Annual Announcer Kvetch Thread, 2022-23

[rasputin]

My biggest problem with former Duke players turned broadcasters is that they go past unbiased on to the other side to not show any Duke bias. Any UNC player turned broadcaster will slather over UNC all game. Even the in-studio hosts like Kenny Smith or Joel Berry will openly root for UNC. Try to find a Duke announcer who will allow himself to root for Duke on air.

I enjoy games in which either G-Man or Jim Spanarkel is doing color, and I think they call things straight up.

[gumbomoop]

All Duke ACCT games will get Shulman-Bilas.

https://espnpressroom.com/us/college-basketball-mens/

Looks like ESPN has rearranged their ACCT announcing teams, as we get O’Brien-CA instead of Shulman-Bilas this aft. Presumably ESPN decided to assign the A-team to the UNC drama. Admittedly, the ESPN Press Room site did include a “* Subject to change” note.

For those who are not fond of Bilas’s commentary, including me, his replacement by CA might not be good news. In the little I saw of CA yesterday, he’s as unfocused as ever on the actual play on the court. Undoubtedly a lovely fellow, great smile, but godawful as commentator.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Bill Walton is calling the ASU game tonight. For some reason early on they were talking sunsets, and his broadcast partner chimed in with "The sun set on you a long time ago".

Smoke up and enjoy. Go Bobby!

[missfinch]

Bill Walton is calling the ASU game tonight. For some reason early on they were talking sunsets, and his broadcast partner chimed in with "The sun set on you a long time ago".

Smoke up and enjoy. Go Bobby!

Walton has completely lost it tonight.

[heyman25]

Walton has completely lost it tonight.

I liked all the praise for Bobby Hurley the all time NCAA assist leader. Could possibly never be broken. Dave Pasch puts up with all of Bill’s wild spinning tangents

[missfinch]

I liked all the praise for Bobby Hurley the all time NCAA assist leader. Could possibly never be broken. Dave Pasch puts up with all of Bill’s wild spinning tangents

Oh I’m fine with that too but the other 99.9% is just nonsense.

[kako]

Oh I’m fine with that too but the other 99.9% is just nonsense.

I once met Bill Walton in person. He was himself - talkative, rambling, all over the place. But he gave me much more attention than I ever expected. I asked him a couple of questions about hoops, and he answered in great detail. He couldn't have been nicer to me, a nobody. I will remember our conversation forever. After all, he is definitely one of the greatest college players of all time.

That being said, Walton doing TV color for "The Conference of Champions" is so painful. He can, on occasion, point out something valuable. But you have to listen to so much garbage. Tonight was no different. Those of you on the east coast are lucky that you don't have to listen to him so often, believe me. Now he's still not as bad as Alexander to me, but he's probably next.

9F

[BlueHeaven]

I did not search through whole thread so forgive me if I am repeating past complaints, but I find Cory Alexander insufferable. Arrogant and rarely actually comments on game.

[nocilla]

My wife (a UNC fan) while watching last nights game with UVA, commented a few times that maybe Jay Bilas should be coaching because he always knew what UNC needed to be doing. She said Hubert should be listening to Jay because what he is doing isn’t working. For what it’s worth, she likes when Jay Bilas does games because he offers a lot of insights and explains plays and sets. Personally, I get tired of Bilas because he gets repetitive over the course of a season.

Just thought I would offer the perspective of a different viewer given the criticism he takes here.

[House P]

I liked all the praise for Bobby Hurley the all time NCAA assist leader. Could possibly never be broken.

Sadly, Hurley's record will be in serious jeopardy if Yuri Collins from Saint Louis chooses to use his extra COVID year of eligibility. Collins currently has 858 career assists, putting him 218 behind Bobby. This season Collins had 304 assists and is likely to get a few more as Saint Louis in line for an NIT bid.

