Due to the COVID-extended NBA season, their finals were being played at the same time as the AFL finals.
Being an avid follower of both sports this meant that while I was watching both events I found myself comparing and contrasting how things were run. In doing so I believe I have found three things the AFL can take away from the NBA finals.
1. Quality not quantity when it comes to commentators
During the NBA finals Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were the commentators while Rachel Nichols was the sideline reporter.
Breen is well known to be one of, if not the best NBA caller while Van Gundy and Jackson supply great insight into the game as both of them are former coaches. Normally NBA games comprise of two commentators and one sideline reporter, however, the extra caller in this case was actually added to the broadcast.
My Year 3 teacher would always go on about the importance of knowing the difference between quality and quantity and unfortunately these AFL finals series have shown that Channel 7 have not learned this lesson.
Three commentators calling the game and one sideline reporter is more than enough, however, during the AFL finals 7 has decided to cram six commentators into each game for some unknown reason.
The games so far have had four callers who struggle to get a word in over the top of each other half the time while also having two boundary riders who essentially perform the same role.
We’re six games into the AFL finals series and somehow at the most important part of the season 7 have managed to make their broadcast even worse. Hopefully they can learn from their mistakes and cut back to four callers, but I have a feeling they might just do the opposite.
NBA play-by-play announcer Mike Breen.
2. Let the losers be sore
After the final buzzer sounded on Monday and the LA Lakers had clinched the championship their opponents in the Miami Heat had already headed back to the locker room.
This is a common occurrence in the NBA, as seen in 2018 when LeBron James’ Cavaliers lost in the finals and he left the court before the trophy was even seen.
Here in the AFL however we make the losing team on grand final day sit and suffer through the whole presentation, the losing captain even has to get up and give a speech.
Sure no one likes a sore loser, however, imagine if you were in the same situation after working so hard all year long you fall just short of ultimate glory. Instead of being able to grieve the lost opportunity in private, you’re forced to watch the winners receive their medals and the premiership cup in front of 100,000 people.
It’s the equivalent of having a front-row seat to your ex-girlfriend/boyfriend’s wedding – you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who would enjoy that.
The end of a grand final is never about the losers, so why make the losing team watch on?
3. Just because they didn’t play on the day it doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a medal
In the NBA every player who is a part of the team receives a championship ring and will forever have it on their CV regardless of how little they actually played.
For example, Jared Dudley of the LA Lakers played a grand total of two minutes and 50 seconds out of a possible 288 minutes during the finals, in which he didn’t register a single statistic. However, he will be presented a ring and be able to call himself a champion, something he took no time wasting in doing.
Here in the AFL we only award the 22 players who played on the day with a medal and the title of a premiership player. As we saw last year regardless of whether it was your first game or your 300th game, as long as you played on the day you will be awarded a premiership medal.
Now I’m not calling for an NBA-like overhaul where anyone who is on the team goes down in the record books as a premiership player, nevertheless, in some cases I do believe players who missed out on the day should be rewarded.
For example, this season Shane Edwards and Bachar Houli missed a significant part of the season for Richmond as they chose not to enter the hub due to personal reasons. As we saw last Friday night both of those players are extremely important to the Tigers, that being said in their absence Richmond went 5-2 and were able to beat top-eight teams in Brisbane and the Bulldogs.
Bachar Houli of the Tigers runs the ball. (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
If Richmond were to go on to win the flag the players who played a key role during the absence of Edwards and Houli but don’t make the final 22 on the day would go unrewarded.
My proposal is if a player has played in at least eight games during the season (11 games in a 22-game season) they should get the premiership credentials as well as a medal.
In the case of Richmond that would mean players such as Mabior Chol (11 games), Jake Aarts (14 games), Jack Higgins (10 games) and Ivan Soldo (14 games) would all get medals despite not playing on the day.
My only exemption to the rule would be if a player was suspended for the grand final because of a non-football related incident. For example, Sydney Stack would still miss out this year and had the rule been applied in 2018 Andrew Gaff would have missed out too.
Coaches always say that it takes a whole squad to win a premiership and not just the 22 that play on the day, so why not give those who don’t play in the grand final some reward?
Christo
Roar Guru
Hey Thomas, I 100% agree with you as these players especially in a short season compared to the NBA's large season deserve a medal as they make a huge impact on getting there team to the grandfinal. I don't watch AFL however I watch NRL and NBA and the part you said about the losing team would be better off heading straight back to the dressings room is right because the winning team is hyped and full of energy to celebrate and the losing team is tired because of their loss and should not have to stand out on the field for 30 minutes and watch the other team collect the trophy. The same thing happens in NRL.
