Derek Harper most likely going to be fired for being honest

Zboy · May 5, 2007

I never liked Derek Harper as a person but I always respected him as a player. He was hard nosed, mentally tough, played great on the ball defense, and was clutch. He was the MVP for the Knicks in the 93-94 Finals against Houston.

Before that, he played for Dallas Mavericks. He has been broadcasting Dallas games but that is about to change...

Why?

Only because he was blunt and called it like he saw it. Derek Harper, even at this old age, probably has more balls than the entire Dallas team and he is most likely being let go for calling a Soft team......Soft.

Dallas in Denial

Here's the link and article...

Hot air: Nothing 'soft' from Harper

07:15 PM CDT on Friday, May 4, 2007

Derek Harper has either a big future in local television or no future.

Unlike courtside analysts Bob Ortegel and Brad Davis, Harper didn't sugarcoat a blessed thing from the KTXA (Channel 21) studio in the wake of the Mavericks' "Mayday" march to infamy.

Harper was downright Barkley-esque in his postgame analysis after the Mavericks' first-round elimination by the Warriors.

"It seemed to me in this game the Mavericks sort of quit," the former Mavericks point guard told viewers.

As for Dirk Nowitzki, Harper said, "Superstar players don't go 1-for-10 in the first half."

Asked by Gina Miller if the season was a failure, Harper responded, "Of course, it is."

Meanwhile over on TNT, Charles Barkley, who utters truth between shtick, was looking at videotape of the Warriors leading, 92-71, with nine minutes to go in the Mavericks' season.

"At this point in the game, Dallas has given up," Barkley told a national audience. "... Golden State was down 20 the other night, and they didn't pack it in."

There is no greater indictment in sports than accusing a team of quitting. Sitting in studios 800 miles apart, Harper and Barkley, who together logged almost 2,500 NBA games, saw the same thing.

Contrast those findings with the glass half-full takes of Davis and Ortegel.

Davis, with the Mavericks down by 23 points entering the fourth quarter, cited that Golden State is the worst defensive team in the league and will let an opponent back into the game. Midway through the quarter, he noted there was plenty of time for a Mavs rally while they were down 19 and had the ball.

Ortegel's mantra was that the Mavericks didn't lose the game. Rather, he maintained, the Warriors won it.

It was the same Ortegel who, following the Game 3 loss in Oakland, called the Mavericks' effort "outstanding" and "superb."

(Confession: I did agree with Ortegel's halftime assessment that the Mavericks were in good shape. They trailed by two points with Nowitzki playing as if his heart was across the bay in San Francisco. Said Ortegel: "You have to believe you aren't going to see that in consecutive halves.")

It wasn't until the game was long over that Ortegel conceded, "It's very disappointing. There's nothing else to say."

As for Harper, the prediction here is that he has no future in local TV. We live in an age when most teams expect their hometown broadcasts to be infomercials. Of course, some broadcasters are more adept than others and know where to draw the line.

Harper, who has as much loyalty to the Mavericks as anyone, simply told it like it was throughout the six-game series. For that offense, he will be deemed not ready for prime time.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...ts/bhorn/stories/050507dnspohorn.297f20b.html

Ziggy · May 5, 2007

Dallas fans cant take the criticism ey... When Elie calls out JVG or TMAC it makes me happy...

Bandwagoner · May 5, 2007

Ziggy said:

Dallas fans cant take the criticism ey... When Elie calls out JVG or TMAC it makes me happy...
Click to expand...

Super Mario is Rockets royalty. If Dream came here and said Rafer sucks I doubt to many here would start to hate Dream.

rsx_htown · May 5, 2007

CaseyH said:

Super Mario is Rockets royalty. If Dream came here and said Rafer sucks I doubt to many here would start to hate Dream.
Click to expand...

prob like him even more

LFE171 · May 6, 2007

but its kinda true. local broadcasters are like informercials. theyre supposed to be. itd be hard to see clyde, bull and bill, who have bright personalities and are optimistic, to say the rockets are giving up (games 3 and 4).

redefined · May 6, 2007

He's not a broadcaster. He only does pre-game and post-game. Kind of like Granato used to be with the Astros

I could care less if he's gone

rodrick_98 · May 6, 2007

i watched the channel 21 broadcasts of the games, and the post games that harper did. i was quite surprised to hear him say it, but it's the truth. i don't think they should fire him... like drexler, he wasn't a great on tv in game, but his haltime/postgame analysis were spot on the whole season.

ferrari77 · May 7, 2007

This is bullsh*t. He won't be fired. Cuban isn't that touchy and Cuban has no probs with Harp. Dallas fans, the ones I know can take the criticism. They already realized their team was soft after game 3. They realized they had no shot in game 6 and some just wanted their team to lose that game 5 in dallas rather than waste a trip out west.
harp will be fine.

rrj_gamz · May 7, 2007

CaseyH said:

Super Mario is Rockets royalty. If Dream came here and said Rafer sucks I doubt to many here would start to hate Dream.
Click to expand...

