Thorpe says Mike and Tommy are not "informed"

[guava_wrench]

 Tommy seems to have plenty of comments on current players. Who you need to stick with, who you need to force to their right or left, who's not going to try and stop the Celts if they go to the hoop, who's going to settle for jumpshots because they don't want to take it to the hole. I'd say he knows as much of that stiff if not more than the national announcers.

I think Tommy is very familiar with players he's seen play the Celtics multiple times over the years, especially scorers, and that analysis is very important.

But ask Tommy what he thinks about Ersan Ilyasova or Tiago Spitter, or Louis Amundson, he'll have a very superficial comment at best.

But, you've got to think Marv Albert or Reggie Miller won't do too well there either.

  I think tonight he was talking about players like Young and Favors, not exactly your Kobe/LeBron types. I think he might surprise you if you asked him about Ilyasova or Amundson.

I think Tommy is generally a sharp guy, and he watches a lot of Celtics game, so it seems unlikely that he isn't familiar with most players. The big question would be whether he know how they perform against other teams.

Again, color guys across the league regularly make comments that show that their opinions are based on just a small sample size, probably just the games where they play against the team they cover.

[indeedproceed]

  Tommy seems to have plenty of comments on current players. Who you need to stick with, who you need to force to their right or left, who's not going to try and stop the Celts if they go to the hoop, who's going to settle for jumpshots because they don't want to take it to the hole. I'd say he knows as much of that stiff if not more than the national announcers.

I think Tommy is very familiar with players he's seen play the Celtics multiple times over the years, especially scorers, and that analysis is very important.

But ask Tommy what he thinks about Ersan Ilyasova or Tiago Spitter, or Louis Amundson, he'll have a very superficial comment at best.

But, you've got to think Marv Albert or Reggie Miller won't do too well there either.

  I think tonight he was talking about players like Young and Favors, not exactly your Kobe/LeBron types. I think he might surprise you if you asked him about Ilyasova or Amundson.

Well Young has been around for 4 years or so, and Favors is the 2nd more high profile rookie in the Eastern conference, and they're both in the division..so that makes sense.

But, I think this from guava better states what I'm getting at:

The big question would be whether he know how they perform against other teams.

Like for instance, I watched the Miami-Utah game where Utah came back, and one of the guys (I don't remember who) said something along the lines of "Deron Williams has been begging Milsap to shoot the three all summer"..that's the type of stuff Tommy doesn't know. If you asked Tommy about Milsap he'd say something like "He's a little undersized but the kid can really hustle, and he's got a knack for the ball." That's not wrong, and its not nothing, but its not exactly insight either.

Like I say, for the guys who matter, Tommy knows his stuff, particularly in the Eastern conference.

[BballTim]

  Tommy seems to have plenty of comments on current players. Who you need to stick with, who you need to force to their right or left, who's not going to try and stop the Celts if they go to the hoop, who's going to settle for jumpshots because they don't want to take it to the hole. I'd say he knows as much of that stiff if not more than the national announcers.

I think Tommy is very familiar with players he's seen play the Celtics multiple times over the years, especially scorers, and that analysis is very important.

But ask Tommy what he thinks about Ersan Ilyasova or Tiago Spitter, or Louis Amundson, he'll have a very superficial comment at best.

But, you've got to think Marv Albert or Reggie Miller won't do too well there either.

  I think tonight he was talking about players like Young and Favors, not exactly your Kobe/LeBron types. I think he might surprise you if you asked him about Ilyasova or Amundson.

Well Young has been around for 4 years or so, and Favors is the 2nd more high profile rookie in the Eastern conference, and they're both in the division..so that makes sense.

But, I think this from guava better states what I'm getting at:

The big question would be whether he know how they perform against other teams.

Like for instance, I watched the Miami-Utah game where Utah came back, and one of the guys (I don't remember who) said something along the lines of "Deron Williams has been begging Milsap to shoot the three all summer"..that's the type of stuff Tommy doesn't know. If you asked Tommy about Milsap he'd say something like "He's a little undersized but the kid can really hustle, and he's got a knack for the ball." That's not wrong, and its not nothing, but its not exactly insight either.

Like I say, for the guys who matter, Tommy knows his stuff, particularly in the Eastern conference.

  That's basically a factoid that they picked up from their pre-game briefing. I guess it's insight but when the Celts are on espn or tnt the comments I hear about the Celts are generally common knowledge and a lot of it isn't really accurate. Like they don't watch the Celts play but maybe read about them on yahoo or espn. I'd assume that's the case with other teams as well.

[indeedproceed]

  That's basically a factoid that they picked up from their pre-game briefing.

Very possibly true.

[Rondo_is_better]

Gotta agree. Celtics and Spurs are both pretty bad. Tommy is one of the most unpleasant to listen to in the league when he starts screaming. Spurs have homerism issues too, though they don't make ears bleed.

Tommy is a bit of a broken record in commentary, but I'm not sure many local color guys are that up to date anyway.

Wow... I strongly dislike you.

EDIT:

who knows what'll get me banned... I vehemently disagree with your stance, and am quite upset by the way you characterize Tommy. He is essentially my grandfather.

