Roundball Rock at the Intuit Dome.

Saw a commercial promoting the NBA's return to NBC.

During the commercial, a John Tesh concert performing Roundball Rock at the Intuit Dome is shown.

Saw a commercial promoting the NBA's return to NBC.

During the commercial, a John Tesh concert performing Roundball Rock at the Intuit Dome is shown.

Link

Cool commercial. I know you like to speculate on what movies the NBA will integrate into their commercials so this was cool how a bunch of the NBC shows integrated into the return of NBC to the NBA

I must admit to being a grinch on this one. The song is fun but it's lipstick on a pig for that era of the NBA. Not that I don't anticipate good things in the future of the NBA and NBC partnership but just because the 12 year NBA on NBC run was one of the most boring and most predictable in NBA history. Phil Jackson won 9 of the 12 titles and you had conspiracies galore. First that the league or network helped Jordan when need be and then of course in their swan song season, you had the Game 6 Kings vs. Lakers conspiracy theories

People talk about the league being great in the 90's but that's not how people talked about it back then. Low scoring, unlikeable players and predictable games, yada, yada, yada. Nowadays, you have the exact same cynics saying there is too much scoring and shooting. At the end of the day, people who are critical of the NBA have their own agenda and will complain regardless

For me, I call it like I see it. The Jordan 3 peats were no good for the league IMO

The Heatles all taking pay cuts to shortcut their way to titles was bad

The KD signing was the all time worst thing to happen to the league but thankfully, he went to Brooklyn in 2019

I think having 7 champs in 7 seasons is a great thing for the league. Hopefully the Clips, Knicks, Cavs, Wolves, Mavs, Rockets or whoever can make it 8

I didn't like the NBA Finals as much, but I liked some of the earlier rounds.

Houston vs. San Antionio; Seattle vs. Utah; Indiana vs. New York; Portland vs. Utah; the unfortunate Portland vs. Lakers; Atlanta vs. Detroit; Miami vs. Orlando.

I am leaving out the Miami vs. New York series because while I kind of liked those Miami teams, I wasn't a big Pat Riley fan. So I probably didn't have a rooting interest.

I don't remember Orlando vs. Indiana 1995 but I must have seen it.

By the early 2000s, when watching teams like Charlotte for Baron Davis, or Toronto, I think TNT / TBS probably had a lot of the games I wanted and not NBC. (During the time when both networks covered it).

I did like some of those NBC triple headers, but again, those were pre NBA Finals rounds.

And honestly TNT would do the same thing years later when they took over.

Also, the OP was more about highlighting that the NBA could have shown 30 different arenas. They could have shown a made up fake arena. But they chose the Clippers' Intuit Dome.

Oooh, speaking of fake stuff, this is one of the worst commercials I've ever seen.

Google Pixel is a sponsor of the NBA.

During the commercial, they say "Hey Google, light the beam".

They then show a beam with a G.

That is one of the fakest worst ripoffs I've seen, and it isn't even a cool one. Why would a fan of any NBA team want a G beam in the sky? Especially when it's not even in their team colors, but Google's colors.

Also, to go on the other end of the spectrum, I've always liked this lady's flag, but that's because I was rooting for the then Indians:

Apparently people have done this at other games too, here's another pic from a few years later that I saved:

I'm also disappointed that NBC didn't incorporate any of their past TV shows.

A network that had Friends, Mad About You, Seinfeld, and Frasier, could have had a clip of one of them.

Actually one of my funniest memories was around 2000, when NBC had a commercial campaign that said "you know the show where guys sit around a coffee house talking?" (They then showed clips from Friends).

Well this guy's on that same network.

They then showed Shaq.

They had a similar commercial for Frasier.

Well Frasier had a return joke. NBC was also showing NASCAR at that time.

During an episode, Niles is in a book store, and picks up a book. He mis-pronounces it and says it's the "history of N-U-S C-A-R".

I was probably the only one that got that joke, but I liked it.

I was in the process of moving during the Orlando Indiana of 1995 series so I got horrible reception in my new apartment until the cable was installed but that was a good 7 game series

Indiana and New York from the year before was great as the Pacers almost pulled off the upset being up 3-2 going back home. I often wonder how they would've done in the finals against the Rockets

Speaking of Indiana on the topic of the Blazers and Lakers 2000 series, I wonder who would've won between the Pacers and Blazers. That would've been an awesome small market finals at a time when seeing two markets like that seemed unfathomable

Props to the league for showing Intuit Dome. I do wonder how much of it was due to ID being this year's all star host. Or was it just because Tesh is based in LA and this was the closest arena to his house

The beam was a definite ripoff but it's good to see a version of Sacramento King culture being a part of general NBA culture

Maria Taylor didn't let the theme song finish playing. She started talking before it ended.

