The one baseline high camera allows you to see plays develop from a different perspective, and the one on the floor opposite the scorer's table does a fabulous job of capturing the speed of the game up close.

That said, I don't mind the alternate angles during non-pivotal moments. When there's 2 minutes left and a team is making a run, I don't want the viewing experience to be about which lens I'm gonna look through next. I wanna forget about the camera and let the game provide the drama.

Probably just a personal preference, but I'm honestly engaged in nearly every single minute of a playoff game (unless it's a blowout like last night) and I'd like to see the whole picture.

The other angles are a novel idea, but there's a reason the 45 degree half-court angle is the default...it's lets the audience see all the relevant parts of the court, including the ball-handler and the off-ball movement.

Again, it's probably just a personal preference.

[DesignatedT]

nba tv sucks BAD.

[lurker]

They tripled the amount of times they break into games during the regular season last night.

[howbouthemspurs]

I had to go to a freakin bar to watch the game since I didnt have NBA tv. .I wished they put the playoff games on NBA league pass.

[ElNono]

Next season, when they have their NBA fan night, we have to organize and vote Spurs games out. I rather watch the games on League Pass, even if it's the other's team coverage, than that shit.

[caribbean_spur]

This NBATV coverage was total garbage! Having playoffs games on this is freaking ridiculous! Man, this was just BS!

[nbaman99]

this is what i said on my twitter page

NBA tv telecast sucks. u guys talk way too much and nothing about the game u showing. y the hell is that? just shut up 7:21 PM Apr 27th from web

[Spursmania]

I can't believe I have to pay for that bullshit. I much rather watch the games than not, but NBA TV sucks balls.

[Brodels]

I am in a small town in rural northern Maine, I don't get NBA TV, and what few bars there are in town weren't open late enough for me to go watch the game. So yeah, NBA TV blows because I couldn't even watch the game.