Rafer does suck, what's your point...

Derek is just calling it like it is...Good for him...

superden · May 7, 2007

Suck it up Dallas. My goodness... maybe they should start running fake playoff games on tv so the Mavs fans don't know they lost the first round.

pgabriel · May 7, 2007

Ziggy said:

Dallas fans cant take the criticism ey... When Elie calls out JVG or TMAC it makes me happy...
Click to expand...

I don't think the fans are the problem. the broadcasters are employed by the teams I believe. they can't be too candid.

chievous minniefield · May 7, 2007

Zboy said:

I never liked Derek Harper as a person but I always respected him as a player. He was hard nosed, mentally tough, played great on the ball defense, and was clutch. He was the MVP for the Knicks in the 93-94 Finals against Houston.

Before that, he played for Dallas Mavericks. He has been broadcasting Dallas games but that is about to change...

Why?

Only because he was blunt and called it like he saw it. Derek Harper, even at this old age, probably has more balls than the entire Dallas team and he is most likely being let go for calling a Soft team......Soft.

Dallas in Denial

Here's the link and article...

Hot air: Nothing 'soft' from Harper

07:15 PM CDT on Friday, May 4, 2007

Derek Harper has either a big future in local television or no future.

Unlike courtside analysts Bob Ortegel and Brad Davis, Harper didn't sugarcoat a blessed thing from the KTXA (Channel 21) studio in the wake of the Mavericks' "Mayday" march to infamy.

Harper was downright Barkley-esque in his postgame analysis after the Mavericks' first-round elimination by the Warriors.

"It seemed to me in this game the Mavericks sort of quit," the former Mavericks point guard told viewers.

As for Dirk Nowitzki, Harper said, "Superstar players don't go 1-for-10 in the first half."

Asked by Gina Miller if the season was a failure, Harper responded, "Of course, it is."

Meanwhile over on TNT, Charles Barkley, who utters truth between shtick, was looking at videotape of the Warriors leading, 92-71, with nine minutes to go in the Mavericks' season.

"At this point in the game, Dallas has given up," Barkley told a national audience. "... Golden State was down 20 the other night, and they didn't pack it in."

There is no greater indictment in sports than accusing a team of quitting. Sitting in studios 800 miles apart, Harper and Barkley, who together logged almost 2,500 NBA games, saw the same thing.

Contrast those findings with the glass half-full takes of Davis and Ortegel.

Davis, with the Mavericks down by 23 points entering the fourth quarter, cited that Golden State is the worst defensive team in the league and will let an opponent back into the game. Midway through the quarter, he noted there was plenty of time for a Mavs rally while they were down 19 and had the ball.

Ortegel's mantra was that the Mavericks didn't lose the game. Rather, he maintained, the Warriors won it.

It was the same Ortegel who, following the Game 3 loss in Oakland, called the Mavericks' effort "outstanding" and "superb."

(Confession: I did agree with Ortegel's halftime assessment that the Mavericks were in good shape. They trailed by two points with Nowitzki playing as if his heart was across the bay in San Francisco. Said Ortegel: "You have to believe you aren't going to see that in consecutive halves.")

It wasn't until the game was long over that Ortegel conceded, "It's very disappointing. There's nothing else to say."

As for Harper, the prediction here is that he has no future in local TV. We live in an age when most teams expect their hometown broadcasts to be infomercials. Of course, some broadcasters are more adept than others and know where to draw the line.

Harper, who has as much loyalty to the Mavericks as anyone, simply told it like it was throughout the six-game series. For that offense, he will be deemed not ready for prime time.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...ts/bhorn/stories/050507dnspohorn.297f20b.html
Click to expand...

Derek Harper is a choad, and karma is a biaww.

I got to see his weak crap in the tunnels of Toyota Center during the Dallas '05 series. In the broadcaster's break room, he and his little cheese-d partner were mockingly doing the Barry/Sura hand gesture at each other. Boy, did they ever think that was funny.

Happy unemployment, Derek.

