PS. They had John Casey doing the on-court stuff. IMO, he is way better than that. Yes, he has his quirks and catchphrases, but he has been involved for many years, has passion and good knowledge. And he puts the work in. I've seen him up close before going on air studying the stats and plotting out with his co-commentator what they will cover in the next section. A professional.

I haven't noticed Heal on any games yet so at least there's that.

There have not been any decent basketball commentators in Australia for as long as I can remember - and I'm an old coot. You get too many of these amiable, all round sports jocks, many of whom read player facts/stats/bios off cards to give an impression that they know the game. And they make a really big deal about obvious stuff - a charge call, a 3 pt make etc. Nothing about contests going on off the ball; or how the contest is evolving; or an educated guess as to likely play a coach may call. Then we have Shane Heal, who is forever stuck in the 1990s, reliving the good ol days. I watch the call during the infamous basketbrawl in Manila (Aust Vs PHL) when Shane was - yet again - taking another stroll down memory lane, completely misreading the signs of growing tension between the players. And so when the brawl broke out, Shane was surprised.

If Casey is in Adelaide let him call the game, get a local to sideline and if you need an expert in the hub let it happen.

" How about we add lots of unnecessary expense"

John Casey is worth it and I won't hear otherwise

Yes John Casey is as always the exception to the rule.

The fact the kids aren't getting a healthy dose of "all nylon" or "non-preferred left hand" or "90 seconds to go" etc is a travesty.

People do realise all the commentators are based in Melbourne? And they aren't paying commentators to travel?

" People do realise all the commentators are based in Melbourne? And they aren't paying commentators to travel?"

People realise and are unhappy about it because Casey is a top class NBL commentator and most of the ones they have commentating, to put it nicely, suck. It ain't no cupcake league, don’t have crap commentators.

If it doesn't make dollars it doesn’t make sense

I'd pay for more Casey

User friendly roll!

NBL ruined it, now we can't play this anymore:

https://www.hoops.com.au/forum/10653-the-john-casey-drinking-game/

I miss the early 90's channel 10 line ups.
Steve Quartermain and Dean Templeton were amazing.
Terry Kennedy and Brian Kerle.
Tim Gossage and John Gardner

Nbl grand final series won Asian sport television awards. Now that's a good result.

BEST LIVE SPORTS COVERAGE
Winner NBL Grand Final 1 - Sydney Kings v Perth Wildcats 2020
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Australia

Totally agree. Less is more. I must admit I enjoy Gaze and Santamaria as they really know their stuff. Personally I find Cam Luke and Corey Williams the most annoying. Luke pretends he's an expert but talks too much. I actually don’t mind Heal as at least he has knowledge of the game. The commentators for the Breaker games in NZ last year were great.

As long as Dwayne Russell isn't commentating I'm happy, he just yells garbage the entire time.

NBLcommentary may not be great but damn the NBA guys put me to sleep these days.
Everything is so monotone, nothing excites them, there's no tactics to discuss, it's just a procession of stats.

I'm certainly not a fan of Hooley and it feels like a job for the boys more than actual ability.

I've grown to like Cam Luke as host of Overtime but fuck me, he was dreadful in the Brisbane/Hawks game.

I don't mind Homicide and I think he's far less annoying.

We got Rucker on commentary for NBL preseason which only exemplified his talent and teased us.

Yes I prefer the old boys like Gaze and Hammer (Lachy Reid and John Casey) but I'm glad that Carfino isn't commentating anymore as he was bad.

I wondered not that long back how Brian Taylor went commentating the NBL as he has plenty of fans with the footy but the 2010 grand final series was some of the worst commentating ever heard.

I don't know what to make of Jack Heveren but I know he's much better than BT.

Please no more Dwayno
Please no more Liam Santamaria as play by play caller (much better as an analyst)
Please no more Cam Luke commentating.
Please no more Felix Van Hofe, Sportsbet adverts are already overexposure without having Gaze etc name dropping him like he's done something special
Alex Laughton in preseason as play by play didn't do a terrible job and his call with Big Matt was fun but I think Al would be good special comments

No more huddo this year :(

AL was good in the preseason commentary

Why aren't they using the on-court commentator more? They are actually at the game and most of them have a pretty good idea about what's happening in the game. Especially when something happens off the ball or, worse, when it happens on the ball but the cameras are showing us a close up of a play meandering down the court, someone on the bench, someone in the crowd. Or, worse, the studio team who don't interrupt their blather to tell us what happened.

And they are still persisting with 3 in the studio. And am I correct in saying that in one game this week, they had 2 guys in one studio and Shane Heal in another? They weren't in the same studio so why have 3??

Replays: what is so hard about showing replays of plays, ESP. fouls. Cricket and tennis have no problem giving us replays within a few seconds. But we don't get this. We do get replays of a shot or dunk that happened a few minutes ago. But why not show us a replay of the oil just called? ESP. when the commentary team don't comment on it.

Also, can they lose that really whiny, snarky 'analysis'? It's just whiny. And when failed coaches keep criticising current coaches strategies...

Analysis : In their criticism, they do occasionally try and explain strategies and plays. But they obscure it in technical terms that are meaningless to most. And they don't give a visual. Cricket and footie, which are in our DNA, have segments where they break down plays, or Michael Slater shows you what a straight bat is or how much an off cutter deviated. Surely, they have the tech to break down plays and strategies and show us what they mean by pin downs, shuffle, flares, flashes etc etc.

Am I being too finicy or outrageous?

Am I being too finicy or outrageous?

Three to make Two, I agree.

I suspect it's all about money, and maybe the fact there’s no competition in coverage to force the channels to lift their game for the clued-up watcher.