I think Bobby needs to be proactive here. He should offer Collins a Grad transfer scholarship to ASU and then promptly bench him when he gets within a game or two of the record.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I once met Bill Walton in person. He was himself - talkative, rambling, all over the place. But he gave me much more attention than I ever expected. I asked him a couple of questions about hoops, and he answered in great detail. He couldn't have been nicer to me, a nobody. I will remember our conversation forever. After all, he is definitely one of the greatest college players of all time.

That being said, Walton doing TV color for "The Conference of Champions" is so painful. He can, on occasion, point out something valuable. But you have to listen to so much garbage. Tonight was no different. Those of you on the east coast are lucky that you don't have to listen to him so often, believe me. Now he's still not as bad as Alexander to me, but he's probably next.

9F

I met Walton around 2008-2009 at an event, which I believe was when he was particularly suffering from extreme back pain, to the point of being close to suicidal, before he got the situation more under control. I had a similar experience. He was incredible kind, friendly and attentive, and was very eager to ask questions about me and learn more about me (I'm not a particularly interesting person). There were several other very prominent people there and he was by far the nicest, most down-to-earth of all of them.

Like others, I think that during broadcasts he has become a caricature of himself. To some extent it is entertaining, but at some point it detracts from watching the game. If it is a game I don't really care about, he can be fun for a bit, but if I want to really know what is happening, I would rather not listen to him.

[jv001]

I liked what Seth Greenberg said about Dukes defense yesterday. He said that their defense is Final Four defense. Of course, his side kick Laphonso Ellis , laughed at that notion. I've always thought Laphonso disliked Duke from some of his comments. I guess he's jealous from his playing days at Notre Dame where he his teams went 67-57 in his four years there.

GoDuke!

[kako]

For all you Bilas haters out there, here's some raw meat from The Athletic today. It's the update from their Bracket Watch. Pretty sure they are referring to him as they discuss Clemson. My emphasis in bold.

Clemson (23-9, 14-6; NET: 61, SOS: 106) We love this time of year. We love it all: The late hours, the eye strain, the floating along on the wave of 15 hours of basketball, not entirely digesting or understanding everything we see, but gradually coming to what we think is some basic holistic understanding of the tournament picture, the bubble, where everybody stands. And then, bam, watching Clemson blow out NC State, comes the bold proclamation that Clemson HAS TO BE IN, and in fact they were IN ALREADY, but now they’re DEFINITELY IN. This stuff is always so funny. It comes from a different reality, and broadcasters who spend a lot of time covering specific conferences do it all the time. Teams are constantly made locks. Every team that wins a game against another average team “just punched their ticket.” It is comedic, but also kind of weirdly deceptive, and maybe even contributes to the disconnect a lot of fans have about their team’s bubble positioning when they come on here and leave a comment and wonder why Pitt or NC State isn’t a lock yet. Guys: You’ve been listening to the wrong people! Look around at the whole country. Look at the other teams on the bubble. Watch them play. Don’t assume X wins in an ACC ranked seventh in the NET gets you anywhere. Engage with the reality!

Anyway, LOL, Clemson is not a lock. Clemson is not even necessarily on the right side of the bracket! Clemson just beat the hell out of NC State again Thursday night, 80-54, and for the second time in two weeks, too — they won in Raleigh, 96-71, on Feb. 25 — and that is a good thing to have done. Clemson may yet get in. But the notion that Clemson HAS TO BE IN is silly, and a person holding that belief could be easily disabused by looking at Clemson’s team sheet. Go ahead, go on. This team has played 12 games against Quadrant 1 and 2 teams; it was won seven times. It has played 20 games — 20! — against Quadrants 3 and 4, and lost four times. It scheduled so badly in the nonconference (rank: 335) that Brad Brownell almost had to have tried. There is nothing about this team that is a lock or a sure thing or anything else beyond a bubble team that beat N.C. State badly and maybe needs to beat Virginia Friday to get in.

Sheesh. People just say whatever.


For the record, I am pulling for NC State, Pitt and Clemson to all get in. But I think the odds are against it.

9F

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

For all you Bilas haters out there, here's some raw meat from The Athletic today. It's the update from their Bracket Watch. Pretty sure they are referring to him as they discuss Clemson. My emphasis in bold.

