A Grip on Sports: Those playing in the NIT, and those at home, deserve better than what ESPN has to offer these days

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The best part of March? Postseason college basketball. The worst part of March? Other than the lion-like weather, it has to be the poor quality of postseason basketball broadcasting, outside of the NCAA tourney.

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• Most college hoops fans will be focused on the latter, of course. But if their school didn’t earn an invitation to the prom, then they may just be dancing in one of the other tournaments. There is the National Invitational Tournament, which has a deeper history than even the NCAA’s, the College Basketball Invitational, which doesn’t, and another one we’re still trying to figure out, The Basketball Classic.

These tournaments exist to allow players a few extra games. That’s good. They are expensive to play in. That’s bad. So are the lackluster crowds (at most places) and the lackluster way the broadcast networks treat the games.

We present Tuesday night’s Washington State win over visiting Santa Clara as evidence.

The box score states there were 1,389 people in attendance. That looked about right. Cavernous Beasley Coliseum, which seats around 12,000, seemed pretty empty. Still, the Cougars shot well, defended well and pounded the Broncos for much of the second half en route to a 63-50 victory.

Though it was hard to know any of that while watching on ESPNU.

Chuckie Kempf and Adrian Branch, the duo assigned to the game by the network, kept everyone about as informed on what’s going on as the CIA lets us know what’s happening in Siberia.

In other words, we were all pretty much out in the cold.

Want an example? With 3 minutes, 58 seconds left to play and WSU leading 57-42, a stoppage of play occurred. Those of watching on our TVs were shuffled off to the final commercial break. When the broadcast returned to Pullman, Kempf and Branch were talking. But not about what was being shown on the screen. That would be Santa Clara’s Jalen Williams standing along at the free throw line, shooting two free throws. Why was he shooting? Those watching at home will never know. The ESPNU duo never said. Not one word. According to the official play-by-play and some sleuthing last night, during the time out the Cougars’ Michael Flowers was assessed a flagrant foul for something that had occurred earlier.

Seems like good information to have. But Kempf, the play-by-play person, and Branch, the analyst, were busy talking about the bookcase – the fake bookcase, actually – Branch had behind his back. See, the two were not in Pullman. They were at their home studios.

Doing the play-by-play and commentary remotely is a practice that predates COVID-19, but the pandemic accelerated its use. It was a safety measure during the pandemic but will continue into the foreseeable future for one reason: It costs less. That the product suffers is immaterial. The bottom line isn’t.

But not all of the problems with the broadcast were financially related. A big part of them can be traced back to a lack of preparation by Branch. The former Maryland star just does not do his homework.

We can excuse being redundant (as in his referring to WSU as “growing up in front of our eyes” multiple times). We can excuse, somewhat, a disinterested presentation. But we can’t excuse not being informed. It’s too easy.

Want examples? Mouhamed Gueye was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week five times during the season. Branch referred to him being the conference’s rookie of the week three times – and Branch used the term multiple times. He talked about Tyrell Roberts having a great game because it might be his last at Beasley – even though Roberts is a junior. But worst of all he mispronounced names often, from Gueye to Efe Abogidi to others. That’s a mortal sin in the broadcast world.

Or would be if ESPN cared. As it is, we were left listening to it. Or we had to be willing to subject ourselves to the limbo-like silence of the mute button.

Tough choice.

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Gonzaga: We can count on our fingers many things. But the best to ever wear each Gonzaga number? We can’t do that. Only John Blanchette can. And he does today in the S-R. Don’t miss it. … Nor should you miss his comments on the latest Zags Basketball Insiders podcast with Jim Meehan and Richard Fox. We missed passing it along yesterday. … Jim talked with a pair of ESPN announcers (no, not the guys above; he talked with Sean Farnham and Dave Flemming) about Gonzaga’s chances. … Jim also has the news Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren are second-team AP All-America. (For our money, the second team is better than the first.) … Theo Lawson has a trio of stories, including one on Ben Gregg heading back to his hometown of Portland, as well as another NIL deal and award for Holmgren. … Jimmy Kimmel is on the Gonzaga train this year, as Ben Condran tells us. … The GU women have responded well to adversity this season. Jim Allen documents how well in this piece. … Around the WCC, if the NIT is the tournament you are in, you better have the best NIT you can have. At least that’s how BYU looks at it. … A former BYU starter is now a role player but that’s OK by her. … Saint Mary’s will play Indiana in the first round of the NCAAs.

WSU: Roberts hit eight 3-pointers, Michael Flowers added two that moved into second alone on the Cougs’ single-season list and Washington State outscored Santa Clara by 21 points from beyond the arc. That’s all part of Colton Clark’s game story from Pullman. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, sooner or later Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer will retire. But it might be later. … Can Arizona break the West Coast’s long national title drought in men’s hoop? … UCLA hasn’t won the tournament in almost three decades. … USC is relying on a player who has six years of college experience. … Oregon opened its NIT run with a win at Utah State despite being down a couple players. … Colorado’s NIT run ended in one game as the Buffs lost at home to Saint Bonaventure. … Utah has lost an assistant coach. … Arizona’s Kerr Kriisa has to worry about his sprained ankle and other things. … In football news, how will Washington’s front seven be next season? … Arizona State began spring practice yesterday under clear skies but with clouds on the horizon. … Arizona had another practice. … Finally, the conference is selling its data but not for gambling purposes. At least not yet.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, former Eastern Washington and Weber State athletic director John Johnson, a graduate of East Valley High, is Portland State’s new AD. … Montana State has the shooters to pull a first-round upset. … Montana has three basketball players in the transfer portal. … Northern Colorado is in the CBI tourney. … The Idaho State women are happy to be still playing. … Weber State is set for a somewhat normal spring practice.

Preps: Former Gonzaga Prep star Liam Lloyd has put his name in the transfer portal after two years at Grand Canyon. Theo has the story.

Chiefs: Division leader Everett proved too much for the visiting Chiefs, winning 3-0. Kevin Dudley has the coverage.

Mariners: Jesse Winker is in the M’s camp and he met with the media yesterday. He is all in. … Yes, Larry Stone agrees with us. The Mariners still need more offense.

Seahawks: Seattle is still in the free agent market, though it is probably for more than a quarterback. … The Hawks lost D.J. Reed to the Jets.

Sounders: Yeimar is out but Nico Loderio will be back for the next leg of the CCL quarterfinal.

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• It’s not good to be confused while watching a sporting event. But that’s what we were last night. More than once. Oh well, it was just an NIT game. Until later …