I really have no idea why they decided to do this, but ABC has added recently fired Rockets’ Coach Jeff Van Gundy to the booth. He will join a team of Mike Breen and Mark Jackson that has done a stellar job this offseason, and ultimately screw up any chemistry the two had built together.
Here’s the thing. Jeff Van Gundy is good….he did a great job with TNT in the past, and is an extremely intelligent guy. But the problem boils down to one simple thing. Three man booths rarely work in any sport, and are just down right dreadful in Basketball. There isn’t enough time for two people other than the color guy to get their point across. They ultimately end up stepping on each other’s toes the entire night, and the PbPer is left trying to pick up the pieces. The only sport this really works in is Football because of the time between plays.
I’m convinced that Mike Breen was dragged down during last year’s playoffs by Hubie Brown. He has found a great partner in Mark Jackson, and sans Albert-Kerr they are the best grouping during these playoffs. Remember that this team has only been together for about five months (Christmas Day), which equates to 15 games (Jon Barry has worked some in Jackson’s absence).
It just makes zero sense to add Van Gundy now, and possibly keep him on through the Finals.
I missed the Jazz-Spurs game yesterday when the three-man booth made it’s debut. If you have anything to add, or want to debate my theory….please add it in the comments.
ESPN Basketball Booth News (Awful Announcing- Dec 2006)
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