Hoops

Homicide's impact on the league

I think he is improving and overall is good for the telecasts and the league

Homicide's first two reactions to last night's brawl: "this is the greatest thing ever!" and "how can I make this about me?"

The entire atmosphere of the call was horribly inappropriate, and I'm sure would've been significantly better had Homicide not been a part of it.

Homicide joined Shane Heal on The Ruckus (Derek Rucker's, excellent IMO) Podcast this week, for a 90 minute NBL discussion. I thought he was good value, too.

But he was mixing with a whole new group of colleagues, so he would naturally be more timid and less talkative. I do distinctly remember he was more quiet than usual but from memory picked up the hype level as the game went on

He had moments, Zodiac. That was the game where he had words with Shorter. Where the Shorter beef kind of started

How do we know though, has he said all this? Was there some kind of interview about him?

Genuinely interested, so if KB/anyone can link me some material they've come across that'd be great.

Whether it's genuine or not, it's entertaining

When recently they flew Homicide over to do a game in NZ his persona during that broadcast was toned down so much to the point of almost forgetting he was there in the commentary box.

It was night & day compared to the games here where he carries on like a pork chop.

Yes we all know that Yet you KB dont like it. Hence the topic.

He was playing a character back then, too. The difference is a player being that character is a good thing.

Zodiac, I quickly learned that while someone may be a full-time Professional, it doesn't inherently mean they have a brain. But I get your point.

I look at the way he was when playing here and don't see much of a difference to how he acts now.

He probably says a few too many "I'm telling you"s. I dunno. I'll pay more attention to him next week

Manu, now that he's retired Homicide is a player agent so it would be fair to assume given all the complexities of that profession that the guy is at the very least of average intelligence if not above average behind the scenes.

It's as clear as day he's playing a character akin to WWE wrestlers. I can tolerate him a bit more than Koberulz can but like him think it's a bit insulting turning pro basketball games into silly sports theatre guff like wrestling.

Clearly it's a directive from LK for Homicide to 'juice up' the coverage in the hope that the controversy he may generate will draw more fans to the game even at the expense of existing NBL fans.

LK isn't involved in the NBL for the fun of pissing away millions of dollars it's with the intent to grow the league into something much bigger that would perhaps one day see a return on his investment.

Link?

There was a news article earlier in the year.

Where/when did he say that?

I remember reading a Q&A the Cairns Post did on him a couple weeks ago and he said he's just being himself

He's outright stated he's playing a character.

I think everything he does is pretty authentic

Kobe, ever thought that he just gets excited on game day? Walks into a stadium and gets that buzz?

Good don't watch and leave here.

If you watch him on the panel shows, or listen to him on Rucker's podcast (which is well worth a listen in any case), it's pretty clear he's playing a character in the commentary box.

If you watch him on the panel shows, or listen to him on Rucker's podcast (which is well worth a listen in any case), it's pretty clear he's playing a character in the commentary box.

His whole anti-Perth thing however is great IMO - especially when he's on with Redhage, which is probably why that's one of my favourite pairings in the commentary box, even though I don't rate either of them individually.

He'd definitely be much better on a panel show - be it NBL or sports show panel. He's fine there and he can be as moronic and controversial as much as he wants. To be honest, I've never seen him on any panel, but if he has been promoting the NBL in that setting, then that's good.

The complaints I've seen are mostly on Facebook, but there's plenty here too. And even though you want to get new fans on board, I think pissing off current fans isn't a great idea either. Still, there are commentators that I rate worse, so its not all bad. I don't hate the guy.

From the NBL's point of view, I completely get what he's all about. It's fine. I just pretty much disagree with most of it.

Having said that though, at best he is at least entertaining and gets people talking. At worst, he's a complete idiot who states the obvious, does it in an obnoxious way, and discredits any team that he wants to see lose. Which is Perth most of the time.

Homicide knows how to play his role. He's getting people fired up all over the place. I like his style

"Most people seem to be complaining about him though"

the poll at the top of this page begs to differ

Whichis what he sshould be doing. Give him a panel show, put him on other panel shows. Keep him off commentary.

Without even meaning to I've seen Homicide on various random "sports panel" type shows talking about the NBL. Again, not saying it's a good move by the NBL, but he's definitely out there talking about the league outside of just the game broadcasts.

^ Most people seem to be complaining about him though. And I haven't really noticed him promote the NBL outside of NBL broadcasts so its not like non followers of the NBL even knows about him.

Homicide is getting paid by the NBL to "promote the NBL" Like him or not who really cares.
He's doing his job. Far better than many others in the past.
If people are talking about him then that's exactly what the NBL want.

Agree AngusH, yes there is a lot of hate towards him, and I agree that its pointless venting on here about him after every game. But I also agree with Koberulz in that he seems to get a lot of games in all venues now. Most other commentators stay in their own regions or don't get as many games. So in all fairness, viewers have every right to call him out all the time given the amount of games he calls. His influence on the product is dominating.

