http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/c...s.2f8ea00.html
San Antonio Express-News
I wish there had been a camera on the Mavericks when they trudged into their locker room. Did they think they had just lost to the Spurs without Tim Duncan — or Golden State again?
I wish there had been a microphone on Dirk Nowitzki when he chunked an open three. Would there have been a perceptible gurgle?
But even with cameras in NBA locker rooms and microphones hooked up to players, I won't see or hear any of that. Neither will you.
What the coaches and players won't hide, the NBA will. They won't show the good stuff.
And that's why the league might as well keep selling what doesn't require surveillance. Players, for example, such as Manu Ginobili.
TNT and ESPN will try to sell more. Beginning tonight, coincidentally with another Mavericks game, there will be all-access voyeurism.
We hope to capture the raw emotions on the floor and give fans a closer look at NBA personalities," a TV executive told USA Today.
Mark Cuban thinks the concept is "great," and he would. Cuban dances with the stars, and he'd dance in his underwear if it meant more attention.
Maybe that's why Avery Johnson is less rebellious than he is resigned to the idea. His boss believes.
The NBA tried this same thing in 2000, and Gregg Popovich was resigned then, too. He was one of four coaches who wore a microphone that season before the concept was scrapped.
"I'm not in NCAA Division III anymore," Popovich said then. "So it's pretty hard to stand on philosophical grounds and be a purist."
Now, with his standing in the league more secure, he's a purist again. He said Wednesday he thinks the new policy is "very invasive."
He's never been fond of invasive. The Spurs have operated in a controlled environment, and now there will be cameras at halftime — when even staff knows better than to intrude.
Popovich wasn't at the coaches' meeting in Chicago last summer when David Stern announced the change, but Popovich wouldn't have made a difference. Stern told them there would be no debate.
Cuban says the NBA will guard its embarrassing and damaging footage "like Fort Knox," but Popovich wonders. "I trust the league will do everything it can to keep it in house and all that," he said. "But we live in the world. And most us see that is pretty impossible to do."
Popovich, for example, will be hooked up with a microphone for the first time Friday. The other coach will be Jerry Sloan, who is also known for some salty language.
If these two recreate a Sopranos episode, and the guys in the truck are laughing, what's the chance an intern swipes the feed? YouTube seemingly gets everything eventually.
"I'm willing to bet it would give pause to commissioner Stern and his group if all of a sudden in their next important meeting there was a camera and microphone," Popovich said. "It would make them, as it will make us, act differently. It will be a much more cautious, untrusting atmosphere."
So TNT and ESPN won't get what is usually said, because the coaches and players will be guarded. And if by chance the emotions really do get raw, they won't show it.
They will invade everyone's space with little to show for it, and in doing so they will ignore the truth of their game — that there's often a real edge. There was Wednesday, when the Spurs and Mavericks again showcased the league's best rivalry.
There were hard fouls, and there was anger, and there was Ginobili playing with passion. He said later his sore finger was bothering him, but "I could break through the defense and get to the rim."
He broke through, all right, which might lead to the next great NBA idea. Manu-cam.
And when Ginobili drove down the middle in the third quarter to dunk with a hand that was supposed to be too sore to even play? AJ might have said something privately he wouldn't say on Sunday mornings.
But at that moment? The NBA had something to sell, and eavesdropping wouldn't have enhanced it.
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Pops to use a microphone? Is it that important?
I thought it was about manu cursing Terry.
for me, while I like getting the 'insider' view on the plays, I agree with Pop that this new policy is very invasive. Just let them do their job, will you? I mean, you already have the camera crew with the mics on during the timeouts. Anything further than that is just overkill.
here's what we'll hear during the suns-spurs game with the suns losing big-time:
d'antoni: *bleep * *bleep * *bleep * *bleep * *bleep * *bleep * *bleep * *bleep * !
or just one constant *bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*
I've seen some of the Spurs 2000 season games, but I didn't notice Pop using a microphone in any of them.I thought it was about manu cursing Terry.
for me, while I like getting the 'insider' view on the plays, I agree with Pop that this new policy is very invasive. Just let them do their job, will you? I mean, you already have the camera crew with the mics on during the timeouts. Anything further than that is just overkill.
Last edited by milkyway21; 12-07-2007 at 12:27 AM.
I believe they're still just starting out with this thing. They tried it in 2000 or 2001 and it flopped. The mics I was referring to are those big ones they use during the playoffs or finals, for their Sounds of the Finals segments. I think those are still okay, but sticking a mic to a player and even a coach the whole game is going too far.I've seen some of the Spurs season games, but I didn't notice Pop using a microphone in any of them.
I read in another article that the player has a choice to decline though, but not the coaches. But the coach, as reported, has the discretion to turn it off at times. IMO, it will just get too confusing and will probably fail a second time.
I want Rasheed Wallace miked...
I hope every coach in the NBA does nothing but go into profanity laced tirades when they are miked. That'll get rid of that stuff.
if they want somebody to use it, then
I want a mike on Amare, too in and outside the locker room
And have our collective IQ's drop for every word he speaks.if they want somebody to use it, then
I want a mike on Amare, too in and outside the locker room
now if it were D'Antoni, I think I'd go deaf before the end of the 1st Q.
Yep. That should shut down this most recent experiment in "Reality TV" really quick.
TNT and ESPN will try to sell more. Beginning tonight, coincidentally with another Mavericks game, there will be all-access voyeurism.
We hope to capture the raw emotions on the floor and give fans a closer look at NBA personalities," a TV executive told USA Today.
Mark Cuban thinks the concept is "great," and he would. Cuban dances with the stars, and he'd dance in his underwear if it meant more attention.
I think it will be cool, but at the same time its a little too much. If the coaches and players say nothing but cuss words, then the NBA will throw that idea out the window.
Are you there God? It's me, Summers.
Please, please let some of this end up on youtube.
Amen.
I thought it was about manu cursing Terry.
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