Wizards TV Broadcast: Justin Kutcher & Drew Gooden (2019-2022)

[TGW]

he's generic

his commentary sounds like NBA 2k on the sega dreamcast....dated

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[Ruzious]

Yup, generic is the perfect description of Kutcher. He's ok at what he does but is far from inspiring. Drew... just not Goodenough. It's confusing as to why they chose him. I assume he has zero experience other than the limited role he was in last season that he didn't excel in, and he's not much of a name - he was a pretty average player who had a few good games for the Wiz - not even a local celebrity. I just don't get what apparently Zach Leonsis (?) sees in him. Zach is a generic billionaire's son, so I get what he saw in Kutcher.

[FAH1223]

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[FAH1223]

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[TGW]

I randomly got to speak with Phil at a bar in Fulton, MD (I guess Phil lives out there somewhere). He's about as nice a guy as you'll meet, and he's a diehard Wizards fan in real life. He didn't show it on the telecast, but he's just as much a crazy homer fan as Buckhantz is...he was just better at hiding it lol. A Wizards game was on the big screen and he was into the game like he was home watching it in his mancave. Funny stuff. We spoke super briefly about his "departure"; like a dweeb I almost shed a tear talking about it, and he changed the subject. Anyway, Phil is a good dude....miss him on tv. He's a helluva lot better than Gooden and Ashton Kutcher or whatever his name is.

[NatP4]

I like that reaction from Simmons, seems like a likeable player. Bad look for Kutcher, obviously.

[FAH1223]

I randomly got to speak with Phil at a bar in Fulton, MD (I guess Phil lives out there somewhere). He's about as nice a guy as you'll meet, and he's a diehard Wizards fan in real life. He didn't show it on the telecast, but he's just as much a crazy homer fan as Buckhantz is...he was just better at hiding it lol. A Wizards game was on the big screen and he was into the game like he was home watching it in his mancave. Funny stuff. We spoke super briefly about his "departure"; like a dweeb I almost shed a tear talking about it, and he changed the subject. Anyway, Phil is a good dude....miss him on tv. He's a helluva lot better than Gooden and Ashton Kutcher or whatever his name is.

Phil lives near Columbia, MD so that sounds about right!

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Phil a few times throughout the years as well. And he still remembers me cause I’ve tagged him in tweets.

He’s way too classy to talk about why he was pushed out from the color role. I believe Monumental still uses him for different things atleast up until the bubble last year.

It’s a damn shame. Leonsis for all his efforts about bringing Bullets alumni together and then cans the voice of the franchise for 33 years. Scust.

[queridiculo]

Gooden is good with the Xs and Os at times, but Kutcher is a dweeb, I have no idea what they saw in him.

Together they’re a pretty good representation of the Wizards organizations ineptitude.

[Ruzious]

:lol:

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Kutcher looks awfully stupid there. First he calls him the most overrated player in the NBA, and then he calls him the DPOY. Talk about hedging your bets. It's like he doesn't understand that defense matters. Why risk his credibility over ben Simmons?

[payitforward]

You have to have credibility to risk credibility. Kutcher has none.

He was just filling air time. If he had the brains/guts to do it, he'd just own up to it & apologize. Instead...

You know what they say: "if you're in a hole, the first thing you should do is stop digging."

Kutcher hasn't worked that one out yet....

[queridiculo]

The hilarious part is, Wizards yet again trending for all the wrong reasons.

You blew up Buckhantz and Chenier for THIS???

Ridiculous.

[Ruzious]

I actually think he's done a pretty good job. The problem here is - as they say in the pro wrestling business - It seems like he's gone into business on his own. There's no reason for him to go into the deep water on something that doesn't even involve the Wiz. He had already made his view known - there was no reason to double down on the hate for a very successful young player. Now he's known more for this than anything else.

[doclinkin]

I actually think he's done a pretty good job. The problem here is - as they say in the pro wrestling business - It seems like he's gone into business on his own. There's no reason for him to go into the deep water on something that doesn't even involve the Wiz. He had already made his view known - there was no reason to double down on the hate for a very successful young player. Now he's known more for this than anything else.

It also sets up discomfort if the Wiz ever did trade for a player that he ripped. Or if the team were pursuing Simmons or whomever in free agency. There is a reason broadcast personnel don't do this sort of thing. Especially ones with zero stature. He got a little too comfortable a little too quick. He is a play by play announcer, not a talk radio host, his opinion is not important. He is not in the business of stirring the pot. If he were a color commentator then okay, maybe. But still, it is pointless and has no major effect aside from being basically classless, a thing that Buck and Phil never were. As if he learned from the Stephen A Smith school, not Dr Jack Ramsay or Chick Hearn or Craig Sager or Marv. Okay Marv maybe, biting an escort, that's classless, but he didn't do it on the air...

