Last night was a great night for buzzer beaters in the NBA. The most notable was reigning MVP Derrick Rose’s step back jumper to lead the Chicago Bulls to a victory at the Milwaukee Bucks. Rose got the ball with 18.1 seconds left and the game tied at 104 and nailed the game winner over Brandon Jennings.
In looking at buzzer beaters, it’s always fun to see both sides of the coin. There’s the jubilant reaction of fans and announcers for their team that scores an exciting victory… and the depression and misery of fans and announcers seeing their team lose in one of the most crushing ways possible.
Let’s get the bad news first with Bucks announcers Jim Paschke and Jon McGlocklin…
The call of the losing end of the buzzer beater is high unintentional comedy. Rarely is the shot ever actually called as it happens. McGlocklin bemoaningly asks, “Is that the first jumper he’s made tonight? I think it is…” as if it’s a surprise that the MVP of the league would do such a thing. Paschke rather matter of factly states Rose got to 30 points and the Bulls won the game. All that’s missing is the sad violin music.
Now for the good news with Bulls announcers Neil Funk and the always colorful Stacey King, who takes over the call of the game winner with his trademark shouting and nicknaming…
For this buzzer beater, it’s all about the euphoric, screaming analyst that takes the reigns from his play by play man. “LET ME STEP BACK AND KISS MYSELF!!! MVP TIME!!! WINDY CITY ASSASSIN DOES IT AGAIN!!!” Stacey King follows that up with a subtle dig at LeBron James talking about superstars taking and making clutch shots (bravo) and makes smooching noises. That’s the difference in being on the winning and losing side of a buzzer beater.
