He’s got tough act to follow

Crotty ‘all in again’ as he fills Fiorentino’s analyst role

MIAMI — Don’t tell John Crotty these are merely exhibitions.

“I think this is pretty real,” the Miami Heat’s new television analyst said with a smile.

For the former Heat point guard, his new reality has been immersive from the outset, debuting as the team’s television analyst amid a full schedule of preseason broadcasts alongside Eric Reid.

So far, two down, four more exhibitions and then a full season to go, as he steps into the shoes of long-time color analyst Tony Fiorentino.

“It was very different,” he said of his debut. “And, again, I come from having done radio for almost 14 years and doing studio TV for six. But it’s a different skill set, because you have to know your place. You’ve got to look at the time, the tempo and the transition of when to get in and when to get out.

“Because it’s very visual, I don’t have to describe that action, I have to talk about how it happened or why it happened and have to have my words have real meaning and not just echo what people are seeing out there.”

It is a somewhat uneasy transition,

having nothing to do with the affable Crotty, but rather the longevity and colorful personality that Fiorentino previously had brought to the broadcasts.

“I have utmost respect for him,” Crotty, 49, said, with Fiorentino transitioned to a community ambassador position by the team. “He was an assistant coach when I played for the Heat. He’s a friend. He’s someone I care about.

“My thing is, look, just give me an opportunity to do my job. I’m not trying to be Tony; I’m trying to be myself, kind of look at things from a different perspective. I’m a former point guard, that’s my perspective. I’m not a coach. And that’s something I’m going to try to bring to the broadcast.”

Crotty, who worked two days of test-run broadcasts with Reid during the Las Vegas Summer League, said the preseason also is a time to build chemistry with the Fox Sports Sun production team.

“The beauty in this, and, again, this is a new skill set for me, is there is a talk-back button,” he said. “So I communicate with the truck, ‘Hey, rack that,’ and hopefully we have time where we can come back, they can bring it back to me and I can talk about what I saw.

“But this is new. And it does provide a situation where you have to react more instantaneously. But having played the game and been in a lot of those positions on the floor and understanding what people are trying to accomplish, it’s pretty natural to me to see that.”

What will have to become natural again is traveling for a full NBA schedule, something he hasn’t done since leaving the league with the Denver Nuggets in 2003.

“Look, I did it for 12 years of my life and then I did a lot of it when I was doing 20 games a year from a radio-broadcast perspective,” he said. “But this is the full monty, so it’s a different scenario that way. My kids are in college. I’m fully engaged. I’m ready to go.

“I’m all in again and excited to be doing it every day, because you really garner the most when you’re there every day. That’s when you see some of the subtleties and intricacies of personality and the ways teams are playing.”

The comfort has been immediate.

“I thought the chemistry with Eric and I was really smooth,” he said of his debut. “We didn’t step on each other and it’s hard to do that when you first start doing this with somebody.”

As for his own handoff, he sees an equally comfortable fit with former WNBA star Ruth Riley Hunter taking over his previous role as home radio commentator and road studio analyst.

“She had an incredible resume of what she’s accomplished in her career,” he said, “and not only that, to have the front-office experience working with the San Antonio WNBA team, I think that provides a unique perspective, being there from a decisionmaking standpoint. I think the biggest challenge is it’s different skill sets. Most people just do radio or they just do TV. They don’t do both.”

Crotty