ABC on Saturday night begins its new "NBA Saturday Primetime" series with Bulls-Cavaliers, and the eight-week series "will feature strong matchups with playoff seeding implications," according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY. The games "will be called by the A-team of play-by-play man Mike Breen and analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson," while sideline reporter Lisa Salters "will be on the broadcast for most of the games." Breen said, "The first thing that hits you is the schedule. It’s the best games. During the course of a long NBA season, there’s a handful of marquee games that you can’t wait to see (and) there’s a handful of matchups that are clearly the cream of the crop for the regular season and we have most of them." Zillgitt noted the games "will be under the care of veteran ESPN senior coordinating producer Tim Corrigan, who produces Finals games and will bring a Finals-like atmosphere" to them. "NBA Countdown" with Sage Steele, Doug Collins and Jalen Rose "will precede game coverage." ESPN likely will "create more content based on these matchups." ESPN President John Skipper: "We expect to establish this series as a big-time destination for NBA fans, along the lines of what we’ve accomplished with college football with 'Saturday Night Football on ABC.'" Zillgitt noted that "destination event featuring the league’s best teams is the main reason why Breen, Van Gundy and Jackson are on the call." The games "will include bells and whistles -- special slow-motion cameras and a new LED-based board that will include a variety of added content as the announcers preview the game" (USA TODAY, 1/19). On Long Island, Neil Best noted the league "has invested in helping make it special with an A-list schedule." Of the eight games "scattered between now and April 9, the Warriors, Cavaliers, Spurs and Bulls are featured three times each and the Thunder twice." Van Gundy said, "We feel very strongly that it will be well-viewed and we’re excited about the league and the story lines and players. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. And the games they have scheduled appear to be really good" (NEWSDAY, 1/20).
BACK TO THE FUTURE: In California, Jim Carlisle writes it is "pretty cool to see a broadcast network think pro sports are important enough to put them on the air." Carlisle: "Especially ABC, which, since ESPN took over, doesn't even have a sports division anymore" (VENTURA COUNTY STAR, 1/22).
