It's the Blitz.

Agree, they barely paying attention to the game or what is happening. Tech foul call and no commentary to say why. Was a poor effort by commentators.

They're NBL commentators during regular season too though - Montagna, Heverin, Hooley, Rucker, von Hoff.

Agree totally, call the game, let us know who the foul went on etc, I'm not interested in their personal lives. It’s cringe worthy. Gaze and Gleeson please.

I muted them for most of the 36ers game as well, then didn't hear that the game had resumed and missed a quarter.

Pete Hooley is the worst offender. During the United v Kings game the commentator guest Tahjere McCall seemed genuinely embarrassed at the wacky line of questioning considering a game was in play. The odd side conversation is fine, but totally disregarding the game is poor form.

The 36ers game vs NZB bloody Rucker spent almost the entire first half of the game talking about his supposed acting career, a cameo in one movie or something.

What next financial advice from the great man?

It was painful at times - like listening to a couple of people chatting away in a pub while the game was on the big screen.

Either that or a podcast with an occassional reference to the game.

My other thought was listening to the cricket on the radio during a rain break.

Glad you guys noticed it too.

Yes, its pre-season so there's a more relaxed approach to commentary, but good lord, during the game, we *really* don't need to hear about what time you're going to bed, how old your son is, or who Angus Glover is inviting to his wedding.

Sure, engage in the occasional *brief* side chat, but an eight and a half minute ramble about completely un-related topics??
Nah c'mon, viewers deserve better.

Guess what? This is what Larry wants. Expect more of the same during the season. To the point where all NBL commentators have been told that if they start calling 'traditional' play by play, they can find another job. It’s all about ‘telling the players’ stories’, whatever the hell that means.

How do you know this, KTL?

It didn't work for ABC radio to go all social media and influencer kind of style, and I doubt it will work for the NBL.

I can remember the backlash on here when Corey Williams was given too much opportunity to ramble and provide a bit of 'colour’.

Obviously I can't say on here how I know. All I can say is watch what happens when the season starts, then see if I was right.

Fair point. I really meant from the horse's mouth, through a friend, etc etc. I’ll keep an eye out and if it gets too irritating then I can mute or record and rush through the ads or whatever.

Maybe after a few weeks we can have our usual annual thread on who the best or worst commentators are. LOL

KTL33 is a man in the know

"Guess what? This is what Larry wants. Expect more of the same during the season. To the point where all NBL commentators have been told that if they start calling 'traditional' play by play, they can find another job. It's all about 'telling the players’ stories’, whatever the hell that means."

I've never worked in marketing, so I would love to know what the logic behind this approach?

Here's hoping that the pre-season commentary format doesn't make its way to the regular season. I couldnt care less about how Derek Rucker talks to scouts about junior players he coaches, Pete Hooleys experience as a dad, Felix Von Hoffs 4 game NBL career etc.

There's a big gap between human interest stuff and outright fluff to fill in silences (or replace factual useful information).

I’d love to hear more - in small doses - about players’ and coaches’ backgrounds in the sport, and maybe even a bit about their life outside sport, but I’ll be racing for the mute as soon as it gets into WAGs and what they wear, and commentators’ financial dealings, and other unimportant s**t!

I don’t know about you, but when I use mute it usually means I ignore advertisers, and give a low Net Promoter Score to anyone who asks how I feel about the NBL on TV. Both are bad for the NBL, I know, but ... if LK thinks there’s more money coming from casuals then hard-core fans then "tell him he’s dreaming!"

Athlete awareness (player stories) is the biggest driver in fan engagement, and there is lots of data that they have which backs this up, as a lot of sports are shifting to this model.
Casual fans follow individual athletes more than the generic teams.

Die hard hoopsters have to remember the NBL is trying to pick up more casual fans rather than the die hard ones going through this forum.

A good sport which has set this precedent is F1, since Liberty Media took over the fan engagement, popularity and therefore money has surged, because they want more overall fans rather than the close die hards.

BigD makes a good point that at the end of the day the diehard basketball fans will watch either way (abiet on mute), the casuals may not unless they can engage with the "player stories, star players" etc. Therefore the NBL is making moves to attract these viewers to the league.

I agree with most others that the blitz commentary was poor to the point of being insulting. I was putting that mostly down to so many games compressed together causing them to venture into random chatting territory, rather than an intentional change of direction.

I'm cool with telling players stories or whatever. If commentators aren't knowledgeable enough about basketball to sustain our interest solely based on all the action occurring in front of them then look for other things to supplement with.
But none of those tangential anecdotes are so important that they can't be briefly put on hold if a great play occurs in the middle of one, yet that's what seemed to happen pretty regularly in the past week. That's when it bothers me.

Everyone would likely agree that player stories are interesting and generate more appreciation of both them as individuals and the sport.
However, there's an appropriate time and context to deliver such stories/conversations, and its not during the play - unless it's brief and doesn't detract from the play.

Feature stories during time outs, half time, or a dedicated highlights show are the perfect context for such content.

Another thing that annoyed me was when the nz import, Cheetham had a sensational dunk, but not one mention of how it was made so easy for him by the magnificent drive and penetration through traffic with the beautiful pass to him from Jackson Cartwright. Now that was real talent.

I'm sure Hooley's a good bloke but my god he's cringe on the call.

Rucker loves the smell of his sh*t that much is obvious.

I've been watching on mute for years since LK's on-air commentating "talent" is generally poor to shit.

von Hoff.

Famous for being on The Bachelor rather than his basketball. No doubt he will bring in thousands of viewers as a result.
LOL

I remember how bad Liam Santamaria used to be on the Blitz calls before he became a regular NBL guy and refined himself "that's money for jam!" and a bunch of cringe sayings I am glad he did away with. I think some of it is the fact we just dont have a lot of professional basketball commentators with real experience so you're going to have ex players pumping themselves up, or footy guys who barely have a vague interest in the sport making accidental football references. I usually dont care but having Trevor Gleeson on the world cup call just showed how much value a coaches insights can bring to a broadcast. I felt like - at times - Ruckers had some interesting things to say but then refers back to himself ad naseaum.

Liam Santamaria

Trevor Gleeson

Cotton should be in the Olympic team, Gleeson actually said that someone from BA should be leaning on the Australian government. His commentary compared to cringe worthy stuff that gets regurgitated by present commentators was excellent. You don't need three, just get game caller and an expert, Gleeson, Gaze being by far the best two.

I am going to go against the grain a little and say that I really enjoyed the side stories, not all of them but most of them, I loved the interviews with team owners, NBA scouts and GM's. I think they will continue but in smaller doses when the season kicks off.

Can probably get away with in the blitz a bit like the espn commentators do in summer league.

I agree that narrative and story is super important - but that's why they need a good pre-game build up and something of a post game.

I also think afl are great with telling the stories and analysing through the week - AFL 360, Last Crack, on the couch etc. would love if we saw similar for the NBL, even World Cup live did a decent job and giving us the stories.

Things like the "premiership window" that fox were doing all season and ranking the offence, defence etc. is something I’d love to see in the NBL.