Pistons < Spurs
10-23-2006, 12:16 AM
Michael Heistand
USA TODAY
Oct. 22, 2006 06:30 PM
ABC/ESPN will announce a wide-ranging overhaul of its NBA coverage, which starts Nov. 1. It includes new faces, roster cuts and a new No. 1 analyst.
ABC/ESPN's coverage of the NBA hasn't matched the panache of TNT - which deploys established stars such as Charles Barkley and Doug Collins as the league's other national TV carrier. But at least the Disney outlets aren't standing pat in what Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, calls a "big turnover." On tap:
- Mark Jackson becomes ABC's lead analyst, replacing Hubie Brown. He'll team with Mike Breen, who last season became the network's lead NBA play-by-play announcer when Al Michaels left to work NFL games at NBC.
Jackson, who played with seven teams in a 17-year NBA career before retiring in 2004, was a bright spot among the analysts used in ABC's studio show last year. ABC will drop one of those analysts, Scottie Pippen.
Jackson, like Fox NFL announcer Joe Buck, will assume a rare double duty. ABC's pregame show will move out of the studio and air from the game site. Jackson, like Buck on Fox's NFL games, will appear on the pregame, then announce the game action.
Williamson says the ABC pregame show will be more focused on being on-site hype for the game itself rather than a gabfest about overall NBA issues: "Look at our Monday Night Football' model; that's philosophically what we're thinking about."
- Brown still gets a pretty big role. He'll become ESPN's lead NBA analyst, teaming with Breen, and also work with Mike Tirico as ABC's backup team on regionalized coverage or doubleheaders.
What's with Tirico? It's understandable that ESPN's "Monday Night Football "announcer can find time to join ESPN's NBA coverage for its Nov. 9 start. But this guy must run on batteries: The Detroit Tigers season-ticket holder flew from Dallas, where he prepped for Monday night's New York Giants-Cowboys game, to the St. Louis Cardinals' win in Detroit on Saturday, then flew back Sunday. Like he doesn't see enough sports.
Brown might yet return to the top to work ABC's NBA Finals in a three-man booth with Breen and Jackson. Says ESPN's Williamson: "We'll make some decisions when we get to the playoffs."
- Jon Barry, who ended a 14-year NBA career in retiring from Houston last season, will team with Bill Walton and Tirico on ESPN games. Barry, son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry, replaces Steve Jones. Jones played with Walton at Portland three decades ago and called games with him at ABC and, earlier, on NBC - serving as a sensible guy and the perfect foil for Walton's sometimes otherworldly sensibilities.
Williamson calls Jones, a longtime Trail Blazers announcer, "a true professional and great human being." But he also notes Barry is especially "relevant, having just retired."
- Other new faces who'll pop up all over ESPN's various outlets and shows but aren't expected to call games include ex-NBA players Jamal Mashburn, Allan Houston and Kiki Vandeweghe.
Out: Paul Silas and B.J. Armstrong.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1022nbatv-ON.html
USA TODAY
Oct. 22, 2006 06:30 PM
ABC/ESPN will announce a wide-ranging overhaul of its NBA coverage, which starts Nov. 1. It includes new faces, roster cuts and a new No. 1 analyst.
ABC/ESPN's coverage of the NBA hasn't matched the panache of TNT - which deploys established stars such as Charles Barkley and Doug Collins as the league's other national TV carrier. But at least the Disney outlets aren't standing pat in what Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, calls a "big turnover." On tap:
- Mark Jackson becomes ABC's lead analyst, replacing Hubie Brown. He'll team with Mike Breen, who last season became the network's lead NBA play-by-play announcer when Al Michaels left to work NFL games at NBC.
Jackson, who played with seven teams in a 17-year NBA career before retiring in 2004, was a bright spot among the analysts used in ABC's studio show last year. ABC will drop one of those analysts, Scottie Pippen.
Jackson, like Fox NFL announcer Joe Buck, will assume a rare double duty. ABC's pregame show will move out of the studio and air from the game site. Jackson, like Buck on Fox's NFL games, will appear on the pregame, then announce the game action.
Williamson says the ABC pregame show will be more focused on being on-site hype for the game itself rather than a gabfest about overall NBA issues: "Look at our Monday Night Football' model; that's philosophically what we're thinking about."
- Brown still gets a pretty big role. He'll become ESPN's lead NBA analyst, teaming with Breen, and also work with Mike Tirico as ABC's backup team on regionalized coverage or doubleheaders.
What's with Tirico? It's understandable that ESPN's "Monday Night Football "announcer can find time to join ESPN's NBA coverage for its Nov. 9 start. But this guy must run on batteries: The Detroit Tigers season-ticket holder flew from Dallas, where he prepped for Monday night's New York Giants-Cowboys game, to the St. Louis Cardinals' win in Detroit on Saturday, then flew back Sunday. Like he doesn't see enough sports.
Brown might yet return to the top to work ABC's NBA Finals in a three-man booth with Breen and Jackson. Says ESPN's Williamson: "We'll make some decisions when we get to the playoffs."
- Jon Barry, who ended a 14-year NBA career in retiring from Houston last season, will team with Bill Walton and Tirico on ESPN games. Barry, son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry, replaces Steve Jones. Jones played with Walton at Portland three decades ago and called games with him at ABC and, earlier, on NBC - serving as a sensible guy and the perfect foil for Walton's sometimes otherworldly sensibilities.
Williamson calls Jones, a longtime Trail Blazers announcer, "a true professional and great human being." But he also notes Barry is especially "relevant, having just retired."
- Other new faces who'll pop up all over ESPN's various outlets and shows but aren't expected to call games include ex-NBA players Jamal Mashburn, Allan Houston and Kiki Vandeweghe.
Out: Paul Silas and B.J. Armstrong.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1022nbatv-ON.html