@NBC Sports & Wyc: Please Replace Scal

[ChopLuey]

I think Scal does a great job. Abby and Chris need to be replaced by someone who has dribbled a basketball in their lifetime. They literally bring nothing to the table.

[djFan71]

I like Scal during games. Don't see the rest. But, he definitely dogged Draper in "we're friends and I'm gonna give you **** all night when you say anything mildly wrong" kinda way whenever he filled in for Mike. Fine for at the bar, but mildly unprofessional - and mainly, uninteresting to me - for a broadcast. Annoying, but nothing too serious. I'm guessing it's the same dynamic with Abby.

[SLCceltic]

Scal sucks ! hate listening to him call games ....dude is pretty dumb, doesn't really add anything ! even tho he played and has FULL access, its like he has zero insight and is just not very intelligent ! has ridden his celtic folkhero status FAR TOO LONG ! time to go imho ha ! need someone better for mike, mike gets frustrated with him ! he talks over everyboddy and dominates as if he has insight perception or knowledge that others do not .... guy has very little social intelligence and is kind of a moron

[Scoonie]

I think Scal does a good job. I'm not sure who you think would be so much better.

[GregB]

I think Scal does a good job. I'm not sure who you think would be so much better.

For me it’s Pierce. But he seems to be loving the LA life with his national gig. I can’t really blame him.

[24istheLAW]

I love Scal and I hope he stays. He’s smart, funny and modern, but still has a sense of history and respect. Not sure what else I could ask for.

I agree. Tommy is a tough act to follow. Scal does an admirable job, his analysis of the game and team is cogent and accurate. And even if he isn't hooting and hollering, he still has a connection to the team, which I think in the Boston market is necessary.

Pierce is terrible in the booth. Great player, great dude, but he adds nothing as an analyst IMO.

Perk has great charisma, and when he wants to, he has a quick coachlike eye for the key developments in the game. But I think his acting in character is over-the-top for regular color commentary. He's better in a format where he's the center of attention, like a panel show.

Cedric Maxwell is a gentleman, but I don't think he's really cut out for the TV job either. He sees a ton of details in the game - which hand players want to go to, who is comfortable or uncomfortable, substitution patterns etc. But I think on the radio he's always been ineffective at distilling the action into a bigger picture. A color guy (on TV where you aren't getting bonus points for painting a picture of the action) has to tell the story of the game in themes, point out the trends and changes that are most influential in the game. Max doesn't do the less is more thing well.

[Powesknees]

Scal is one of the better local color guys in the league. We are lucky to have him. He does need to be more respectful to Abbey but she doesn’t know what she is saying half the time.

Thanks to whoever posted the Forsberg story. I always wondered what the background was.

[patman66]

I like Scal, I think him and Mike work well together. The idea that he isn't good expressed in this thread, took me by surprise.

[SichtingLives]

Scal is the stereotypical "dumb jock" but overall his commentary and insight are pretty good. Mike's clever subtlety is a bit wasted on him. No doubt Scal has an ego from playing pro ball and with the Celtics, he could use a humbling to the fact that he was a scrub's scrub and basically a punchline for the latter half of his career but we could honestly do far worse. Miss Tommy but what can ya do. Doesn't seem like Scal is going anywhere, embrace it or stream the other teams crew. Most of them will only make you appreciate our guys.

[cl2117]

I'm a big fan of Scal as the color guy replacing Tommy. I don't watch the pre/post game shows, so can't really speak to that, but in terms of his in-game commentating I can't complain much.He's still definitely finding his feet in a role where he is trying to fill incredibly BIG shoes. I'm more than happy to give him a long leash to develop into the role as a long-term answer because I think he's got the potential to iron out some of the less appealing aspects of his commentary.

What I like most about Scal, that you don't always get with other color guys, is that he will point out areas where guys messed up in rotations etc., which is the kind of insight I appreciate.

I will say that I think I've noticed him making more of an effort in the last year or so to try and be more funny/boisterous. When he originally put on the headset and paired with Mike on games Tommy was missing, it felt like he was still in a bit of a coaching mode as opposed to color commentary and honestly I preferred that. I don't know whether he's trying add more flavor to what he brings to the table or if he's just getting further away from that coaching mindset and more into that of a commentator, but I'd like to see him focus more on that area again. When he first started out in the booth I know there were rumors about him going into coaching full-time and he was probably straddling both worlds waiting to decide what he wanted to do next. I think that's when he was at his best and I'm hoping that as he gets more settled/experienced we'll see a more balanced approach to calling the games.

I live in the UK so I tend to watch whatever games are on at a reasonable hour regardless of who is playing just to get my basketball fix and there are some truly truly terrible duo's and specifically color commentators around the league. Scal may not be the best, but compared to some of the guys other teams are forced to listen to I think we should count ourselves lucky.

[Ernest]

The negativity on the forum is unreal. You guys wanna fire Ainge and Brad and now Scal too?

If they fire Scal I will storm the TD Garden!

[CeltsFlow]

I think Scal is being mean to Abby on the air to hide the fact that he and Abby have probably bumped uglies at some point. Long road trip, away from home, had a few drinks with a coworker, you know how it goes.

