Is it just me...

[TDfan2007]

or is TNT's NBA broadcast by far and away better than ESPN's and ABC's. I especially love the halftime shows and the fact that the announcers/analysts have credibility and know what they're talking about.

[SenorSpur]

Very true.

I actually get tired of ABC/ESPN with their slanted analysis (Greg Anthony, Stephen A. Smith and Scottie Pippen) and the endless hyperbole (Bill Walton)

[RON ARTEST]

or is TNT's NBA broadcast by far and away better than ESPN's and ABC's. I especially love the halftime shows and the fact that the announcers/analysts have credibility and know what they're talking about.
no its not just you at all. tnt has better announcers, and better halftime shows. i love when kevin harlin screams. :lol

[RON ARTEST]

Very true.

I actually get tired of ABC/ESPN with their slanted analysis (Greg Anthony, Stephen A. Smith and Scottie Pippen) and the endless hyperbole (Bill Walton)
yeah bill walton changes his mind every fucking second! one minute the team is good and the next they suck.

[TDfan2007]

no its not just you at all. tnt has better announcers, and better halftime shows. i love when kevin harlin screams. :lol

Same here, it's so emphatic.

[TDfan2007]

no its not just you at all. tnt has better announcers, and better halftime shows. i love when kevin harlin screams. :lol

Same here, it's so emphatic.

[TDfan2007]

oops.

[RON ARTEST]

the only one i cant stand is reggie miller. he belongs on espn.

[Tek_XX]

oh i so agree TNT is far superior, and it's so refreshing to have cameras that are in focus.

[Sense]

Old news to me.

[E20]

Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Kevin Harlan, Doug Collins, and when the Czar was still around are great commentators. Include Craig Saiger, Cheryl Miller, Charles Barkely, Kenny Smith, Reggie Miller, Magic Johnson and Nick Van Exel and that's a star studded cast.

[ca®lo]

and bill waltons voice.. ugh.

[RON ARTEST]

and bill waltons voice.. ugh.
his voice is awful. dont even get me started on that.

[Darrin]

ESPN's goal is to get a sports fan to watch. TNT's is to get a basketball fan to watch their program. To me, that's the sum total of their quality difference.

[whottt]

The guys on TNT seem like they like each other and have more fun, I think it begins with Kenny Smith more than any other, then Barkley, even better with Magic on there. Marv Albert has always been the best basketball announcer...he's the best ever, pervert or not. Adding Kerr to that mix was a good move.

I like Ernie Johnson to an extent..but sometimes he kills funny segments.

The guys on ESPN and ABC come off as wannabes, and when they try to argue with each other it comes off as forced....actually most of what ESPN and ABC do comes off as forced.

TNT OTOH is like the Chris Berman, Robin Roberts and Tom Jackson NFL show used to be in the 90's. It's a lot more fun to watch people having fun...that's why TNT works IMO.


It's pretty simple actually...the guys on TNT won championships(cept Barkley and Miller)...they act like winners and don't come off as uptight.

The guys on ESPN...especially Greg and Tim...they come off as the bitter ass scrubs they were as players who never won jack....And SAS just seems miserable to be around to me. Don't even get me started on Tolbert...the only winner ESPN/ABC has is Walton...and he's just naturally annoying lol.

[Trainwreck2100]

Since their parent company is Turner they don't show Eva 50 times a night

[Obstructed_View]

ESPN fucked up by getting rid of David Aldridge in favor of SAS. Aldridge is one of the best in the business IMO, and is vastly underutilized by Turner.

At least Mother Mouseears doesn't have Peter Vescey on their shows giving analysis like NBC did.

[gospursgojas]

The guys on ESPN...especially Greg and Tim...they come off as the bitter ass scrubs they were as players who never won jack....

:tu
I've thought that for years

[polandprzem]

Don't even get me started on Tolbert...

Start on him :)

[Trainwreck2100]

Start on him :)

Turnovers and missed free throws

[orhe]

Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Kevin Harlan, Doug Collins, and when the Czar was still around are great commentators. Include Craig Saiger, Cheryl Miller, Charles Barkely, Kenny Smith, Reggie Miller, Magic Johnson and Nick Van Exel and that's a star studded cast.

right on! wonder how NVE would differentiate himself...