DFWRocket · May 10, 2007

Up here, they're used to the broadcasters being nothing but cheerleaders for the team. It makes me sick. I remember if the Rockets fouled and the Rocket fans didn't like it at the Compaq Center, Bill & Calvin would sometimes say that it was the correct call. B & C also could tell you how the other players would play certain Rockets, and they would also get down on a player for bad plays, etc.. They Called it like it is...But Not in DFW...nooooo waaayyy. Even some of the guys on the local sports Radio Station has called out the 21 Broadcast team for being "Homers". They did a whole segment on it during the the 04-05 playoff series. Making fun of the way the broadcast team claimed everything was a no-call foul or a Yao-illegal screen. They probably even thought that the game 5 in that series was a well-called game and Finely was nowhere near out of bounds. I guarantee you they didn't show that replay back once like TNT and Sportscenter did a half-a-dozen times. The 21 Mavericks Broadcast are horrible. Bad overly-homer commentary, almost Zero Stat graphics during the game (ie: 12-0 run or 18 points in the paint..etc..). Overall, just a bad production. I've met Mark Followell before, and he's a nice guy. He used to do the Radio Broadcast BY HIMSELF for every game (and did a great job at it). But the broadcast team as a whole...they just suck. They need to put there pom-poms away and call the freakin' game as it is. I'm glad Harper says what he says. They need more Derek Harpers on the Broadcast team. If they fire him...its truly a shame, and I'll continue to watch the ROX vs. Mavs on TNT instead of KTXA 21.

Carl Herrera · May 10, 2007

An owner requiring those in the organization to only put out happy public faces? Impossible.

Saint Louis · May 10, 2007

Dallas played the Warriors soft. Mr. Harper is dead on. The Warriors are playing aggressive and with confidence. Utah has won the first two games because they haven't played soft.

redefined · May 10, 2007

Saint Louis said:

Dallas played the Warriors soft. Mr. Harper is dead on. The Warriors are playing aggressive and with confidence. Utah has won the first two games because they haven't played soft.
Click to expand...

True, but keep in mind that the Warriors could've easily won both games as well.

GRENDEL · May 10, 2007

DFWRocket said:

Up here, they're used to the broadcasters being nothing but cheerleaders for the team. It makes me sick. I remember if the Rockets fouled and the Rocket fans didn't like it at the Compaq Center, Bill & Calvin would sometimes say that it was the correct call. B & C also could tell you how the other players would play certain Rockets, and they would also get down on a player for bad plays, etc.. They Called it like it is...But Not in DFW...nooooo waaayyy. Even some of the guys on the local sports Radio Station has called out the 21 Broadcast team for being "Homers". They did a whole segment on it during the the 04-05 playoff series. Making fun of the way the broadcast team claimed everything was a no-call foul or a Yao-illegal screen. They probably even thought that the game 5 in that series was a well-called game and Finely was nowhere near out of bounds. I guarantee you they didn't show that replay back once like TNT and Sportscenter did a half-a-dozen times. The 21 Mavericks Broadcast are horrible. Bad overly-homer commentary, almost Zero Stat graphics during the game (ie: 12-0 run or 18 points in the paint..etc..). Overall, just a bad production. I've met Mark Followell before, and he's a nice guy. He used to do the Radio Broadcast BY HIMSELF for every game (and did a great job at it). But the broadcast team as a whole...they just suck. They need to put there pom-poms away and call the freakin' game as it is. I'm glad Harper says what he says. They need more Derek Harpers on the Broadcast team. If they fire him...its truly a shame, and I'll continue to watch the ROX vs. Mavs on TNT instead of KTXA 21.
Click to expand...

Excellent post. I absolutly hate having to watch the Rockets play the Mavs because I have to watch it on 21 if it's not a national team. Massive homers on the mic. The Rockets announcers do try to be even handed even if they occassionally side on the Roxs side but never overboard

NewYorker · May 10, 2007

Whatever - look at people on this board. You criticize the team or players - and people say you are a bandwagon fan.

RocksMillenium · May 11, 2007

redefined said:

He's not a broadcaster. He only does pre-game and post-game. Kind of like Granato used to be with the Astros

I could care less if he's gone
Click to expand...

Why? Because you and your Maverick friends can't take criticism?

RocksMillenium · May 11, 2007

NewYorker said:

Whatever - look at people on this board. You criticize the team or players - and people say you are a bandwagon fan.
Click to expand...

You can't get fired from a message board.

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Derek Harper most likely going to be fired for being honest

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