Hoops

My commentator power rankings

What makes the new Zealand play by play guy so highly rated here? He seems just solid to me rather than spectacular

I think Dwayne Russell is great although I acknowledge he's probably more suited to the casual fan than the Hardcores of this forum

I think heals analysis is a bit overrated and prefer the wit of Harvey and tragardh

Dwayne Russell has the commentating skill of mince meat. Absolute floghead. What he is doing polluting our beautiful sport is beyond me.

"Whatever happened to Lachy Reid?"

He is the game night emcee

Dwayne Russell is a try hard. Goes over the top too much for mine yet all he seems to do is dribble on.

Casey Frank knows his stuff, but I agree that's he's starting to become a bit biased towards the Breakers.

Carfino.....another than knows his stuff, but gets stuck on trivial points too often and brings in phrases that no one seems to understand. I still don't know what a Euro-Step is. He also has an unfortunate tendency to go on too much about his own playing days.

Back when I started watching the NBL in the mid-80's pretty much every team (or city) had their own commentators because it was cheaper than flying commentators around the country.

For Adelaide in the 80's and 90's I can remember Andrew Kay, Lyn Parnell and Boti even got on the sideline act for a while. Max Stevens, Peter Marker (even though he was mostly a footballer he was still a good commentator in other sports and did Olympic commentary in 1988), John Casey and Mark Aiston.

Whatever happened to Lachy Reid?

WTF is this even a topic

Does McQuade still do commentary? I thought he was focusing on writing.

Too long to post here but Boti teed off about the various commentators the other day.

http://www.botinagy.com/blog/nbl-rd9-wrap-/

I have to agree with the Dwayne Russell thing it was killing me hearing him continue to say 8,000 screaming fans here in Adelaide tonight when as Boti said there was only just over half that for the Perth game 4,709.

Has Derek Rucker or Brett Maher done a game this year? If not why?

I'd like to see Fox involve a telestrator too

Greer is a bit of a try-hard on commentary, or at least the pop-culture references don't seem to come naturally to him.

Three-man commentary team:

- The Kiwi play-by-play guy
- Trigger as 'reactions' colour
- Heal as analysis colour

Take into consideration that some work better together than with others. thats the gist of it

Its amazing as i see some of you guys comments, if you don't like certain people, no matter how good they are you'll say they're bad. save the negative comments

Has Derek Rucker or Brett Maher done a game this year? If not why?

They are all good in their own way, some do talk too much, others don't get a chance to talk.

Shane is the best from what I've heard so far.

D-Mac is not that bad, he's done 3 games, he"ll getter better with more games under his belt.

Warren Smith is your favourite? He's the worst of the lot. Russell is incredibly annoying but at least it seems like he's seen a game of basketball before.

I think the overall standard is pretty decent, though a couple, like Tommy Greer, James Harvey and Warren Smith are my favourites for different reasons.

Harvey is probably the best for talking tactics while still being pretty light and jokey.

Is Huddo an AFL commentator or something? Sometimes he doesn't seem to know the players well.

Rosen is a good bloke and he takes feedback on his commentary on board. He has a couple of verbal crutches.

Brad Robbins uses the term "we" quite often when referring to Perth and he is the only commentator I mute the TV for, painful to listen to. I like Matt Russell and Brenton Speed the most and I thought Andrew Voss was good last year when he commentated.

Matt McQuade.

I like Casey Frank - probably a bit too much character for anything outside NZ, but he's very entertaining. Appreciate Rosen's interest in the game, but don't like his commentary. Thought Speed last night was quite good. Heal and Rucker have been good. Harvey half-decent too. Greer seems pro - keep him involved.

Derek Rucker was good. Brett Maher was good. Brad Rosen just needs to sit quietly for a few minutes instead of telling us about everything that we've just seen. Brad Robbins just keeps saying dumb things. Dwayne needs to ease off a bit. Not everything is amazing. He needs to stop saying things that are just not true like the Adelaide - Perth O/Time game which had the 8000 people here on the edge of their seats ( I think official figurs were just under 5000 people. Stop telling us how good the NBL is. Dennis Commetti didn't tell AFL viewers how great the AFL competition is.

Reality is we just need to allow guys to grow with their roles and learn the art of calling a basketball game.
Anyway, I'm still loving being able to see every game of this great NBL season through a rnage of options.

Like who though? I know I would be a god-awful commentator. It's not an easy job. And even guys who are knowledgeable and can communicate well and have personality (Brett Maher for example) get panned on here by some people.