[polandprzem]

Turnovers and missed free throws

hehe

And i thought it was about his commentary :rolleyes

[Tigole Bitties]

I miss Ernie's tumor

[MI21]

ESPN is just terrible. ABC isn't to bad, and TNT is very good.

The Charles, Kenny, Ernie show can get a little repetitive and end up no where, but it's entertaining. Just the quality of the analysts and commentators is far and away above that of the other networks.

[Darrin]

I think this has very little to do with the on-air talent and their basketball careers. TNT has some amazingly talented people with great personalities and accomplishments, but this starts with the style of the program.

TNT is very unscripted (unfortunately, it seems to be slowly crawling back towards the traditional) and very simple. They put three guys in a room, two of which have played professional basketball, and let them talk. The cameras don't get super-close, they don't look directly into the camera, and there's very few distractions from what I can tell. Because they don't prepare a lot of B-roll for Sportscenter and their pre-game, there aren't the funky camera angles during the games.

They will prepare some jokes, but most of them are good-natured and very rarely cross the line. ESPN prepares gimmicks like the "fortune tellers" and various other props. 'Gone Fishin'' came out of a unscripted postgame comment they made that ended up taking on a life of its own. As they did so many times, they prepared a graphic, and the guys on set enjoyed a chuckle. That was in 2001 or 2002, I believe. Now, it's iconic.

It wasn't a prepared "bit." But because of all the on-air directions the personalities have to receive at ESPN because they want to appeal to a fast-paced, expresso-shot, low attention-span male audience, they SCRIPT EVERYTHING.

Everything is absolute because you have to be a man and come down on the strong side of an arguement, with an accompanying graphic in case you can't figure it out for yourself. Since males are more visual, you get the question, the answer, and video of the subject for debate without ever having to listen to what's being said. If you're a little more grey-minded (in every sense of the word grey), that doesn't appeal. The only analysis Tim and Greg, Mark and Scottie are ever asked to deliver is "why?"

Why are the Pistons going to win tonight?
Why is Lebron James the MVP?
Why is Ron Artest having such an effect on the Kings?

I can predict the questions before they are asked. You get 30 seconds of nonsense followed by another question of why? It's a stale program, and has been since it started in 2002-03.

TNT may ask the question, but if they don't find any merit to the argument, they answer the question as if it's as stupid as it is, and then move on to what they think the issue is. Agree or disagree (I hate hearing them dis KG) I still listen to them.

Another thing that I like, and I don't know if anyone has noticed this, is that the show lasts as long as they have something to talk about. It appears that they will talk until they are out of time. They may have only 22:30, but that isn't broken up into exactly five 4-and-half minute segments. If that leaves them with only sponsors left to pay, then they come back long enough to tell you about some TNT program and then go back to commericals.

I like that because I don't feel like they are playing an actress over on time with her acceptance speech off the stage. It is, once again, a more relaxed television atmosphere. They allow the energy to come from their analysts, and not too many bells and whistles, constrictions of usual commerical television. The format feels more like something that would be on HBO, not TNT. They just stumbled onto it when they found Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

As for their analysis - they farm coaches a lot. They go after Doug Collins, Mike Fratello, Hubie Brown, Jeff Van Gundy, John Thompson, Mike Dunleavy, PJ Carlisemo, Danny Ainge - they tend to be more about strategy and adjustments than the players. Kenny Smith was on probably the most forgettable Championship teams of the last 20 years, and he wasn't a big name from them. But he knows basketball, and he is articulate, and they tend to go for players that are more like that because they had to be to survive in the league as long as they did. Steve Kerr is another cerebral player.

ESPN came in with the intent of providing a "player's perspective." That's why they hired Tolbert, Walton, Laimbeer, Majerle, Elliott, etc. Players tend to be more narrowly focused on one specific aspect of the game - shooting, scoring, the one-on-one duel. Coaches have to think more broadly about the game. They have to worry about 10 guys, not 2. That opens up the floor to see what's there if you listen to them as analysts.

