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leo is a punk .... there were big spirts of no Leo and i LOVED IT!!! Matt has an intesity in his voice which is also professional unlike chuck..... now thinking back at it, all chuck was was his CHUCKISMS... and a funny looking guy thats just about it................

THE MATT DEVLIN ERA HAS BEGUN

The_Hater wrote:I like Devlin. While I enjoyed the excitement that Chuck brought to a game but his slanted, soapbox rants became increasingly irritating over the years and he seemed to start viewing himself as something bigger than the game itself. And that's never good.

I think that Devlin is more knowledgeable about the game and he has the voice of a professional. Of course in time, he'll likely start having quirks that irritate me. But I'm not even close to that point yet.

Without Chuck egging him on, Leo has gotten more serious which is only a good thing considering how jokey Leo and Chuck got.

"JK... hotter than you!" *awkward silence*

I thought he was good. I liked that there wasn't as much of the cheesy lines, and what not.

Btw Ijust caught game in an hour...missed the game. But did anyone notice Leo kinda talking bad about Dalembert at the start when Dalembert was absolutly owning us on the glass? Team Canada stuff?

juucer wrote:For many of us (including myself) this will be the first time hearing Matt Devlin calling the game as the new Raptor announcer. Like him or hate him?

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I'll start things off:

-don't call Jason Kapono 'JK'... not an acceptable nickname
-don't call Andrea Bargnani 'AB'... not an acceptable nickname
-don't call Jermaine O'Neal 'JO'... not an acceptable nickname
-don't call Anthony Parker 'AP'... not an acceptable nickname

I'm sure there will be more to come very soon.

So far, 3/10.

Hmm I like JK since it rhymes, and JO is already Jermaine's nickname so i'm fine with that one too. I think you're being too critical on little things that don't really matter but thats just me..

It's true the second time he told JK to blow on his fingers, it was weird because JK was just pisking his nose.

BUT, the first time, it was cool because it was like a genuine play by play. He didn't have that scripted. JK hit a shot, and then JK brought his hand up almost like he was blowing on his fingers (I doubt he was), and Devlin just...called it.

I would sign him for 6 years! It's a great change, in my opinion. The wife thought so as well. "it's kind of nice not having to hear all the silly catch phrases of Chuck anymore"

Devlin has this ESPN feel to him. It felt like I was watching a Tuesday night college football game.

It's weird, but definitely won't take very much to get used to.

He's a bit odd but the action on the court is the most important thing with him, just as it's the most important thing for me.

while my wife confused his voice for Paul Romanuk, he know's basketball, and does not use hokey hockey references. I like him.

BAM!!!!

I liked his calling of the game.

not a fan of Devlin. got excited at the wrong time...
sometimes he seemed a little confused out there. made a few wrong calls (but Chuck also did that).

yeah, he was a yawner.

theonlyeastcoastrapsfan wrote:while my wife confused his voice for Paul Romanuk, he know's basketball, and does not use hokey hockey references. I like him.

Your wife must be a HARDCORE sports fan to 1. know who the heck Paul Romanuk is and 2. recognize his voice.

I venture to guess not even 50% of fans on this board even know who Paul Romanuk is.

I agree with poster that mentioned that he sounds like Rod Black. Overall, I think he is fine. He doesn't draw too much attention to himself, which is a good thing IMO.

He's not as enthusiastic as Chuck which may be a good or bad thing depending on personal preference. He speaks fluent English, and that's good enough for me on most occasions.

His screaming ""GIVE IT TO ME" after Calderon hit a shot, sounded a bit odd.

I hate him... I was soo hungry all game, just waiting for my late night snack, and then the next you know I was fast asleep and the salami & cheese was still in the fridge. Unacceptable.

In all seriousness... don't like him. Senior Jose? JK? Ugh... I found it funny that he felt it necessary to let the fans know that there is 'a lot of time left in the game' when they were going to commercial mid way through the first quarter.

I will miss Chuck.

I was not impressed during the preseason in what I heard - but he's rounding into form and I think he's very solid.

He makes more insightful descriptions of the play as it happens than Chuck ever did, without the hyperbole. Chuck developed way too large a suite of stock phrases and inside jokes, to the point where it detracted from the game and got in the way.

And Leo got back to being the solid, if repetitive analyst he is - rather than Chucks weird and annoying sidekick.

I was more impressed than I thought I'd be. And I didn't miss Chuck.

JN wrote:His screaming ""GIVE IT TO ME" after Calderon hit a shot, sounded a bit odd.

I missed the preseason games so this was the first time I heard Devlin call a game.
It's a great pleasure to have the game called by someone so professional and knowledgeable, and someone whose dignity keeps Leo's sometimes-unfortunate tendencies --- so easily provoked by Chuck's own tendencies --- in such check that last night you wouldn't even have known they exist. In fact, these two men made a good broadcasting team. No bad-mouthing the other team or its players (except Leo, who needs to keep his mouth shut about Dalembert for conflict of interest reasons,) no egregious errors, no clowning around when they need to be talking about the game, no tiresome, repetitive cliches. Just good, solid sports announcing.
I feel a lot more positive about the possibilities of listening and getting something useful out of that, than I have in years.
Come to think of it, I don't expect to be using that mute button any more, except for the commercials. Big, big improvement. What a relief.
(For the people who don't like players' initials used as nicknames, please consider that many of the players prefer that themselves. You might remember hearing Jason Kapono refer to himself as JK in the All Star weekend programming last year. Jermaine O'Neal has always been known as JO. Etc.)