Posts Tagged ‘Kevin Harlan’

Miller Time Again At The Garden

May 7, 2013  ·  8:21AM



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HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – TNT knows drama!

And the network known for drama will have it all over the airwaves tonight when the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks lock horns in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Madison Square Garden (7 p.m. ET).

Famous Knicks-slayer and Hall of Famer Reggie Miller will serve as the analyst for the game, joining play-by-play man Kevin Harlan and reporter Rachel Nichols some 18 years, to the day, of Miller’s unforgettable Game 1 Eastern Conference semifinal showing against the Knicks.

You might remember that one, the game that saw Miller score eight points in 8.9 seconds to beat the Knicks. I bet Spike Lee, a regular at Knicks games then and now, remembers.

The Knicks are already down a game in this series with the Pacers. They looked listless in Sunday’s Game 1 loss, when the Pacers outworked them, per Knicks’ star Carmelo Anthony. This is the sixth playoff series between the two franchises, but the first for the Pacers without Miller in uniform.

They’ve split the previous matches evenly. The Knicks beat the Pacers in four games in the first round in 1993, in seven games in the conference finals in 1994 (Miller’s 25 points in the fourth quarter of the Pacers’ Game 5 win and taunting of Lee set the rivalry on fire) and in six games in the conference finals in 1999. The Pacers beat the Knicks in seven games in the semifinals in 1995, in five games in the semifinals in 1998 and in six games in the conference finals in 2000.

A trip to The Finals is not on the line this time. But another chapter in this storied rivalry will be written either way. Having Miller around tonight to analyze and witness the affair is just the sort of drama you might expect from this series and, especially, TNT.

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Knicks-Pacers, 2013 NBA Playoffs, HT News / Comments (22) /

Air Check: Playoff Excitement

May 2, 2013  ·  5:44PM

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY — For NBA fans like us, there’s nothing better than League Pass. Having the ability to watch every game every night (and then again the next day) is heaven.

Of course, with local broadcasts, you get local broadcasters, which can be good and bad. It can be good, because these guys know their teams better than most national broadcasters. It can be bad, because these guys love their teams more than most national broadcasters. And they’re usually not afraid to show that love.

Air Check is where we highlight the best and worst of NBA broadcasts.

The season is on the line with every playoff game. Every quarter, every possession means so much. So clearly, players, coaches and fans are going to get emotional.

Broadcasters, both national and local, get emotional too.

The Kevin Harlan experience


I think Kevin Harlan likes Chris “Bird Man” Andersen, because he goes a little over the top with this call on a Bird Man put-back dunk in Game 1 of Heat-Bucks.

“Oh, here comes the Bird Man! Flapping his wings and soaring for a sweet flush! When you’re aerodynamically designed with that hair-do you can do those kinds of things … with that sweet mohawk. It helps him fly.”

But that’s Kevin Harlan, and that’s why we love him.

Stacey G. Excited


Not to be outdone, Bulls color man Stacey King has a flair of his own. And it comes out in full force when Jimmy Butler gets the hoop and the harm on this fast break in Game 4 of Nets-Bulls.

“Give it to me, Jimmy G. Buckets! The ‘G’ stands for ‘Gets!’”

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Posted in Air Check / Comments (11) /

Hang Time Podcast (Episode 103) Featuring TNT’s Kevin Harlan and NBA TV’s Brent Barry

February 6, 2013  ·  5:19PM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – A healthy civil discourse and creative storytelling are staples of our operation here at the Hang Time Podcast. We make it a point to do as much of both on a weekly basis, whether there are live microphones involved or not.

Solving mysteries, however, is a little something new. And we tackle two huge head-scratchers on Episode 103 of the Hang Time Podcast, featuring special guests Kevin Harlan of TNT and Brent Barry of NBA TV.

Harlan was in New Orleans working as a radio play-by-play man for the Super Bowl and there were rumblings (we blamed it on Reggie Miller and Steve Kerr, but the truth is yet another mystery for someone to solve) when the lights went out in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Barry, an old friend of the program and a longtime HT Fave, did his best to help us solve the mystery that is Dwight Howard, whose playing days with Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t come closet to anyone’s expectations from a group that was expected to contend for a championship this season.

These, are just two of the many issues discussed on Episode 103 of the Hang Time Podcast, a must-listen if you’re interested all in finally getting some answers to those nagging questions that have been bothering you.

LISTEN HERE:

As always, we welcome your feedback. You can follow the entire crew, including the Hang Time Podcast, co-hosts Sekou Smith of NBA.com,  Lang Whitaker of SLAM Magazine and Rick Fox of NBA TV, as well as our new super producer Gregg (just like Popovich) Waigand and the best engineer in the business, Jarell “I Heart Peyton Manning” Wall.

– To download the podcast, click here. To subscribe via iTunes, click here, or get the xml feed if you want to subscribe some other, less iTunes-y way.

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Posted in Podcast / Comments (2) /

Reggie Miller’s Front Office Options?

September 6, 2012  ·  11:02AM




HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – For a man whose name is synonymous with a franchise, city and state, it should come as no surprise that there are rumblings about Reggie Miller one day returning to help run the Indiana Pacers.

Miller’s headed to Springfield for a glorious weekend that will include his being enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame. But there will be no shortage of chatter about the TNT analyst’s future and whether or not it might one day include a return to Indianapolis and the Pacers.

There couldn’t be a more a natural fit, from this perspective.

Miller embodies everything the Pacers stood for during the height of the franchise’s NBA glory years. His return would be more than just symbolic, though, as Miller has proved himself to be not only an ambassador for the Pacers, Indiana and the game itself, but also an astute observer of the global growth of the game over the past three decades.

Our main man Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star has already broached the subject with both sides and it doesn’t sound like anyone is ready to do anything right now, but a potential reunion no doubt seems to be a hot topic for all involved:

“I never close any doors,” Miller said. “I listen to everything. (Owner) Herb Simon and I have had this conversation before. So yes, if something presented itself, I would definitely look at it and go from there.”

The Pacers have been led by either Donnie Walsh or Larry Bird for nearly the past 30 years.

Walsh returned for his second stint with the organization, replacing Bird as president, in June. Bird is taking at least the next year off. The 71-year-old Walsh hasn’t put a timetable on how long he will remain in his current capacity.

“I’m always interested,” Simon said. “Reggie would be a wonderful person to have in this franchise.”

(more…)

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Posted in HT News / Comments (7) /