Clemson (23-9, 14-6; NET: 61, SOS: 106) We love this time of year. We love it all: The late hours, the eye strain, the floating along on the wave of 15 hours of basketball, not entirely digesting or understanding everything we see, but gradually coming to what we think is some basic holistic understanding of the tournament picture, the bubble, where everybody stands. And then, bam, watching Clemson blow out NC State, comes the bold proclamation that Clemson HAS TO BE IN, and in fact they were IN ALREADY, but now they’re DEFINITELY IN. This stuff is always so funny. It comes from a different reality, and broadcasters who spend a lot of time covering specific conferences do it all the time. Teams are constantly made locks. Every team that wins a game against another average team “just punched their ticket.” It is comedic, but also kind of weirdly deceptive, and maybe even contributes to the disconnect a lot of fans have about their team’s bubble positioning when they come on here and leave a comment and wonder why Pitt or NC State isn’t a lock yet. Guys: You’ve been listening to the wrong people! Look around at the whole country. Look at the other teams on the bubble. Watch them play. Don’t assume X wins in an ACC ranked seventh in the NET gets you anywhere. Engage with the reality!

Anyway, LOL, Clemson is not a lock. Clemson is not even necessarily on the right side of the bracket! Clemson just beat the hell out of NC State again Thursday night, 80-54, and for the second time in two weeks, too — they won in Raleigh, 96-71, on Feb. 25 — and that is a good thing to have done. Clemson may yet get in. But the notion that Clemson HAS TO BE IN is silly, and a person holding that belief could be easily disabused by looking at Clemson’s team sheet. Go ahead, go on. This team has played 12 games against Quadrant 1 and 2 teams; it was won seven times. It has played 20 games — 20! — against Quadrants 3 and 4, and lost four times. It scheduled so badly in the nonconference (rank: 335) that Brad Brownell almost had to have tried. There is nothing about this team that is a lock or a sure thing or anything else beyond a bubble team that beat N.C. State badly and maybe needs to beat Virginia Friday to get in.

Sheesh. People just say whatever.


For the record, I am pulling for NC State, Pitt and Clemson to all get in. But I think the odds are against it.

9F

I have refrained from my "lock" rant all season. I shall keep biting my tongue.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

My wife (a UNC fan) while watching last nights game with UVA, commented a few times that maybe Jay Bilas should be coaching because he always knew what UNC needed to be doing. She said Hubert should be listening to Jay because what he is doing isn’t working. For what it’s worth, she likes when Jay Bilas does games because he offers a lot of insights and explains plays and sets. Personally, I get tired of Bilas because he gets repetitive over the course of a season.

Just thought I would offer the perspective of a different viewer given the criticism he takes here.

I think what your wife is saying, in slightly different words, is what many of us are saying about Bilas.

[rsvman]

I think what your wife is saying, in slightly different words, is what many of us are saying about Bilas.

And also about Hubert. 😁

[Bluedog]

My wife (a UNC fan)...

You lost me once you admitted this. 😉

[AustinDevil]

Jay Bilas has been so much worse even than normal tonight.

[Southgate0809]

Bilas Gripes Tonight:

He loves pointing out Duke's use of the horn set most of all, but he'll also mention other plays and sets to let you know how much he knows about basketball (and he does). Tonight, he mentioned that a Miami player used an Iverson Split. I consider myself a basketball fan of above-average knowledge, but I don't have a clue what an Iverson Split is. Perhaps instead of just mentioning these terms, you could do your job as an analyst and show us what this means? If only they had technology where you could draw little white lines on the screen during a replay.

He is shockingly silent when they show a replay of a BS foul on Duke.

At the end as we were sealing the win, his first take was that you have to be impressed with Miami's fight.

[arnie]

Jay Bilas has been so much worse even than normal tonight.

The most absurd was when we get tied up, but retain possession via the arrow. Jay says the defensive team should ALWAYS be awarded the possession on a held ball. He doesn’t make that ridiculous statement if Duke ties up a team and they have the arrow.