I understand his role with the NBL as the leagues professional antagoniser and the league seems to love what he does, but his target demographic is certainly not me, and I'd predict that I'm in the age group where there would be the most fans watching on TV.

Homicide is great at baiting the commentators and also some viewers

He works at least two games every week, whereas other commentators stick to specific venues for the most part. Even when he's not there he gets talked about. The TV product revolves around him.

The NBL are completely convinced this is a good thing, somehow.

I think I'm starting to understand the way Homicide makes you folks feel now - I'm guessing it's how I feel when I read the same posts about him in every game thread that he commentates on.

I mean, I get it, I really do - I don't hate him, and I completely understand why other folks don't like him, but I'm just sick of reading about it here to be honest. He's doing what the league wants him to do, so I'd suggest emailing the league about it rather than venting here.

He really does need to give up the "I TOLD YOU!" rants. He's a commentator, its his job to tell us (despite it being blatently obvious). Just dont be an obnoxious dick about it. Sounds very unprofessional.

"I TOLD YOU [Randle would eventually make some plays]! I TOLD YOU!"

No shit Corey.

Most likely Casey Frank is worse than Williams...

Kobe has every right to complain over and over and over and over and over about the same thing if he wants. My visiting this board has halved because of it but so be it. Perhaps I should start endless threads about that but it is not my style.

Sorry, you're correct. I should have said they should be paying him to commentate.

Homicide isn't creating one iota of publicity for the NBL. Zilch. There wouldn't be a single person outside of basketball circles who would even know who he is.

What publicity is Homicide creating? Is anyone aware of him that wasn't watching the games already? My viewing has halved because of him.

They're actually paying him to commentate.

They're actually paying him to commentate. He's not a circus clown, although he acts like it.

I agree 100% with kobe on this and so do a lot of people - the coverage would be a lot better without Homicide.

Kobelulz, we get it, you don't like him, but get over yourself he is an entertainer and that's what they are paying him to do. Why is everything always about you anyway?

Haha, what? Since when does the scoreboard not give you an indication of what is going on in the game when its sole purpose it to tell you what the score is??

Kobe is right, it's hard to follow a game on TV with the sound on mute. A commentator's role SHOULD be to give you the information you need to properly follow what's happening not just play by play but overall. A lot of the time with Homicide (and other NBL announcers to be fair) that just doesn't happen.

I just don't get it.
It's one thing to have somebody who is outrageously opinionated and creates conversation, but this guy is just plain clueless.
Sometimes he manages to create a bit of controversy, almost by accident, but its only because his opinions are nonsense.
Somebody who gets things so completely wrong isn't controversial, just an annoying idiot.

If you'd told me a year ago that there was anything that could make me stop following the NBL I'd have laughed at you. And yet here I am, barely watching any games anymore.

This is the NBL's marketing strategy.

No, but you have the crowd, the PA announcer, the scoreboard, and the ability to look wherever you want to. TV's issues with incorrect score graphics and not bothering to point the camera at the game while it's going on are bad enough without exacerbating that by removing any other means of understanding what's going on.

The fantasy stuff is for the die hard fans and the casual observer has no interest in that crap. Please drop that part of the broadcast. Homicide talking about x's and O's is laughable. He was a great individual play and never would have listened nor even understood a coaches time outs.

Watching it on mute sux if you are trying to hear the crowd and get a bit of the atmosphere

I find it too hard to watch games on mute. Score and clock graphics tend to be more accurate coming out of NZ than anywhere else, but it's still difficult to follow at times.

In this particular case I also would have been watching while eating dinner, and muting makes it impossible to glance away from the screen at all, so that wasn't going to work.

I wasn’t going to watch it but specifically recorded it when I heard Homicide was going to be on

Was looking forward to watching today's game. Just sat down to do that and Williams was on. Guess I'll watch something else.

Why would Greer be biased towards United when he was a Tigers player and hates anything to do with United. Other than sucking up to the LKG group.

There's a period after every ellipsis.

A talk show, or interview show, or panel show, or really anything that gets him away from the games would be much better. Not only would the format suit him more, those who enjoy his work could seek him out while those who don't could ignore his existence completely without missing a minute of basketball.

Sadly, as others have pointed out the NBL is clearly behind him and pushing this under the impression it's a good thing. But is anyone tuning in because of Homicide? I don't think his sphere of influence reaches outside those who would tune in anyway. I also don't recall seeing anyone ever say anything good about his commentary that wasn't in response to criticism.

The Melbourne trio is absolutely terrible, and probably the biggest reason for their high attendances. Homicide doesn't have a clue and makes ridiculous and outrageous statements, Greer is thoroughly biased towards Melbourne, and Russell makes them both look pretty good by comparison.