What do you think of this Simmons-Rose-Bilas-Davis broadcast lineup?

[Global Celtic]

Not everyone likes Bill Simmons but he sure does his homework and he's a funny dude. I think this Jalen Rose-Rece Davis-Jay Bilas-Bill Simmons lineup was really good from an entertainment and "information" point of view, considering this was quite mild draft (apart from Andrew Wiggins' jacket).
Here are some highlights that I can remember:
"I think he's probably one of the 50 best players coming out of Switzerland". (Simmons about Clint Capela)

"Simmons - Hey Jay, would you rather have 1 million dollars or this guy? (Markel Brown, #44 pick bought by Brooklyn)
Jay Bilas - Can I have both? No? OK... probably one mill.
Simmons - So does Minnesota!"

And the absolute highlight of this draft...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgmILBHk1D8

But, still unbeaten...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQs99dQwbfo

[Chief]

I love Jalen and Simmons. I always look forward to both their podcasts. So, yes, I loved last night.

[the_Bird]

Hated it.  They seemed to ignore all of the most immediate questions.  When Smart was drafted, why were they not discussing what that meant for Rondo/AB?  That's potentially the biggest implication for the selection, that it may impact the C's plan for those two players.  And really seemed to be minimizing the risk of Emblid's stress fractures - the risk that it's a Yao/Bill Walton-type problem.

Also, as I pointed out to my wife, Jay Bilas seems to like guys who are long, good at penetration, but versatile.  Not sure if there's something going on in his subconscious. 

[D.o.s.]

Sucked, although it was fun to hear Simmons's comments get greeted with continual silence from Rose. I also think they need to just kill the LeBron to Cleveland thing, rather than perpetuate it.

I also hate the way ESPN keeps people around in reserves trying to fill dead air, but that's the case with all their programming.

[Eja117]

I thought it was really really good and they all brought the best out in each other.

Here are my favorite examples..

Jalen...."if you lock Napier and Exum in a room together Napier is coming out and I like to bet on guys like that"

Bill Simmons...."And if you locked them in a room with Jalen Jalen is coming out"

Jay Bilas "And if you came to my house. First you have to get through the butler, then if you get through him the nanny might wake me up"



Bill Simmons being hilarious...."PJ Hairston is no Bruno Cabasio but I think he'll be ok"



Bill Simmons..."I knew we were in trouble with that pick when Jay had to go through like 10 pages of notes to find this kid"

Jay..."I never found the notes"

Bill Simmons on the Kyle Anderson Spurs pick...."Typical. Well they say he is a high IQ guy so I'm concerned how he's going to fit in with all those low IQ Spurs guys"

Bill Simmons ...."A couple guys told me they think this could be the best 2nd round since 2005"

Jay Bilas...."The difference is that this year there's first round talent in the second round. Last year there was second round talent in the first round"


The only thing that ticked me off was Jay Bilas saying it was great that "America is evolving as a people and embracing soccer like the rest of the world has all along".  For God's sake Bilas. Move to France. That's just ESPN trying to sell something.

[D.o.s.]

The only thing that ticked me off was Jay Bilas saying it was great that "America is evolving as a people and embracing soccer like the rest of the world has all along".  For God's sake Bilas. Move to France. That's just ESPN trying to sell something.

Wait, so an offhand comment about people actually watching soccer is ESPN trying to sell something, but them conjuring a LeBron-to-Cleveland nonstory out of nothing (including bringing in Broussard) is not?

I do enjoy how easily Simmons wears out his welcome with ESPN's hosts, though -- you could see Davis starting to get some Sage Steele in his eyes by the time they made the Isiah Austen pick.

[Eja117]

The only thing that ticked me off was Jay Bilas saying it was great that "America is evolving as a people and embracing soccer like the rest of the world has all along".  For God's sake Bilas. Move to France. That's just ESPN trying to sell something.

Wait, so an offhand comment about people actually watching soccer is ESPN trying to sell something, but them conjuring a LeBron-to-Cleveland nonstory out of nothing (including bringing in Broussard) is not?

I do enjoy how easily Simmons wears out his welcome with ESPN's hosts, though -- you could see Davis starting to get some Sage Steele in his eyes by the time they made the Isiah Austen pick.

