I legally renamed my admittedly not very bright seven year old son from "Craig" to "Creg" because I like the spelling so much. Everyone knows the name Craig sucks, but spell it Creg instead and everything changes. I think the kid has a lot more unwarranted confidence now despite being the same little underachieving stain that he was before. He actually has some swag. Creg has been good for him.
Watch some of these other games on League pass and you will realize the Rockets broadcast team is not bad at all. Watching Philly last night they sounded like a smooth Jazz radio station, zero excitement, monotone and ready to put you to sleep. The Lakers and Cavs announcers sound like someone's drunk uncle commentating. Other than the Hornets announcers, most of the league is really bad and they do not do their diligence on opposing players. Bill Worrell got away with not doing any homework on opposing players for decades, all he did was just eat cookies and take advantage of the per diem. The fact that our broadcast guy got a highlight on ESPN tonight says something. Bill Worrell would not have even been able to use the internet to know a thing about Gelo. Craig does his homework, and tries to tie in pop culture to keep younger people interested, which is important in a social media world.
We haven't had an A+ broadcast team since Bill and Calvin. The Clyde years were awful. Bill and Bullard were a solid B, but Bullard became a bit too whiny towards the end there. Ackerman is just cringey as all hell, I feel a lot of second hand embarrassment for him. I don't even know why Hollins is here, he has zero connection to the Rockets, which to me is required for the color commentator (but not the play by play man). The old HSE/Paramount 20 broadcasts with Bill and Calvin, with Hannah Storm (and later on Lisa Malosky) in the studio were the absolute best.
Depends on if you can stand the sound of his whiney voice or not. It's like chalk squeaking on a board to me. He makes me want to turn off the sound when watching a game. I'd rather listen to Bill any day over Craig, whether Craig does more homework or not. I feel the same way listening to Bagwell talking and talking and talking during Astros broadcasts. If only I could just turn him off. He likes to talk about himself too much.
I actually think they're both okay. Hollins is a little vanilla for a color guy, but he knows his stuff.
I guess its just a case of preference. I watched the 76ers broadcast and they were very quiet, there was a lot of awkward silence, but again they were losing so maybe they are better when they are not missing 5 players and have a chance. I usually learn new stuff from Craig, even if it means he is talking non stop. One thing I would like to see the current group do is be less repetitive w their jokes game to game, and try some new banter. Last year they would try the same Margarita Monday jokes about the T-Shirts, this year they wont shut up about Craig riding a bull, its fine a couple of times, but would like to see them move on to other things each game. Bill in my opinion was really embarrassing, lacked any advanced knowledge of the game, seemed confused on the rules and knew very little about opposing players. If he knew something, he would repeat the one fact he knew until the player retired. His play calling was atrocious, he couldn't get the words out in exciting moments (Harden's 60 point game was a thing of nightmares w the play calling, and has stuck with me since) and he would just say HOOOO, we pretty much traded Bill's Ho's for Ryan's Ayeeee's.
Different strokes for different folks. I don't have anything against bringing in someone who informs you as you like, but I wish it was someone other than the man with the voice that's as whiney and hard to listen to as someone scraping their nails on a chalkboard. It's like listening to some man talking with a clothespin on his nose.
i think im going to avoid this thread before one of you point something out i didnt notice before and ruin it for me
Hollins has grown on me, Craig has actually worn on me. I want to like him, and he seems like a good guy, but he’s just not very good at his job. Wouldn’t be upset if they made a change, but got to have at least one Houston guy in any pairing.
"Bring back Worrell" ...I've think I've heard a lifetime of describing a player drafted in the first round as a a #1 draft choice". While were at it, why not bring back Clyde "Night in and night out!" Drexler?!?!
Nets/TNT Broadcaster Ryan Ruocco Grew up a Rockets Fan, hire him. Always compliments Rockets Players. Great voice, nice personality.
I like both. Craig has been putting in time, even from radio days. Absolute Houstonian and Rockets fan. Still pretty balanced and knows when to recognize other players' good performances. I did not think Hollins was ready at first at all, but he's improved a lot, and I generally likes his takes. I'm totally fine with them both
It’s funny seeing random NBA fans ask why we have a broadcaster (Hollins) who has nothing to do with the team, though in general he’s grown on them. They find it particularly funny how he tries to compensate for his lack of ties to the Rockets by being a homer where even the other guy (Craig obviously) corrects him and acknowledges that we made a mistake, fouled someone etc.
