Whys he heading back to the states?

Is he?

yes, spending time with his son there

yes, spending time with his son there

Thats the end of the Euro-Step !

Or is it just the beginning of it being called correctly !!!!

Atrocious play-by-play caller, very solid special comments guy, but love him or hate him he'll be missed because he's been part of the furniture for so long. All the best to him in the future.

He will be missed I think. He is just a good dude, and that is what radiates about him on TV. He did have some downsides, but he is enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Definitely hope he comes to the NBL again in some capacity.

As for those who don't like him. That is fine, but I don't see there being a much better replacement!

Good luck to him and as paul aid, he's been part of the furniture for so long I think he will be missed.

Poor Bill Woods, now when he commentates he'll have to do it with someone who isn't another Kings fan like he is.

See ya Steve! Good bloke with a smooth style and not a know nothing like Bill Woods.

GWB for once I agree with you as you made some good points.

Well done to Carfino for being such a personality for the league for all these years. Good luck with your future.

I will admit I was definitely not a fan of Carfino, and I criticised him heavily over many things that bothered me, but I do wish him well in the States. Who knows If he reads this forum, but if he does, then from this Wildcats fan (and I know he hates the Wildcats) I really do wish him well in his next move and I also hope he stays with basketball in some capacity. He's a decent bloke, and comes across as very affable.

Unfortunately he was not the best choice of commentator for channel 10 to have as their lead man for so long (my opinion), and it was probably evident later on in the contract that channel 10 didn't give a stuff about that.

Similar thoughts to Paul and others - he was a terrible play-by-play caller, but a decent special comments guy. Channel 10 could have used him better, and it may have silenced a lot of detractors (like myself) if he was used to his strengths.

Again, its possibly more a sign that Channel 10 doesn't care, but I feel the way they positioned Carfino as the "face" of the TV coverage probably didn't help with his career, and the coverage suffered. I remember him being much better when he was with John Casey on Fox, or Bill Woods in the 90's. He was great then, as he wasn't the lead commentator.

Anyway, good luck Steve Carfino. You have certainly been a big part of the NBL's history and it will be good if the NBL can give you some sort of tribute on their website (little dig there, they probably won't because the website is junk)

Well done Carf - awesome mate!!

U cant pls em all especially on this forum.

Loved your work...

I'll miss him, I have kind of hard wired his voice into my head when it comes to ball.

Good luck carf!! Hope to see you back in oz someday

Sad to see him go, always good to have a commentator that actually knows the game.

It's a great opportunity for the NBL with (hopefully) a new TV deal coming next year.

Carfino was part of the furniture and was a good reader of individual situations, but he didn't research the league, had little understanding of team concepts that make up the biggest part of the game and was very negative as a play-by-play caller.

Now the league will need to look to guys like John Casey and Tom King to call the games, and that can only be a good thing.

Anon 505739 - he played 2 seasons with the Devils (86,87 - I think he played a season there with Paul Stanley, who was a scoring machine) and 3 seasons with the Kings(88,89,90).

Remembering tv coverage was limited and I only saw him play at Apollo against the 36ers, he was a decent import without being outstanding. My recollection was that he was more of a pass-first player. His NBL career stats were better than I thought they'd be (based on my fading memory) - 34.6 minutes per game, 23.4PPG, 5.7 APG, 3.1 TOPG, 2.9SPG, 3.8RPG, 46.0% FG, 39.0% 3PT.

His nickname was Mr Magic but I never heard from where that came. Pretty sure it only appeared as a nickname when he moved to the Kings.

Not sure about a pass first pg........guy could certainly score in waves. Was fun watching Hobart.

Was Carfino's NBL career worthy of a place in the Hall of Fame though? I mean, I've seen other imports who had longer and more successful NBL careers who haven't even been considered for the HoF. And I still question.....had he not left Hobart for the more media focused Kings would he have been considered?

Not saying he wasn't a good player because the fact is that he was before his back gave out.

As much as I think he will be missed and good luck to him in the future, one thing I will remember is the rather shameless push by himself and John Casey to get him into the HoF when they were commentating together on Fox a few years back.

Yes the Hof is an interesting question. He was such an excitement machine back then and probably does deserve it. Back then they created a house limit on the crowd in Kingborough because they were sitting on the sides lines 4 deep to see the games then.
The Devils I believe knocked off the top teams in their first season with Carfino playing and that sort of news made head lines everywhere around Australia in sporting circles.

I remember one game in (I think) 1987 when the Devils were running dead last and came up against the league leading 36ers (oh to dream.....). Carfino led the Devils to an upset at Kingborough.

He was a good player, not questioning that. But his NBL playing career was hardly HoF material.

Based on his overall contribution to the NBL both as a player and as the mainstay television commentator for the past 20-odd years, then yes he probably does deserve to be in the HoF. But I don't think he deserves to be there simply as a player.

Devils bottom in 1985.
1986 the Devils were 11th above the Wildcats. ;)
1987 7th with a 14 /12 record and after that Carfino left for the Kings.
So not sure what game you could be thinking of.
Initially they were indeed upsets but it wasn't long before they became the norm.

The Devils may not have been running last (just seemed like they always were back then), but it definitely was 1987 because Carfino was playing and we didn't lose to them in 1986.

Might be mixing my memories here but I seem to remember Bill Jones fouling out late in the game. He was falling over and grabbed onto the nearest thing to him to prevent it....unfortunately it was a Devils player.

Years ago, it was a real treat to listen to game commentary from the likes of such greats like Steve. Nowadays I have to listen to Bill Woods and man, its like listening to Don Scott or Malcolm Blight in AFL circles. They known how to bore