Three Step Euro Pod
Roar Rookie
Not an AFL fan but a good read nonetheless mate! While I’m sure the AFL has a lot to work on, from an outsider’s perspective they’ve got a sensational product. One thing I’m particularly impressed by is the engagement with female supporters. I’m in Sydney and I know plenty of women who are diehard supporters for their AFL team – probably could count on one hand the women I know who would want to go to a NRL game.
Brian
Guest
One great thing in the NBA commentary is that during the video review they refer to a referee who exaplains the actual rule, not a commentator saying "I thought....". In the AFL you'll see controversial decsions but none of them have bothered to know the latest rules any better then the average punter at home
Liam Clark
Roar Guru
I agree on points 1 and 3. If a player has given a sizeable contribution to the team, they should definitely be rewarded with a premiership medal. I've always thought it was a bit stiff for players to miss out simply because they missed one game. And point one definitely needs changing, half the commentators on the list barely get a word in and the Channel 7 commentary feels so bias at times. However, I do not agree with point 2 simply because the idea of forcing the losers to do all that is a great way to light a fire under them to come back bigger and better than they have played already
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I disagree on losers walking off. Take it like a XY Homo Sapien. Same with a medal which reeks of everyone's a winner post-modernismism
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
If you don’t you play you shouldn’t get a medal, and no one who doesn’t play wants a medal, so it’s a moot point.
Villa87
Guest
I’m going to be the unpopular one here and disagree with point three. Whilst I understand your points that players have certainly helped set the team up to get to the final ladder position at the end of the h/ a season . The ultimate point here is that just because you finish 1st on the ladder doesn’t make you champion (premier), we have finals to determine the two teams that will playoff for the cup on grand final day. The players that are fielded that day ultimately have the final say on who is the champion and who is not. I know if I was a player receiving a premiership medal had I not played the grand final it wouldn’t resonate with me as if it would had I been playing on the day, and I will go even further to say it would be a bit of insult to receive a medal when I had played majority of the season just to fall out of form/ favour of the coach towards the end of the season for him to dump me from the team in favour of someone else. Unlike the premier league where there is not a finals system and the table/ ladder ultimately determines who the champion is then you would argue that all players who took part at different times in the season could have impacted your final standing.
Nick
Roar Guru
Nor does he engage in ridiculous emphasis on surnames, frequent (and often wrong) umpire bashing or obsessing about deliberate out of bounds decisions, or just carrying on like a pelican like BT does. However, the absolute joy of this year has been the near elimination of Basil Zempilas from the commentary teams. He is the worst commentator of any sport in Australia.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
I'm a big fan of JB's commentary, I will admit. He adds excitement but he doesn't embark on hero worship like Bruce does. He was a bit much when doing cricket but AFL is absolutely his game.
Dave
Roar Rookie
Agree with all of that Paul. JB did a good job with the semis on some terrible games. He should go again. Might have to sync up the radio to replace Bruce and BT :stoked:
Nick
Roar Guru
Agree on point 1 - the size of commentary teams are getting ridiculous in the AFL. That they are almost always uniformly white is where it gets particularly galling. Disagree on point 2 - I like what the AFL (and NRL) do in this instance. This is simply an extension of what we did as kids, and serves as a very powerful reminder that it is just a game at the end of the day. It is a celebration not just for the winner, but also for the runner up. It is bloody hard just to make a grand final, let alone win one. In fact most sports that have a "final" do it this way. It's only the Americans that disappear into the sheds for a sook. At the olympics, 2nd and 3rd are on the podium as well. In the rugby, football and cricket world cups, the runners up are part of the presentation ceremony. It's just a game, and having both the winner and the loser there is a powerful reminder it's just a game. Agree on point 3. It makes a lot of sense in round robin style competitions, knockout comps and I think the logic can be applied to the H/A - playoffs style comps as well. It takes more than 22 players to get to the grand finals, and they should be rewarded. Yes, playing 1/3 the season should be the minimum requirement. The Olympics hands out golds to the heat participants in relays (albeit not on the podium). Perhaps that can be the trade off. Those outside the grand final 22 will get their medals, but can have them presented at the club annual awards night, and not GF day. But all can call themselves premiership players.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
I'd be quite happy with anyone who's played a game during the season getting a premiership medal - maybe not on the day, but get one after the fact. As you say, plenty of players contribute a hell of a lot and it's more than just the 22 left standing who get a side to the dias. I don't think it's anything fans could really complain about, bit of an insider fix. Really, I think though unless the AFLPA demanded it it's not gonna happen, it's only something that affects the players, not the fans. Ch 7 commentary would improve immensely if BT and Bruce's plane took a nosedive into the desert on the flight from Adelaide to Brisbane this weekend, I don't think anyone disagrees there. Finally with the losing team staying on the field - I think that's an important part of reminding people at the end of the day it's just a game - teams can either learn from the brief 10 mins or so sucking it up or they can do what the Adelaide crows did. Occasionally too one of their number wins the Norm Smith, as Buckley did in 2002.