[BballTim]

  That's basically a factoid that they picked up from their pre-game briefing.

Very possibly true.

  Again, I'm only extrapolating my opinion of how insightful and accurate their comments about the Celts are when I watch them on espn or tnt or nbatv. But I don't think it's likely that the announcers would know markedly less about the Celts than about other teams.

[Bahku]

Gotta agree. Celtics and Spurs are both pretty bad. Tommy is one of the most unpleasant to listen to in the league when he starts screaming. Spurs have homerism issues too, though they don't make ears bleed.

Tommy is a bit of a broken record in commentary, but I'm not sure many local color guys are that up to date anyway.

Wow... I strongly dislike you.

EDIT:

who knows what'll get me banned... I vehemently disagree with your stance, and am quite upset by the way you characterize Tommy. He is essentially my grandfather.

Tommy is the God of Green and the fearless leader of all things Celtics ... he's as Homer as you can get, and that's just why we love him!! (TP)

[guava_wrench]

Gotta agree. Celtics and Spurs are both pretty bad. Tommy is one of the most unpleasant to listen to in the league when he starts screaming. Spurs have homerism issues too, though they don't make ears bleed.

Tommy is a bit of a broken record in commentary, but I'm not sure many local color guys are that up to date anyway.

Wow... I strongly dislike you.

EDIT:

who knows what'll get me banned... I vehemently disagree with your stance, and am quite upset by the way you characterize Tommy. He is essentially my grandfather.

Sounds like the quintessential homer. Disliking people because they challenge one's desire to want to believe their likes are the greatest. Sadly, sometimes the things we like are mediocre. Sometimes they actually aren't even top 5 percentile. Doesn't mean your tastes are "wrong", especially when we are talking about entertainment.

If it makes you feel better, Tommy seems like a nice guy. Seems intelligent, and I respect his creative inclinations. A bit of a renaissance man. Just not a good color guy for non-Celtics fans and no longer on top of his game the way he was when he was national.

Why would someone being your grandfather change whether or not his is in touch with reality during a game with the team he loves? Do you enjoy hearing your grandfather scream? I guess my grandfathers were men of few words, so maybe that's why I can't appreciate an old guy screaming on TV.

[LooseCannon]

I've never listened to his commentary.  Does he ever badly mispronounce names or misidentify opposing players?

[coco]

Thorpe is a Celtic hater and Florida homer.  Just look at his pics and his commentary and won't take long to notice how biased he is.

[Birdbrain]

So, this chat with David Thorpe from Tuesday annoyed me because of what he said about Mike and Tommy.  Here's the portion of the chat that's relevant: 

John (Houston)

Follow up to the Heat announcer being your favorite, which other local crews are in your top 5?
David Thorpe  (12:47 PM)

I liked the guys from Memphis, folksy but fun and smart. Did they change color guys? Lakers crew always so professional. Utah's too. Magic guys are very good too.
David Thorpe  (12:48 PM)

Oh, and the guys from Minny are improving and actually pretty good.


kshiz (Chicago)

Please say Tommy Points!!!
David Thorpe  (12:50 PM)

Ugh. Homer points is more like it. Celts and Spurs have terrific organizations, but their tv guys are not remotely objective or particularly informed.


Thoughts?

He works for ESPN correct?  That seems about apropos.  Tommy has stools with more knowledge.

[moiso]

TP to guavawrench.  I pretty much agree with all your posts.  It's true that we love Tommy like a grandfather but who wants to hear grampa yelling at the tv?

I would say that most celticsblog posters know more about the current teams and players in the nba than Tommy does.  Tommy has said crazy things like Milt Palacio being a future allstar, to Rondo becoming an 80% foul shooter, to Carlos Delfino being a great outside marksman. 

I really don't think fans learn anything from Tommy at this point, other than "throw the pass so the big men can see it and catch it."

[Birdbrain]

TP to guavawrench.  I pretty much agree with all your posts.  It's true that we love Tommy like a grandfather but who wants to hear grampa yelling at the tv?

I would say that most celticsblog posters know more about the current teams and players in the nba than Tommy does.  Tommy has said crazy things like Milt Palacio being a future allstar, to Rondo becoming an 80% foul shooter, to Carlos Delfino being a great outside marksman. 

I really don't think fans learn anything from Tommy at this point, other than "throw the pass so the big men can see it and catch it."

I disagree Tommy is normally on point with his opinions regarding players.  BBD being a prime example of someone that proved a lot of C's fans wrong over the years.  But he's the homers homer. 

[Eddie20]

John (Houston)

Follow up to the Heat announcer being your favorite, which other local crews are in your top 5?

Miami's Eric Reid is awful! He calls every Heat play as if it were the game winner in a Game 7. He lacks a lot of knowledge and Tony Fiorentino has to correct him on basics a few times a game. He's like the Mike Goldberg of the NBA.

[vinnie]

I am a lifelong Celtics fan who honestly does not enjoy listening to Tommy. I love the guy, but his endless complaining about the officiating nauseates me. Half the time or more the officials have made the right call, but Tommy's bias does not allow him to see that. I actually love the stories he tells, his rapport with Mike, and most of the other stuff he does, but the constant criticism of the officiating is annoying.