How will Grizzlies announcers adjust?
Pete Pranica was in a meeting last month with Fox Sports Southeast’s production team members as they discussed how to present Grizzlies games from 800 miles away.
The team’s announcing crew didn’t travel to Florida with and will call the games from Fedexforum starting Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers. But would Pranica, the team’s longtime television play-byplay announcer, and analyst Brevin Knight still wear suits on air?
The answer, from everyone, was yes. It keeps things normal for preparation and gives viewers the same quality program as usual while the
Grizzlies resume their chase for the playoffs.
“My feeling was these are regularseason games of great importance,” Pranica said. “Once we start changing what we’re wearing, does that give a bad signal?”
Looking good helps but working remotely presents new challenges. How will Pranica and Knight be able to watch the whole floor? How will they and sideline reporter Rob Fischer adjust without pregame banter and gaining insight from coaches, players, scouts and fellow broadcasters?
A glimpse came during the Grizzlies’ final scrimmage Tuesday. Pranica and Knight called the action from the baseline as they watched the
main feed from Florida on a wide monitor. Nearby, there was a smaller monitor so they could see views from the sideline and around the court.
At halftime, Fischer called one of the Grizzlies’ assistants for information he relayed during his report. During the game, Pranica and Knight traded analysis like normal.
When somebody hit a 3-pointer, Pranica yelled out his trademark “Bango” with his usual gusto. After Ja Morant caught an alley-oop dunk from Brandon Clarke in the first quarter, Knight reacted with an “oooh” as Pranica added emphasis on his call.
“Once you get into the game, the energy is the same. If there was a big shot, I got just as excited as I would as if it had been a regular-season game,” said Pranica, who got to practice by calling the 901 FC’S first two road games remotely when their season resumed this month.
It reminded him of Orlando Summer League games from 2002-17 that were closed to the public. But no fans also means he can’t rely on crowd noise to amplify a big play or critical shot.
Most announcers go silent and let the reaction tell the story. How will that work now?
Pranica, who also called Olympic basketball games remotely in 2004 and 2008 for NBC, said he’ll let the players’ reaction carry the moment.
“If there’s a buzzer-beating shot by Ja Morant, I’m probably still going to lay out (be silent) because they’re putting 36 microphones under the floor,” Pranica said. “I’m sure there’s going to be enough hooting and hollering and our director will cut us some good visuals that I probably should just get out of the way and let the natural sounds take over.”
For radio play-by-play announcer Eric Hasseltine, however, this is new territory. He’s never called a full game off a monitor and will have his own challenges alongside analysts Elliot Perry and Michael Wallace at Fedexforum.
If a big moment is coming, sometimes Perry will grab Hasseltine’s arm in anticipation. Hasseltine also has tapped Perry’s forearm to get him ready to chime in.
Now with social distancing measures in place, they’ll have to find new methods because they’re trained to watch the action instead of each other.
“If we’re that far apart, are we able to non-verbally communicate as a play is going on,” Hasseltine asked. “That’ll be something I think will be interesting for me to see how we do that. Maybe I’ll throw an M&M or something or we’ll have to use a hand signal.”
Hasseltine and Pranica said that their crew chemistry makes it easier to adjust. Pranica, Knight and Fisher have called games together for 10 seasons while Hasseltine and Perry worked together for 11 seasons with Wallace in his fourth season.
For someone who always welcomes viewers to the excitement of the NBA, Pranica is taking his own advice to embrace the newness of watching the season restart in Orlando.
“The NBA has always been extremely innovative in how they want to present telecasts and they’ve done certain things during Summer League games to prepare for moments like this,” Pranica said. “Knowing the NBA and their passionate embrace of technology, it’s going to look really cool.”