[FAH1223]

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I actually think he's done a pretty good job. The problem here is - as they say in the pro wrestling business - It seems like he's gone into business on his own. There's no reason for him to go into the deep water on something that doesn't even involve the Wiz. He had already made his view known - there was no reason to double down on the hate for a very successful young player. Now he's known more for this than anything else.

It also sets up discomfort if the Wiz ever did trade for a player that he ripped. Or if the team were pursuing Simmons or whomever in free agency. There is a reason broadcast personnel don't do this sort of thing. Especially ones with zero stature. He got a little too comfortable a little too quick. He is a play by play announcer, not a talk radio host, his opinion is not important. He is not in the business of stirring the pot. If he were a color commentator then okay, maybe. But still, it is pointless and has no major effect aside from being basically classless, a thing that Buck and Phil never were. As if he learned from the Stephen A Smith school, not Dr Jack Ramsay or Chick Hearn or Craig Sager or Marv. Okay Marv maybe, biting an escort, that's classless, but he didn't do it on the air...

Marv didn’t air his dirty lingerie publicly. He didn’t bite and tell.

[doclinkin]

Marv didn’t air his dirty lingerie publicly. He didn’t bite and tell.

HA!

[badinage]

So Ms. Beal likes Chris Miller, Jason Smith, and Drew Gooden. And has no regard for Kutcher. What’s that about? Seems petty. (Also, she shouldn’t talk about anything other than her man. And even that, she shouldn’t talk about. Who cares? And if Kutcher isn’t allowed to speak about a player IN THE NBA, she, who isn’t in the league and has no platform, shouldn’t be allowed to dump on a broadcaster. Who only, night after night, extols her husband and pumps up his worth.)

Drew seems like a nice guy, but he sounds awful and he says inane things and his use of the language is abysmal. Why do we need former players doing commentary? They almost never offer insight. And they often butcher the language. It’s worse than terrible. It tells people that speaking well and using words well DOESN’T MATTER. I cringe whenever my kids are watching. (Speaking well and using words well: this is what the job IS; everything else is gravy. I would rather hear — and in fact would PAY to hear — someone who didn’t play the game and didn’t know much more than what I know, but who was verbally dazzling, witty, and spoke with ease and fluidity. God, would that be great.)

Jason Smith also seems like a nice guy, and is actually occasionally interesting. But only for short stretches. And his head movements/bobbling head thing is distracting.

Chris Miller is at times good and at others amateurish. And sometimes he’s a reporter and sometimes a fan boy. Not good. And his code switching can be whiplashing.

Quinton Mayo is like the pipsqueak who thinks he’s the king. He’s got gifts. But the told-ya-so shtick is wearying.

Tony Massenburg is polished and, at times, decent. But this jock-tone — you see it with Doc Walker too. And Mark Jackson. They talk like drill sargeants. And seem to think that it all comes down to effort and want-to. Tiring. Don’t bark at me. Don’t bring militarized anything into my home.

I like Wes Hall. Poised, thoughtful, insightful, and a nimble speaker.

Justin Kutcher isn’t a part of my past like Buckhantz, and doesn’t inspire a lot of sentiment, but he’s done a good job; he mixes in criticism at times, which is surprising and welcome, and though he doesn’t seem to be a fan, he does show affection for the team from time to time. This “controversy” is dumb. What he said is of no importance at all. Simmons is a great defensive player AND the most overrated player in the league. Everybody said Simmons trolled him and put him down. Hardly. It lacked the sharpness of wit. It was fumbling. And speaking of a man’s height as a dig? Pathetic. Total jock behavior. So now Simmons in my book is not just overrated but also a dumb jock. Better to have not spoken.

All in all, the boys club thing on the post-game show is annoying, with its digs and one upsmanship and cock of the walk **** and insidery jokes and shared assumptions of both basketball and life.

[keynote]

So Ms. Beal likes Chris Miller, Jason Smith, and Drew Gooden. And has no regard for Kutcher. What’s that about? Seems petty. (Also, she shouldn’t talk about anything other than her man. And even that, she shouldn’t talk about. Who cares? And if Kutcher isn’t allowed to speak about a player IN THE NBA, she, who isn’t in the league and has no platform, shouldn’t be allowed to dump on a broadcaster. Who only, night after night, extols her husband and pumps up his worth.)

