ESPN chats are lazy as hell

[Devilzsidewalk]

Danny Lupercio (Sacramento)
Hey coach. If the Kings end up winning the lottery do you think Tyreke and John Wall could coexist?
David Thorpe
(12:00 PM)
Yes.

Are Evan Turners turnovers a concern? Or was he just forced to handle the ball too much in college?
David Thorpe
(12:01 PM)
Not a concern.

Darryl Shotton (The Pas)
Who has made the most progress among rookies from the start of the year? Not superstars like Curry, but people we don't see a lot of.
David Thorpe
(12:04 PM)
I wrote about MIP rooks recently.

anybody ever read their chats? The hosts are either rude, aloof, lazy, or all 3. They always respond like this, guys ask take time out of their days to support the ESPN columnists' profession and they don't put any thought into their answers or flat out ignore parts of the questions.

Seems like all the NBA columnists respond to every question like it's beneath them and taking their valuable time away from writing columns about fake rumors. I might be unnecessarily perturbed over nothing, just find it kinda disingenuous for them to mail it in every chat without getting called out by their bosses

[JoshB914]

ESPN is lazy in general.

[raps4life~]

ESPN is trash.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Didn't Bill Simmons break the chat length record a couple of years ago by a few hours? His answers would never be two or three words. They should just let him do all the chats.

[G35]

Half of their site is pay stuff. Yeah their hosts seem to come off like they don't feel like being bothered to answer chat questions. I hardly go on their site anymore....

[FakeScreenName123]

That really makes me angry. Most of the nba espn guys online seem aloof and elitist. They really feel like dealing with anyone that isnt in the "in" or the "know" who asks questions or brings up rumors is beneath them. Don't they realize when they do stuff like this it narrows the fanbase that follows the nba?


Somebody needs to write that guy an angry e-mail! in bold font. 16 pt.

Was the rest of the chat like that or were those just the three that stood out?

Didn't Bill Simmons break the chat length record a couple of years ago by a few hours? His answers would never be two or three words. They should just let him do all the chats.

Thats why i've grown to like Simmons. At least if i dont agree with everything he says, he knows what its like to be a fan and he's more open then the rest. I feel like Simmons could post on realgm, the rest would stay at espn insider taking phone calls from one another.

[BaunceyChillups]

Thorpe answers the most questions out of all the chats. There's a reason why his answers are short.

[Devilzsidewalk]

That really makes me angry. Most of the nba espn guys online seem aloof and elitist. They really feel like dealing with anyone that isnt in the "in" or the "know" who asks questions or brings up rumors is beneath them. Don't they realize when they do stuff like this it narrows the fanbase that follows the nba?


Somebody needs to write that guy an angry e-mail! in bold font. 16 pt.

Was the rest of the chat like that or were those just the three that stood out?

I'd write a long drawn out email and he'd probably respond "True."

Most of the answers are like that, I noticed it with earlier chats w/ other NBA guys first, then realized they all do it. I understand some of the questions aren't great, but how hard is it to add a "because______" after an answer? Maybe they haven't thought the answer through to that point yet.

"Wall and Evans can co-exist because though their outside shooting is a concern, they are both good, long-armed defenders and elite at breaking down their defenders and will open up a lot of wide open jumpers for Casspi and Hawes, both great shooters"

There, just a BS off the cuff answer, how hard is that, takes like an extra 8 seconds.

NBA media guys seem really sensitive and defensive about their perceived NBA knowledge and don't like to feel threatened by regular NBA joe schmo fans, so they talk down and ignore them while hobbing knob on all the big NBA personalities. Noticed that too on Jon G's draftexpress twitter, he's kind of rude to a lot of people that answer honest questions "hey, do you think so and so will declare for the draft?" and he'll shoot back like a surly drunk "how should i know, just wait and see!" But he'll send some shoulder massaging message to an NBA name w/o a second thought.

[Free Rider]

It really just depends on who is running the chat. David Thorpe is notorious for giving short one or two word answers in his chats and never seems willing to expand upon his comments. You get the feeling that he's absolutely no desire to do those chats and is just fulfilling some contractual obligation. But others like J.A. Adande, Mark Stein, Bill Simmons, and Chad Ford actually do give you some substantive answers and comments.

[Devilzsidewalk]

Thorpe answers the most questions out of all the chats. There's a reason why his answers are short.

so what, how is answering 5 questions with a yes or a no when they don't call for a 1 word answer more useful than 1 answer where he might finally burn half a calorie thinking of a semi-intelligent answer?
There's no point if they're not ever going to bother answering anybody's follow up questions or using a "because" in any of their answers

[Free Rider]

It really just depends on who is running the chat. David Thorpe is notorious for giving short one or two word answers in his chats and never seems willing to expand upon his comments. You get the feeling that he's absolutely no desire to do those chats and is just fulfilling some contractual obligation. But others like J.A. Adande, Mark Stein, Bill Simmons, and Chad Ford actually do give you some substantive answers and comments.

[Devilzsidewalk]

It really just depends on who is running the chat. David Thorpe is notorious for giving short one or two word answers in his chats and never seems willing to expand upon his comments. You get the feeling that he's absolutely no desire to do those chats and is just fulfilling some contractual obligation. But others like J.A. Adande, Mark Stein, Bill Simmons, and Chad Ford actually do give you some substantive answers and comments.

Simmons has fun with it so he's good about it and Adande is actually a nice guy so he usually works his chats with half a give a damn I've noticed, but the other guys seem the same as Thorpe - Ford, Hollinger and Stein are all about the same as Thorpe from what Ive seen

[Free Rider]

It really just depends on who is running the chat. David Thorpe is notorious for giving short one or two word answers in his chats and never seems willing to expand upon his comments. You get the feeling that he's absolutely no desire to do those chats and is just fulfilling some contractual obligation. But others like J.A. Adande, Mark Stein, Bill Simmons, and Chad Ford actually do give you some substantive answers and comments.

