On Friday, my broadcast partner, Eric Smith, and I can pull out the old Bob Uecker line, "We must be in the front row!" without any hint of sarcasm. For you youngsters that don't know what I'm talking about go and see if you can dig it up via Google or YouTube: Find the classic beer commercial from years past and it will all make sense regarding the one time baseball player Uecker. In the commercial he jokes about being in the front row when in fact he discovers his seat is in the stadium's last row.
At a time when the NBA teams see dollar signs, or more politically correctly speaking "revenue streams" dancing in their heads, radio broadcasters and at times the actually broadcasts, were the ones that are taking the hit. Radio crews used to be on the floor, courtside, where we could bring you all the action and even give you descriptors involving dialogue, facial expressions and interactions between all parties out the court be it player to player, coach to player, and anything involving the officials.
But not so much any more as in most arenas, we have been banished and moved off the floor to broadcast locations at least half way up the arena and in some places so high atop the arena, the best tool is a television monitor beside us and a ride on a blimp would put us closer. Why? Once teams realized they could sell courtside seats for exorbitant amounts and people would actually pay the concept spread like wildfire. It may not be too long before all broadcast crews, radio and TV are both off the floor in the interest of the bottom line … money.
In fact while TV broadcasters have a vantage point on the floor in every arena, the radio crew is on the floor in only 11 of 30 NBA venues. Thankfully at home in Toronto, Raptors director of Media Relations, Jim LaBumbard has helped to convince the folks at MLSE that the radio crew should be on the floor, we're in the second row but still close enough to have better gauge of the game's intensity than say Denver where the game is a rumour. I'm still not sure why some other non-broadcast media outlets are on the floor when radio crews aren't but that's a discussion for another day.
Please don't misconstrue the previous information as a complaint, it's still a great job and being in the arena, to call the game is a privilege and in the end it doesn't matter where we sit but being able to give any little extra over the airwaves to the listeners is a bonus. All that being said, tonight, we will, literally be in the front row thanks to one of the "Deans" of NBA broadcasting Suns radio play by play man, Al McCoy. Yes, the TV boys will be sitting behind us because McCoy is a legend and as the Director of Broadcasting for the Suns, he has deemed that the radio crew should be in the catbird seat.
The Suns are coming off a 132-106 drubbing last night by the Los Angeles Lakers and it will be a game time decision as to whether or not "Captain Canada" Steve Nash suits up and plays. Nash missed the last contest in L.A. after turning his ankle in the win over Charlotte.
While many will see this as a game between two teams that are looking to run up and down and the Suns have gone back to their seven seconds or less philosophy on offence, Toronto is trying to run to take advantage of mismatches and not necessarily a quick shot early in the clock. Phoenix arrived back home in the wee hours of the morning and it will be interesting to see if their legs hold up, particularly Shaquille O'Neal's, if a torrid pace materializes in Friday's game.
Andrea Bargnani will draw the assignment of guarding O'Neal and Jay Triano is still tinkering with different ways to guard the big "Shaqtus" as he can score down low but is an under rated passer should you try and double team him. I fully expect Bargnani to play away from the hoop on offense to pull O'Neal out, particularly in screen and roll or pick and pop situations. This in turn will allow Chris Bosh some room to manoeuvre as he will be guarded by a smaller player, possibly Grant Hill in a match up that needs to be closely monitored.
A bit of news coming out of practice yesterday is Nathan Jawai being sent down to Toronto's "D-League" affiliate to get some playing time. "Big Nate" made the trip to the desert with the team but received the news when the team landed that he was going to be sent to the Idaho Stampede. So the big Aussie goes from the bright lights of the NBA to some barely populated arenas in the D-League. Hopefully he works at his game and is recalled.