Who are these basketball gurus who have commentating experience, charisma and universal appeal who we have been overlooking for the job?

Rosen is by far the worst. Commentates in this patronizing tone like he is teaching young kids the rules as he goes. Complete pain and his games get muted on my iPad. No one really stands out I wish john Casey could get out of the bloody sanfl and come back.

D-Mac is the worst of the lot.I can't handle listening to this jibberer.Brad Robbins is a close second as he only goes on about Perth and Casey Prather.He should realise theres there two teams playing the game.

I enjoy lsitening to Harvey and Heal the most. They say it like it is and not afraid to call out when someone is underperforming. Wasn't too sure if commentary was gonna be Tragardh's thing but he's actually pretty solid, minus the huge smily thing he was doing throughout his first game commentating.

Some of the pbp callers that obviously aren't familiar with basketball are very hard to listen to. The amount of times they miscall block/charge fouls, defensive fouls with travels, and 3 in the keys is amazing.

Not going to comment on every commentator, just a few that stand out for me (both good and bad)

As others have stated, Im also tired of Carfino. Was quite disappointed to see that he had returned to the coverage this year. At least he only covers a few games. Hated his monotone negative and repetitive style that was endured through 5 years of laboured channel 10 coverage.

For me, Dwayne Russell is a very important piece to the coverage. You may not necessarily like him, but he adds a high level of enthusiasm and with his experience, he can read the emotions of the game quite well. Not "technically" great, he's not there to be a basketball expert.

He's there to talk the league up, and engage with the more casual watchers that don't really follow basketball but are interested in it enough to watch the game. For that, Russell is pretty good. However I did find it annoying when he kept saying "14,000 people packed the arena" for a Perth game all night long when in actual fact there was 11,000 and that Perth have never had 14,000 to a game! Minor details for some, but was a bit annoying for me especially as it was mentioned all night.

Anthony Hudson has improved greatly. Another high profile caller there to help lift the profile of the league, Hudson has been decent while not spectacular.

The Perth guy - Adam Papalia is pretty good and has good chemistry with Brad Robbins. So, have been enjoying Perth's commentary team this season without it being outstanding.

I haven't heard a lot from the other "non-bball" commentators, but what I've heard from Brenton Speed, Matt Russell and Warren Smith have been much better than what Carfino and Rosen usually serve up, so I can't complain about them! Its also nice to hear different voices regularly I think. Keeps it interesting.

For the special comments guys - the past players: I like Tommy Greer. He comes across very professional, has a good voice and calls the game well in my opinion. Robbins is solid, despite being a little too Perth focussed. James Harvey has been unnoticeable, but that's probably a good thing.

Really don't like Tragagh's commentating. He seems to force a joke every time he speaks, as someone else also pointed out. Brad Rosen is the absolute worst though. His enthusiasm is cringe worthy, sorry.

Don't really watch much of New Zealand's home games but Im quite fond of Casey Frank though he sounds a bit goofy, he's quite entertaining.

Tonight's Hawks vs. Kings was called by Brenton Speed and Rosen. Showed you how good Speed was Anon if you reckoned Rosen sounded 'the best'. :)

One thing this thread has reminded me, is that "theres no pleasing everyone". Everyone has different tastes. But still, I'd like to single out some comments for further clarification:

@paul

"Except for Brad Rosen I quite enjoy all the special comments guys (Shane Heal and Casey Frank the standouts), they all provide something different and I am enjoying the broadcasts this year."

Interesting that Rosen is left out in the cold. He's not at the top of my list, but I don't really have him standing alone at the bottom either. Considering you mentioned you liked all the others, I inferred you were a fairly friendly guy, but I'd be interested to know what makes Rosen stand out (in a bad way?). To me, he doesn't add much value, but I could see to a casual fan he might be good, because he does speak at a good pace and clearly, although the things he says aren't rocket science.

@splinky

"Dwayne creams his pants any time Chris Goulding throws up a shot.

The more ill-advised and low percentage that shot is, the more Dwayne likes it. Drives me crazy. They should actually be panning him for taking rubbish shots that don't come out of an offensive structure, but instead it's rah rah time."

I actually like this part of Dwayne (the excitement). Sure, low percentage shots might not satisfy the offensive execution purists, but it *does* get the casual fans excited, particularly when you have a guy like CG43 who can actually knock them down.

The TV crew are facilitating an entertainment package remember, so there's nothing wrong with getting excited about flashy play, even if it is a little low percentage.

