Coach swears the profanity just happens
Brisbane Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis says the NBL’s crackdown on swearing in televised timeouts is “unrealistic”.
Lemanis is one of the head coaches in the sights of the NBL, which has made contact with clubs and threatened to issue fines as soon as this weekend if there is profanity during the live broadcast of matches.
The proposed sanctions were widely condemned across the basketball community, superstar Andrew Bogut saying a five-second delay or banishing the cameras from timeouts were more sensible options.
Lemanis was reportedly caught swearing on air during the clash against New Zealand on Sunday, when the Bullets trailed by 23 points in the first half before going down by one.
After the Bullets trained yesterday, Lemanis said timeouts could be highly charged and some colourful language was par for the course.
“In terms of whether it (a fine) will stop the swearing, I think that’s unrealistic because it’s a passionate and emotional environment and perhaps that’s why they want the cameras in there, to capture that emotion,’’ Lemanis (pictured) said.
“I don’t think in the heat of the timeout you are suddenly going to think, ‘If I swear here, I’m going to get fined’, because you are in your workplace trying to illicit a response from your players.
“There’s tactics involved as well. Certainly just swearing at people isn’t the answer, obviously. I will try to ensure that we keep that to a minimum.
“I’d prefer not to pay a fine but it’s certainly not going to be something I’m thinking about as I go into a timeout. When you are going into a timeout you are thinking about the messages for the group.’’
Lemanis said coaches were never aware which timeout was being filmed and broadcast live on national television as the cameras switched between team huddles during breaks.
He said the issue had been raised before and a delayed and edited version of the timeouts, like broadcasters did in the NBA, could be an option.