[itrsteve]

I don’t get postgame what’s the “relationship” stuff with Abby about

I'd love to get more of this too. I'm not a local so all I get from the local feeds is what NBALP feeds me.

Outside of that, I don't have a problem with his in-game commentary besides his incessant need to call out 2-1 opportunities if the clock is under 48 and over 24. Outside of that, I enjoy him every morning on the starting lineup.

Not a chance I'd replace him with Paul.

Maybe cornbread?

Can't afford Jackie.

[TSmith0197]

I think the Scal and Abby thing is from the producers. Last year they did that to Draper and it was kind of funny. Abby is now just playing the Draper role.

[Taget]

3) Scal does not bleed green. Danny pointed that out too, as a big gap, during the Tommy memorial event: "Scal, you've got to pick a side." He tries too hard to feign impartiality and an unwillingness to glorify the rosy parts, like a big game from Jaylen. In the process, his entire instinct becomes cynical or negative.

He's ambitious. He's not Tommy whose retirement was announcing Celtics games. Or Gorman who saw it as his likely break into broadcasting and was content just being around all the greats. Scal wants to use it as a stepping stone to "bigger" jobs.

He does the Sirius XM show on NBA Radio. Not at all pro-Celtics on it and when he bites his tongue on criticizing the Celtics he emotes it in such a way that it comes off as more negative than if he just said what he wanted to say. He's of course playing for a different audience.

As an announcer he's fine. Heard better, heard worse. Don't see a particular need to replace him. But if he did get his dream job at ESPN wouldn't be the end of the world.

[Kids Are Alright]

I loved Tommy, especially back in the day.
But the last couple years when Scal would sub for him, I liked Scal better. Tommy spent too much time complaining about officiating down the stretch.

[playa-hater]

I have absolutely no problem with Scal. Just wanted to add my vote

[OldCeltics]

Look, I appreciate Brian Scalabrine as a former Celtic role player, the "white mamba", and a relatively high IQ player. He likes to talk. His post-game after Game 6 of the 08 Finals was epic. If we had won Game 7 in 2010, the encore would have been better. Scal once consulted with Danny's brain doctor, John Niednagel, to improve his game as a New Jersey Net. During the pandemic, he did a decent job of MC'ing the Classic Celtics games.

In spite of all this:

1) Scal is a terrible broadcaster and he is overly aggressive in the studio. One look at Twitter and various messaging boards brings to light that many other fans can't stand him either. Look at the way he mistreats Abby in the studio. This season, the post-game is virtually unbearable, but we have to stay tuned to catch Coach Stevens, Brown and Tatum.

2) Scal is not insightful with his discussions and takes, and he doesn't call the games from the audience's point of view. As a commentator, he seems to think he is way more discerning, intuitive and intelligent than he is. Maybe it's the fact that he took Tommy's seat. Tommy was one of the more substantive and insightful commentators in sports, who also bled green. Every time Tommy called a game, if you looked past the Celtic homerism, every other comment of his taught you something about the game.

3) Scal does not bleed green. Danny pointed that out too, as a big gap, during the Tommy memorial event: "Scal, you've got to pick a side." He tries too hard to feign impartiality and an unwillingness to glorify the rosy parts, like a big game from Jaylen. In the process, his entire instinct becomes cynical or negative.

As Celtics fans in the New England home market, over Wyc and Pag's tenure, we have put up with some abysmal talent at CSN/NBC Sports, from Gary Tanguay to Donny Marshall. Donny, along with the national TV crew at ESPN/ABC at that time, did their best to spoil the KG era for us.

Unmistakably NBC Sports Boston has trouble attracting and affording top tier talent.

Here are some proposals to improve the product:

a) Elevate Chris Forsberg and pair him with Abby. Forsberg is a proven commodity over a decade at ESPN as a writer. You actually learn something listening to him, which you unconditionally never do listening to Scal. At least A. Sherrod Blakely, hypothetical "Celtics Insider", ended up being replaced with Forsberg, which was good because we never learned anything new listening to Sherrod either.

b) If you have money, poach Antoine Walker from Fox Sports or Paul Pierce from ABC / ESPN to replace Tommy. They're not that great but they're considerably better than Scal.

c) See if you can get Cornbread from radio, or even Jackie MacMullan, to replace Scal on a regular basis, in the studio and alongside Mike.

d) Try to poach Sarah Kustok from the Brooklyn Nets. Mike absolutely loved calling one or two games with her. She's one of the more insightful color commentators across NBA commentary.

Scal is great, and is a top 5 analyst in terms of knowledge and Celtics history. Dumb thread.

[jfs1000d]

Can we kill this thread. Scal, perk and Abby are a lot of fun and the show is decent considering the distancing.


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[SLCceltic]

I think Scal does a good job. I'm not sure who you think would be so much better.

sign Tacko the second he retires !
until then give toine, kenny andrrson a look Ricky davis wally czerbiak eddie house come to mind


iirc Scal is a Jersey guy and played USC, he wasn't much of a player for us lmao .... never understood the cultlike status this guy got in Boston
Has to be the hair ..... maybe we can see what Joe klein or brad lohouse are up to these days