Also, TNT has been doing this awhile. ESPN doesn't seem to treat basketball any different than it treats Baseball or Football, and that means when they do market research, it's about sports fans generally, not basketball fans. They want the Sportscenter audience to stay tuned in for their feature event, no matter what it is.

If you didn't read all of this, go turn on ESPN and stay there for the 15 minutes you can stand to have it on before your ADD twitches.

ESPN = Great for Sports bars.
TNT = Great for basketball games.

[Darrin]

Start on him :)

If I start on him he might make a comment about my hair or clothes and then my feelings would be hurt! :lol

[Borosai]

I like to rub TNT and kiss the wick...is this answer acceptable?

[samikeyp]

TNT is, IMO, wayyyy better.

[Jimcs50]

Sir Charles is the best tv sports personality, period. Kenny is one of the best analysts and Ernie is the perfect straight man.

Tonight we get Reggie Miller on out broadcast team as well. He is becoming a very fine color commentator in his own right.

[ShoogarBear]

Another thing that I like, and I don't know if anyone has noticed this, is that the show lasts as long as they have something to talk about. It appears that they will talk until they are out of time. They may have only 22:30, but that isn't broken up into exactly five 4-and-half minute segments. If that leaves them with only sponsors left to pay, then they come back long enough to tell you about some TNT program and then go back to commericals.


:tu To met, that's the most obvious difference (that and the unscripted nature you already pointed out). TNT never feels rushed, and they're not trying to parcel time equally among everybody. Hell, sometimes the camera never moves from Barkley for what seems like forever (mainly becaue it usually takes him longer to say his piece).

Kenny and Ernie are very efficient with their time, and don't seem to mind Barkley hogging it.

Some of the funniest moments are when the directors start the music so they can go to commercial and they just won't stop yammering.

[rwb]

ESPN is the worst. I feel puke rise in my throat every time Marv Albert says "downtown." And if I can't have Sean Elliot on a local broadcast, then I at least enjoy Charles Barkley on TNT. Gin-o-bi-li! :lol

[Scobe]

The TNT analysis, production, and overall quality of show are much better. I don't really watch the pre or post game shows very much past any highlights of games I didn't see and actually care who won, but the segments I have watched seemed well done. It has to be difficult coming up with original ideas and stories because everything has to be centered around the basketball theme, but they do a better job of it than anyone else. For example, when Barkley had to kiss Kenny's "ass" after Yao scored 20 in a game during his first year. Then Kenny paraded a donkey on set and Barkely actually kissed the "ass"... that was different and somewhat creative.

There is only one thing I like about watching games on ESPN. ESPN is the only channel out of the three that I can get an HD feed to watch on my LCD HDTV. That makes a huge difference, this last game on Saturday was absolutely beautiful to watch in HD. Makes the picture almost seem 3D.

[SenorSpur]

ESPN fucked up by getting rid of David Aldridge in favor of SAS. Aldridge is one of the best in the business IMO, and is vastly underutilized by Turner.

Sooooo True.

Don't forget that ESPN has just added Mark Jackson for this season. Just one more reason to criticize their pre and post game analysis. Don't get me wrong. Mark is knowledegable and should be respected because he played the game for so long. However, at time his commentary seems more of the "shock value" variety. Comments like, "when it's all said and done, Kobe Bryant will surpass Michael Jordan as the best basketball player ever".

Give me a f--king break!

Simply put, ESPN is style over substance. TNT is the exact opposite.

[Sec24Row7]

ESPN...

Who the fuck WERE the people calling the first Kings/Spurs game?

Why do I care what that no name color commentator has to say?

ROFL...

[pache100]

and bill waltons voice.. ugh.

HOOOOOOOOORIBLE!


The guys on TNT seem like they like each other and have more fun, I think it begins with Kenny Smith more than any other, then Barkley, even better with Magic on there. Marv Albert has always been the best

Are you kidding me? Like each other? Have you ever seen Kenny get in one of his snits over something Charles says? He will cross his arms over his chest and refuse to talk. Like a mad little spoiled brat kid; he thinks everybody up there should bow down to him and believe everything he says as gospel. And Charles just laughs at him. He will say he won't talk anymore until Charles apologizes. It's hilarious, and part of the reason I love TNT broadcasts of NBA. I love all those guys...except Kenny...I can take him or leave him. But Charles rules!