Oof, this is a bad take. "She shouldn't talk about." She can talk about whatever and whoever she likes. She's even allowed to be petty on Twitter -- if she think it's fun, or if she thinks it advances her personal brand, or both.

Kutcher, OTOH, is an employee with a specific job that traditionally precludes him from taking unprompted pot shots at opposing teams' players. There's a reason why you rarely see a play-by-play announcer in any sport make waves like this -- even in a sports media landscape where sports punditry and hot takes suck up most of the oxygen. The play-by-play announcer is there to call the action, describe what's beeing seeing, highlight the exciting plays, and tee up the color announcer to provide analysis. Insulting an opposing player isn't just a "faux pas"; it's bad for TV and bad for his employer.

Maybe I'm wrong, and the next generation of play-by-play announcers will try to get their Barstool on while calling the games. But I doubt it.

[Ruzious]

So Ms. Beal likes Chris Miller, Jason Smith, and Drew Gooden. And has no regard for Kutcher. What’s that about? Seems petty. (Also, she shouldn’t talk about anything other than her man. And even that, she shouldn’t talk about. Who cares? And if Kutcher isn’t allowed to speak about a player IN THE NBA, she, who isn’t in the league and has no platform, shouldn’t be allowed to dump on a broadcaster. Who only, night after night, extols her husband and pumps up his worth.)

Oof, this is a bad take. "She shouldn't talk about." She can talk about whatever and whoever she likes. She's even allowed to be petty on Twitter -- if she think it's fun, or if she thinks it advances her personal brand, or both.

Kutcher, OTOH, is an employee with a specific job that traditionally precludes him from taking unprompted pot shots at opposing teams' players. There's a reason why you rarely see a play-by-play announcer in any sport make waves like this -- even in a sports media landscape where sports punditry and hot takes suck up most of the oxygen. The play-by-play announcer is there to call the action, describe what's beeing seeing, highlight the exciting plays, and tee up the color announcer to provide analysis. Insulting an opposing player isn't just a "faux pas"; it's bad for TV and bad for his employer.

Maybe I'm wrong, and the next generation of play-by-play announcers will try to get their Barstool on while calling the games. But I doubt it.

Agreed, and while Kutcher is certainly allowed to give his views, there's a line that I think he crossed. He went out of his way to rip one of the better players in the game - for no apparent reason. It felt uncomfortable and unnecessary to people who aren't already predisposed to having an unnatural hate for Simmons.

[doclinkin]

So Ms. Beal likes Chris Miller, Jason Smith, and Drew Gooden. And has no regard for Kutcher. What’s that about? Seems petty. (Also, she shouldn’t talk about anything other than her man. And even that, she shouldn’t talk about. Who cares? And if Kutcher isn’t allowed to speak about a player IN THE NBA, she, who isn’t in the league and has no platform, shouldn’t be allowed to dump on a broadcaster. Who only, night after night, extols her husband and pumps up his worth.)

Oof, this is a bad take. "She shouldn't talk about." She can talk about whatever and whoever she likes. She's even allowed to be petty on Twitter -- if she think it's fun, or if she thinks it advances her personal brand, or both.

Kutcher, OTOH, is an employee with a specific job that traditionally precludes him from taking unprompted pot shots at opposing teams' players. There's a reason why you rarely see a play-by-play announcer in any sport make waves like this -- even in a sports media landscape where sports punditry and hot takes suck up most of the oxygen. The play-by-play announcer is there to call the action, describe what's beeing seeing, highlight the exciting plays, and tee up the color announcer to provide analysis. Insulting an opposing player isn't just a "faux pas"; it's bad for TV and bad for his employer.

Maybe I'm wrong, and the next generation of play-by-play announcers will try to get their Barstool on while calling the games. But I doubt it.

I tend to watch the feed from various opposing teams, and see many announcers. The worst are those that get in the way of the broadcast with opinions while the action is happening. Homers abound of course, but you always appreciate when the opposition displays real knowledge and appreciation for the game, more than hot takes and banter. I liked if the home team had the game, especially appreciating Phil since he would commonly display an even-handed commentary, despite clearly having affection for the home team. Banter is fine, analysis is better. Pointless opinionating distracts from the game, but insightful opinions are excellent. You want banter as well as education. For example Brendan Haywood often offers a strong opinion leavened with humor, and insight.

Suffice to say this team is not my favorite.