There's supposed to be this simple piano part after the climax. That's when the talking would usually begin.

Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady, and Vince Carter are the other hosts.

They played Roundball Rock 3x within an hour.

1) Before the start of the pregame show.

2) Before the ring ceremony happened, which was still part of the pregame show.

3) Before the start of the first game's broadcast.

Each time, they talked over the ending.

Mike Tirico seems to be pushing for a repeat. That will not make @Trueblood happy. That will turn him into HotBlood.

The NBC watermark in the upper right corner is too colorful and distracting. I don't know why they didn't make it transparent.

That's also probably going to ruin some TVs over time with image retention.

So, while I kind of like Roundball Rock, I like hearing the full song, especially with that piano lead in after the climax. And I don't need to hear it 3x an hour. That might have just been the case of them doing an extended intro show because it's ring night, but still.

Add to it that I don't like the visible watermark.

There's also a pre-recorded Michael Jordan: Insights To Excellence segment at halftime, that they're going to have every week. If he's going to be part of the broadcast, he needs to be there in person. Otherwise, it's lame. Go to the studio where other hosts are. And actually talk about the game that's being covered. Otherwise we're just hearing boring stuff about you. Someone that's not even part of the league, not even as an owner, anymore.

Lots of things to dislike about the new broadcast on NBC.

Haha. "Hotblood". I like it

I could see OKC repeating but then the big salaries kick in for JDub and Chet so you'll see some cutbacks on the rest of the roster. Therefore, I don't see a 3 peat

When you get down to it, anything beats what the NBA gave us in NBC's first 12 year run. Might as well call it the "Phil Jackson network" as the guy literally coached three separate threepeats during those 12 years. I don't care what anyone says. That's just bad and predictable. The irony of MJ doing the segments with Tirico can't be coincidental. While I realize that it would've been a conflict of interest to do the segments while Jordan was the majority owner of the Hornets, I still think that these segments directly coincide with MJ's influence on the league during NBC's original run

I hope those guys work out as analysts and I'll give it a chance but I haven't liked what I've seen from VC on Turner/NBA TV or TMac in his brief run on Disney

Melo is a diva and I just don't see those types giving great insight

TMac always talked about how he didn't love playing ball. If you're not passionate about the game then I just don't see you being able to give great insight either

VC never had any real hot takes or insight either. I remember Rick Kamla asking him if he thought KD signing with the Warriors was good for the league and VC replied with, "I don't know, what do you think"?

That happened several other times as well. That just flies in the face of what an analyst's job is. They are asking you for insight, not asking you to punt the question back to you

Did TMac say that recently?

I just have never been that impressed with Melo's game. Inefficient scorer. Doesn't do much else.

I've criticized Jayson Tatum from time to time, but Tatum is a lot more talented than Anthony. Better rebounder, passer, defender.

Most of the criticisms have been that he's just a bit too inconsistent. And if you look at the Celtics playoffs history during his tenure, they get into these long series, and he has struggled in a lot of those games. BUT, that's still better than what Anthony did.

Other scorers like DeMar DeRozan, CJ McCollum, Bradley Beal have just had more efficient careers, and play a better team game.

I think you're right about it being more than a coincidence.

Yesterday's Insights To Excellence was a waste of time. He talked about how he was nervous because he rented a vacation home, that had a basketball court. The owner asked him to shoot one free throw in front of his kid. Jordan was nervous because he hadn't picked up a ball in years. He doesn't have a basketball court at home, and he's kept it that way on purpose.

That's the kind of story that would be nice if someone were writing a book or doing a podcast with Jordan.

On a sports show that's about the current day's live games, it's a waste of time. Tell me what you think about the players in yesterday's games, both good and bad.

And don't do a pre-recorded segment. Be live.

To me, if there's going to be another multiple peat, I'd like to to happen in a few series that go the distance. Out of those 12 years, the Finals rarely had the eventual winner, trail.

Meanwhile, the Thunder trailed twice in last season's finals, and that made it for a competitive series.

In 2011, Dallas trailed twice.

In 2012, Miami trailed once.

In 2013, Miami trailed three times.

In 2014, San Antonio trailed zero times.