I am so tired of Carfino.
By all means go to him for special comments, but for play-by play he is so annoying. He'll get a weed up about something trivial, then keep ignoring the game and banging on about it all night. Especially if his co-commentator dares to dis agree. Also allows his personal dislikes for some players to show-through far too much.

I'm pretty sure Jenkins did sideline commentary a couple of times last season or the year before when he was writing a column for the NBL website.

Indeed Zodiac! I wonder if it was a one game special or if he'll do a few more.

I do wonder why we need so many commentators though, might be cheaper by limiting travel expenses. It's just very "you don't know who you're going to get" type of thing. I actually like the AFL system of Friday night commentators, Sat night commentators etc.


In terms of the commentary, I think most are quite decent but there's just something about the coverage where the commentary just seems a bit bland.


If we're going to do commentary teams i'd like something like:

SA:
John Casey or Anthony Hudson
Brett Maher
Renae Ingles

WA:
Brenton Speed
Adam Papalia
Brad Robbins

NSW:
Warren Smith
Steve Carfino
James Harvey

QLD:
Matt Russell
Derek Rucker
Abbey Gelmi

Vic:
Dwayne Russell
Shane Heal
Neroli Meadows

Heal & Harvey are good, Tragardh is terrible trying to crack jokes every time he opens his mouth.

lol was about to throw in a yeah no kidding too.

Yeah no kidding

For play-by-play Andrew Mulligan, Adam Papalia and Brenton Speed are my standouts, they know the game. I like Dwayne Russell but he doesn't really get the game for all his enthusiasm.

Except for Brad Rosen I quite enjoy all the special comments guys (Shane Heal and Casey Frank the standouts), they all provide something different and I am enjoying the broadcasts this year.

My only request is no more Steve Carfino on play-by-play, I enjoy his special comments but when calling the game he is painful.

Cheers, yeah he sounds knowledgable, Fox should get him out to more games.

TimberBall, Casey Frank.

Josh Jenkinson did a game of sideline commentating...

They are all pretty bad but Dwayne Russel is by far and away the worst! He only has the job because Fox overpaid him for his AFL commentary then realised how shit he was at that and had to find another avenue.
I don't mind all the secondary commentators but they all get a little biased to their old teams (Brad Robbins and shane heal especially). The American who does the NZ games is good but is falling into the same trap and being biased towards the Breakers.

Good thread :)

I agree that Dwayne is a little over the top with the rah rah everything is wonderful routine, but I still think he's solid enough as a p-b-p guy. Not upper rankings worthy though.

Add a line after Heal on the special comments list and write Daylight.

Dwayne creams his pants any time Chris Goulding throws up a shot.

The more ill-advised and low percentage that shot is, the more Dwayne likes it. Drives me crazy. They should actually be panning him for taking rubbish shots that don't come out of an offensive structure, but instead it's rah rah time.

What don't you like about dwayno?

Josh Jenkinson did a game of sideline commentating...

Neroli Meadows is a great addition.

Why does NBL TV use so many commentators? It doesn't seem necessary...

Matt Russell is the Queensland guy. Warren Smith does some NSW games. You also don't have Carfino in your play-by-play ranking, even though he has called games with Rosen this year.

D-Mac missing from your color rankings.

How Dwayne Russell came first in anything other than a 'most blatant Melbourne United fan' ranking is beyond me.

they all suck !!!

Damn how could I forget Brenton speed. He is equal first for mine but hasn't called many games lately?

Something that has annoyed me no end with the 36ers this year is how they run the substitutions. Clark is running it like we have the Dream Team and he is bring D-Wade off the bench not D-Ng.

We are running 10 players ever game - over 40 minutes. 10 players over 48 minutes I could maybe get but over 40 it makes no sense. Since the minutes have been reduced from 48-40 there are 40 minute less to go around ... almost like he is coaching for 48 minutes. It is not like he needs to save their legs - they play once a week (maybe twice) and the season is only 30 games long.

Looking at the break down over the season.

Ballinger - 28.54
Hill - 18.50
Winder - 27.51
Johnson - 16.90
Ng - 14.39
Holmes - 23.16
Dowdell - 12.90
Creek - 21.14
Carter - 25.04
De Vries - 30.04

Why is Balls only getting 29 minutes a game - it is like he couldn't run 40 if we needed him to (which we do). De Vries and Balls should be playing 35-38.

If you are getting 4 to 5 minute burst as an individual you can't get into the flow of the game. And you are only ever playing with the same lineup for 2 or 3 minutes before Clark makes a sub and brings someone else in.

He should stick with 7 core guys and then bring the other guys on like Ng or Dowdell if we are lacking something in there area of expertise.