Simmons has fun with it so he's good about it and Adande is actually a nice guy so he usually works his chats with half a give a damn I've noticed, but the other guys seem the same as Thorpe - Ford, Hollinger and Stein are all about the same as Thorpe from what Ive seen

I'll give you Ford and Stein but Hollinger gives by far one of the better chats out of anyone from ESPN. Even better than Adande sometimes. Just check out some excerpts from his last chat and you'll see that he actually goes out of the way to respond to people's questions:

Richard (Scottsdale): As a Suns fan, is it time to let go of the idea that Barbosa will bloom into anything but a streaky SG backup? Even Dragic looks like he has a higher ceiling. And I have much more confidence in the Dragons right now.
John Hollinger (1:31 PM): At this point, yes. In fact I'd go the other way and worry about his ability to maintain his speed as he gets into his late 20s and early 30s. Dragic is one of the league's most improved players, shocked at how much better he's become since last year's struggles, particularly with his shooting stroke.

Zeeshan (Houston, TX): Why haven't the Lakers signed a free agent guard or made a deal for one at the deadline? Fisher and their other guards are putrid.
John Hollinger (1:32 PM): Basically, Dr. Buss thought they could win the West without a change, so why take on the extra tax $$. I think that's proving to be a miscalculation on L.A.'s part that has left the door wide open for the other hopefuls out West.

Chandru (NJ): I read that you mentioned that Utah is a team that some teams would rather avoid than play the Lakers. Do you really believe teams would rather play the Lakers over Utah? Utah is pretty untested and is full of soft players. As a Spurs fan, I would LOVE my team to play the Jazz rather than the Lakers.
John Hollinger (1:34 PM): Really? Because the Jazz beat you all four times you met. Utah is much more beatable without Kirilenko and Okur, so their health questions are going to be a prominent factor (as are L.A.'s). But I don't think they're getting nearly enough respect, especially for a lower seed like San Antonio that would need to win at least once in Salt Lake -- you saw with that Durant call the other night how much their crowd intimidates refs.

Phil (Los Angeles): I loved you "All NBA Gunners" piece the other day. I found a nice easy way to see how much of a ball dominator a player is, is to look at the difference in their PER and their usage rate. For instance, Bobby Brown is off the charts horrible. Does this sound right?
John Hollinger (1:35 PM): Thanks, and thanks for the idea. It's a good first-look, back-of-the-envelope way to do it, but remember PER takes in a lot more than shooting, so you'll see some variation that has nothing to do with a player's gunning.

andy (milwaukee): I would just like to make a comment about the bucks, because if bogut wasnt hurt we would be talking about them right now
John Hollinger (1:36 PM): Very bummed for the Bucks fans. They were KILLING Phoenix before he went down in that game, and I was watching it thinking I might only get one round of Hawks playoffs games this year. And great to see the fans come back after Bradley Center was a mausoleum for the past few years ... just a shame all the way around.

[Devilzsidewalk]

You're right, thats nice effort. The columnist names must've just blended together when I saw a couple other lazy spots.

[RyGuy24]

Thorpe answers the most questions out of all the chats. There's a reason why his answers are short.

And it's the same reason why they are the worst. Who wants to hear an opinion with no explanation?

[loserX]

Danny Lupercio (Sacramento)
Hey coach. If the Kings end up winning the lottery do you think Tyreke and John Wall could coexist?
David Thorpe
(12:00 PM)
Yes.

Are Evan Turners turnovers a concern? Or was he just forced to handle the ball too much in college?
David Thorpe
(12:01 PM)
Not a concern.

Darryl Shotton (The Pas)
Who has made the most progress among rookies from the start of the year? Not superstars like Curry, but people we don't see a lot of.
David Thorpe
(12:04 PM)
I wrote about MIP rooks recently.

anybody ever read their chats? The hosts are either rude, aloof, lazy, or all 3. They always respond like this, guys ask take time out of their days to support the ESPN columnists' profession and they don't put any thought into their answers or flat out ignore parts of the questions.

Seems like all the NBA columnists respond to every question like it's beneath them and taking their valuable time away from writing columns about fake rumors. I might be unnecessarily perturbed over nothing, just find it kinda disingenuous for them to mail it in every chat without getting called out by their bosses

Yes, because whatever.

[C.lupus]

One word responses don't make it a "chat". My wife keeps telling me that.

[Devilzsidewalk]

One word responses don't make it a "chat". My wife keeps telling me that.

here's the trick, you gotta respond "blackeyesayswhat?" really fast, the rest writes itself

[Jase]

I always thought Thorpe was a smug little prick. I'd much rather read Mark Stein or Bill Simmons.

[BubbaTee]

I might be unnecessarily perturbed over nothing, just find it kinda disingenuous for them to mail it in every chat without getting called out by their bosses

I don't think you're overreacting. If he's gonna do it, he should try to do it well. Take some pride in his work. If he can't be bothered to at least try to do it well, why even bother at all? It's not like there was some huge public outcry about "We demand online chats with David Thorpe!"

Thorpe answers the most questions out of all the chats. There's a reason why his answers are short.

so what, how is answering 5 questions with a yes or a no when they don't call for a 1 word answer more useful than 1 answer where he might finally burn half a calorie thinking of a semi-intelligent answer?
There's no point if they're not ever going to bother answering anybody's follow up questions or using a "because" in any of their answers

Wait until he finds out "Y" stands for yes and "N" stands for no.