Right. I expect them to sell me nba intrigue during the nba draft. Not shove soccer down my throat.

[hardlyyardley]

I surely enjoy them a lot more than Chris Berman and his worn out schtik on the NFL draft broadcast

[Eja117]

Really Jay is very prepared and knows all the players very well but he takes things really seriously, so they put him with Simmons who takes nothing seriously (except the time he got mad that teams were helping the Heat) and Jalen.

Much as I don't love Jalen he is very very insightful.

I respect Hubie Brown but this draft was way better than having to sit through him tell us every single player had tremendous upside potential.   It would start off with potential and by the time we got deep into the 2nd round it would be super dooper excellent whoop de doo phenomolicious upside potential.

[D.o.s.]

The only thing that ticked me off was Jay Bilas saying it was great that "America is evolving as a people and embracing soccer like the rest of the world has all along".  For God's sake Bilas. Move to France. That's just ESPN trying to sell something.

Wait, so an offhand comment about people actually watching soccer is ESPN trying to sell something, but them conjuring a LeBron-to-Cleveland nonstory out of nothing (including bringing in Broussard) is not?

I do enjoy how easily Simmons wears out his welcome with ESPN's hosts, though -- you could see Davis starting to get some Sage Steele in his eyes by the time they made the Isiah Austen pick.

Right. I expect them to sell me nba intrigue during the nba draft. Not shove soccer down my throat.

But there is no NBA intrigue. That's exactly the point. Simmons even said something to that effect during the broadcast -- that they should be burying the story instead of perpetuating it, but they can't because they're ESPN.

[D.o.s.]

Really Jay is very prepared and knows all the players very well but he takes things really seriously, so they put him with Simmons who takes nothing seriously (except the time he got mad that teams were helping the Heat) and Jalen.

Agreed about Hubie, and I feel like we're going to get a lot of mileage out of this gif.

[knuckleballer]

The only thing that ticked me off was Jay Bilas saying it was great that "America is evolving as a people and embracing soccer like the rest of the world has all along".  For God's sake Bilas. Move to France. That's just ESPN trying to sell something.

Wait, so an offhand comment about people actually watching soccer is ESPN trying to sell something, but them conjuring a LeBron-to-Cleveland nonstory out of nothing (including bringing in Broussard) is not?

I do enjoy how easily Simmons wears out his welcome with ESPN's hosts, though -- you could see Davis starting to get some Sage Steele in his eyes by the time they made the Isiah Austen pick.

Right. I expect them to sell me nba intrigue during the nba draft. Not shove soccer down my throat.

The evolving part of the comment irritated me.  I don't like soccer, so I'm not evolved?  Are Europeans not evolved because they don't play baseball or American football?  It was a stupid comment and I hate that line of thinking.  It's very pretentious.

[knuckleballer]

The Bilas/Simmons dynamic is really awkward, but entertaining.  Simmons mocked Bilas in his draft day diary for years and I think Bilas is aware of that.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Really enjoyed it myself.

I'm going to miss the jokes of Stephen A. Smith and his Cheese Puffs from that YouTube guy with the sock puppet. Was the highlight of the draft for me usually.

[D.o.s.]

The only thing that ticked me off was Jay Bilas saying it was great that "America is evolving as a people and embracing soccer like the rest of the world has all along".  For God's sake Bilas. Move to France. That's just ESPN trying to sell something.

Wait, so an offhand comment about people actually watching soccer is ESPN trying to sell something, but them conjuring a LeBron-to-Cleveland nonstory out of nothing (including bringing in Broussard) is not?

I do enjoy how easily Simmons wears out his welcome with ESPN's hosts, though -- you could see Davis starting to get some Sage Steele in his eyes by the time they made the Isiah Austen pick.

Right. I expect them to sell me nba intrigue during the nba draft. Not shove soccer down my throat.

The evolving part of the comment irritated me.  I don't like soccer, so I'm not evolved?  Are Europeans not evolved because they don't play baseball or American football?  It was a stupid comment and I hate that line of thinking.  It's very pretentious.

Given that most people who don't like soccer tend not to believe in evolution, I think its an if the shoe fits phenomenon.




Only kidding -- you've never heard of "evolving" being used in terms of tastes? It's a pretty common analogous phrase to 'changing' as far as describing cultural shifts.