For a small market team, the Minnesota Timberwolves have a stacked broadcast team. With Michael Grady on play-by-play and new-school color voice Jim Petersen, Bally Sports North brings the goods. The crew one-upped itself on Sunday night when they aired a segment featuring assistant coach Micah Nori breaking down the Warriors’ low post offense and how Minnesota tries to defend it.
“The idea tonight is: man, you, rim,” Nori explained as he scribbled furiously in read marker.
Basketball fans online rejoiced.
NBA coaches are notoriously mum about game strategy. Many will sleepwalk through their pregame press conferences, worried that any schematic details will leak onto social media and end up getting back to the opposing coaching staff.
Yet, commissioner Adam Silver recently pushed back on the simplicity of game analysis across the NBA. Content like this (which has aired since at least last season) shows another path for NBA game commentary in which producers aren’t afraid to get in the weeds and teams participate in providing insight for fans.
Especially for the NBA which can suffer from monotony during the long regular season, getting granular can pay off.
Of course, X (formerly Twitter) or r/NBA on Reddit conversations are not necessarily representative of everyday NBA fans. But Bally Sports North is making a bet that it can reward viewers with greater access to the coaching staff and a deeper understanding of the game.
Make it a nightly feature, get it sponsored, and voila: content. Even if it goes over some viewers’ heads, it’s two minutes out of a three-hour broadcast. Over time, fans become smarter and more passionate. A win-win.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.