Overall, that's a better level of excitement than we got during the NBC era.

And the logo thing with NBC is annoying.

They actually have the logo on screen twice.

One spot, in the upper right corner, colorful. Like I said, that's going to be harmful to some TVs, with image retention.

Open the video in full screen so you can see the logo in the upper right corner.

A 2nd spot, in the middle of the on screen scoreboard. It's in gray, above the game clock.

You don't need to put your logo twice.

NBC should correct one of the few mistakes TNT made.

In 2008 - 2009, Gary Payton and Chris Webber were studio analysts on Inside The NBA.

I like their style. Plus those two are personal friends. Payton has opinions, but also knows how to deliver the message.

Get those two, and Stockton and Malone. Maybe someone else from the 90s, doesn't have to be a superstar.

Stockton can be funny in his own way.

Pretty sure that group, or some combination of it, would have good chemistry.

If NBC wants to harken to the 90s, that's the way to do it.

Maybe add Iverson.

That would be better than Anthony, McGrady, and Carter. Plus their games were mostly offensive based. Although McGrady and Carter were good passers too.

My suggestions would have a good combination of guards and forwards. I'm sure there's others too, like Jamal Mashburn, Grant Hill, etc.

Ben Wallace.

I see Ben Wallace works for the Pistons, but it's not like he's a coach or GM. He's not in a decision making role. It wouldn't be a conflict of interest.

Tayshaun Prince.

Did TMac say that recently?

Not recently but said it a lot during the back end of his career. Went so far as saying that he "hated" basketball. I don't know if he really meant it or was just looking for shock value but he's definitely been quoted as saying that

You're right about Stockton and his dry sense of humor but I just don't think he has much interest in having anything to do with today's game. The NBA tends to lean left politically and Stockton was one of the outspoken anti-vaxers. I think the league would be leery of bringing him in and I don't think he'd be interested although if he ever changed his mind, he could definitely add some insight

I could see Webber returning to the studio. He was not only good with GP but with Kevin McHale as well

I wasn't wild about him as a game analyst though. Very little insight despite having a very high bball IQ. Magic Johnson was similar in his brief run on NBC. High Bball IQ but his analysis was similar to his tweets. Water is wet, the sun is hot....

There isn't a single thing Magic Johnson has said since he stopped playing that's been insightful. On another platform, I head a thread with 12 of his tweets and how badly they aged. Or were just wrong. I'll repost them sometime.

Larry Bird would be good.

Yeah, I didn't like Webber's in game analysis as much. I thought he might get better over time. However, he is good during All-Star weekend, when you don't need insight, just emotion.

Not recently but said it a lot during the back end of his career. Went so far as saying that he "hated" basketball. I don't know if he really meant it or was just looking for shock value but he's definitely been quoted as saying that

Almost sounds like Olowokandi.

Fixed a typo I had in post # 14 during the "That would be better than" sentence.

While I think we agree about NBC and the Finals, what did you think about the earlier rounds?

I did like those double and triple headers during the playoffs on NBC. I thought some of those series during those days were good.

I'm all for it. Let's see how NBC does in it's new run

The only thing I don't like about triple headers all on one station is that if one game goes to overtime, you miss the beginning of the next game. NBC SORT OF fixed that with Tuesday night's double header. OKC and Houston went to double OT so they told you that you could go to Peacock to watch the L word/Warrior game. The problem is that not all of us want to subscribe to Peacock. This is obviously part of NBC's strategy. Get people to subscribe to Peacock in the same way that Prime got NFL fans to subscribe to their service

Interesting angle on the competitive finals. While I love having different champs every year, some of the actual finals left a bit to be desired. Denver was never really in any trouble against Miami and Boston was never in trouble against Dallas

Meanwhile, when the L word three peated, you at least had great 7 game WC finals against Portland in 2000 and Sacramento in 2002

But we should add that the Warriors were down twice in their 2022 run against Boston so that was good as was Milwaukee being down 2-0 before coming back against Phoenix

As for Jordan, agree all the way. While his insight beats Magic and CWebb, he doesn't have a lot of interesting things to say. I guess the fact that one of the greatest players ever doesn't have a court at home is different, I don't really find it insightful

Yeah you have good points about the 2023 and 2024 finals not being competitive.

My thing about whether the eventual series winner trailed, was just one quick way of looking at it.

The Portland one is annoying because NBC got it's preferred result in the end. Let's see how they would have handled an upset. Would they talk more about how the winner won, or more about how the loser lost?