General NBA watching thread 2007/2008

[Mavs Rule]

Haha, check out what Nellie said about the new mic's:

Locker room privacy invaded by ESPN
•Nelson isn't at ease with a camera taping pregame and halftime talks

Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 12/15/2007 02:59:35 AM PST

OAKLAND -- The Warriors didn't do any remodeling of their locker room at the Oracle Arena, but the space didn't have that same feeling of coziness Friday, at least in coach Don Nelson's opinion. Not with a Panasonic camera armed with a Fuji zoom lens stationed next to Mickael Pietrus' locker, courtesy of ESPN.

"It's just not going to be the same," Nelson said. "It's not just you and your best friends on the team in there; there's a whole lot of other folks that could be listening in."

The camera was just one of several new intrusions the league has afforded its national broadcasters this season. In addition to the locker-room camera, which taped Nelson's pregame and halftime talks for possible use later in the game, the coach and guard Baron Davis each wore a microphone during the contest, and Nelson was scheduled to give an interview during the third quarter.

"It's an unfamiliar territory for me," said Nelson, who's in his 28th season as an NBA coach. "It's going to be hard to be yourself, for sure, and that's the negative of the thing. You end up being an artificial person. You don't want to say your feelings sometimes, you have to be careful, you have to watch yourself. But my superiors demanded that we do it, so we'll do the best we can with it."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson was also miked up Friday, making it the second night in a row for him. The Lakers' win Thursday over San Antonio was shown on TNT.

"I'm not happy with it, but it didn't change anything," said Jackson, who claimed to have technical difficulties Thursday. "I turned (the microphone) off for a period of time in the first half. They told me that the battery had died on it anyway."

Coaches are given the right to kill the microphone in sensitive moments, but as Warriors executive vice president Chris Mullin pointed out before the game, it's hard to remember to click the button when your adrenaline is racing and your competitive juices flowing. "It's like, 'OK, wait ... now I'm mad,'" Mullin said. "A lot of stuff is more reactionary than that."

Despite the safeguards in place -- a representative for the league vets everything the networks want to use from the locker-room cameras before it hits the air -- Utah coach Jerry Sloan was shown by ESPN using an expletive in the Jazz's game Wednesday. With nine more nationally televised games remaining on the Warriors' schedule, could the same fate be awaiting Nelson?

"If that happened, would I be surprised?" Mullin said. "No."

Said Nelson: "Since four-letter words are about all I know, it'll be difficult not to use them."