I can't stand that turkey Marv Albert. What a sorry excuse for a sports commentator. The only ones I can think of that are worse are Bob Costas and Bill Walton.

[Vizzini]

ESPN came in with the intent of providing a "player's perspective." That's why they hired Tolbert, Walton, Laimbeer, Majerle, Elliott, etc. Players tend to be more narrowly focused on one specific aspect of the game - shooting, scoring, the one-on-one duel. Coaches have to think more broadly about the game. They have to worry about 10 guys, not 2. That opens up the floor to see what's there if you listen to them as analysts.

It is too bad the Laimbeer is not on any national sports coverage anymore. You can say whatever you want about Laimbeer the basketball player (and I know most outside of the Pistons realm will) but he is great when he is covering local Pistons games. He will tell you exactly how he feels and wil not mince words at all. Whether it be at the begining of games when he tells us that the Pistons should win tonight because the other teams is absolutley horrible, or when they give the out of town score board and he says something like this "It's Cleveland over New Jersey, Miami over the '76ers, Washington all over Orlando, and no one cares about Atlanta and the Knicks b/c those teams are going nowhere." He truly doesn't care what any one else thinks of him, and it makes for great basketball coverage.

[1Parker1]

ABC really needs to get rid of Hubie Brown. Though he is knowledagable about sports...he has no idea how to make the game sound exciting. I just don't understand how ABC thinks an 80 year old man calling the game is going to increase their ratings.

[LEONARD]

TNT is better than the others, but Reggie Miller has got the BIGGEST BAG OF NOTHING of any commentator on any channel. He's horrible...

The combo of Stockton / Miller was brutal for game 1 of the Mavs / Grizz. Constantly saying the wrong names of players, wrong team name, etc....at least 5 mistakes that I heard, and I didn't even listen to most of it since I was fast fwd'ing thru a bunch of the crap...

[nkdlunch]

NO CONTEST TNT is the shit

ESPN and ABC suck ass. Pippen,Anthony, Legler and that screaming camel A Smith are just plain weak as commentators.

I remember last year they did a spot where they show George Erving w/some other old school players talking about basketball and what it takes to win championships, defense and stuff like that and said that San Antonio has all that. Then they showed the ESPN analysts faces, and they were speechless, they looked retarded cause they knew they belonged in the Piston/Heat bandwagons but couldn't argue with the truth spoken. Weak ass bitches.

[SenorSpur]

I will give ABC one advanatage - Hubie Brown. I've enjoyed him over the years. He gives practical analysis that makes sense - even to the novice viewer. He has been and still is still the best NBA basketball analyst in the business - hands down!

[ShoogarBear]

ABC really needs to get rid of Hubie Brown. Though he is knowledagable about sports...he has no idea how to make the game sound exciting. I just don't understand how ABC thinks an 80 year old man calling the game is going to increase their ratings.

I thought you liked old guys. :depressed

I like Hubie for his content. His style sucks to high heaven, I agree. And he's annoying when he takes one team's viewpoint, like he consistenly did for the Lakers against PH, talking about what they needed to do to win. But his Xs/Os are far away better than anyone else's.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Hubie is one of the few guys that ABC has that knows what the hell he's talking about but he can't deliver any analysis in under five minutes. They should put him in the pre-game and half time crew instead. During the games his analysis (while spot on) drags on and on over the game play. Whenever he's calling a game I wind up shouting at my TV "Who was the foul on?" or "What was the call there?" because three or four possession will occur while he's making his point about how to defend the pick and roll.

For my money the worst basketball crew was NBC's. I said it a few days ago and I'll say it again. Any network that would put Bob Costas, Bill Walton, and Peter Vescey on the same crew deserves to lose its broadcasting license.

[Darrin]

I will say this about TNT - I miss the "Inside the NBA" studio from 2001, 2002. When they had the scoreboard and the screen behind Charles, the scoreboard, and the blue lights on the floor that looked like water on the floor. It looks like a christmas tree in there right now. Too many lights, too many distractions.

[yeahone]

tnt isd much better