Sports Media Guide

Many of the NBA coaches I have tried to interview take it as a personal insult if your question shows you actually think about or know something about the game. They prefer a totally open-ended question, including "talk about..." because that meets them at the pontification point, where they are comfortable.

Over the years, I've seen some of the best answers come from the most innocent of questions, questions that on their face, reveal absolutely no understanding of the game. Lacy Banks of the Chicago Sun-Times gets great answers from not-so-great questions, simply because he is so likeable.

Try to ask a "great" basketball question of someone like Pat Riley, Phil Jackson or Mike Fratello, and prepare to be demeaned and belittled, unless you are accompanied by a camera and are an "important" media person.

 

One of those names looks sort of funny sitting next to the other two.

 

Fixed.

 

That name does look kind of funny, but the Czar is a great basketball mind.

But you make a great point. Ask the question that's going to get you the best answer, not the best question. There's an art to it, and it involves reading other people and engaging them during the interview.

 

the newest Q&A is with the philly inquirer SE - one of his problems is getting reporters to do "nontraditional" work - ha! - what he means is a 14-hour day instead of the usual 10 or 12

 

I know this: I used to hate long questions. And sometimes sportswriters don't mean to - they just get trapped into rambling.

The art changes, too, depending on the level. In college I found you can ask some direct questions that, in the pros, are going to be met with a tantrum - usually because that was precisely the right question, and the interviewee just doesn't want to answer it.

 

In my brief incarnation as an NBA beat guy back in the day, Fratello used to revel in tearing into me for what he perceived as stupid questions. He would often lapse into the Rumsfeldian tactic of asking and answering his own questions in his attempt to belittle reporters (Does Kevin Willis have good hands? No. Is he a good shooter? No. Does he block shots? No. -- OK, coach, so why the hell did you draft him 11th overall?)

Once, he even lit into me during a game. Back then, the beat writers were at the scorers table on the same side of the floor as the benches. Late in a close game, Fratello came out to argue with the ref. ``Hey, he can't do that! That's the Unseld Rule.'' Seated right behind where he was standing, I said, out loud, ``The Unseld Rule?'' He wheeled around -- the game's still going on, mind you -- and shouted at me, ``Yeah, the Unseld Rule! That's what it's fucking called!''

I still love ya, Mikey!

 

"can you talk about..." and "would you talk about..." seem more polite than plain "talk about.."

the tone of the question, and the context are crucial - it's hard to generalize about something that is so situational

 

Alma, you are so wise. I have seen this happen a hundred times at least.

For those who want to knock Fratello, he does have 663 NBA coaching wins, putting him comfortably in the top 20 all-time, as well as a 55 percent winning percentage.

 

I think he was calling Fratello an asshole, not a bad coach.

 

Rumsfeldian? great Pentagon question: "Talk about your lack of a post-invasion strategy" or "Talk about staying the course"

 

http://www.sportsmediaguide.com/02262007-JoePosnanski.asp

joe pos talks about good cop - bad cop with whitlock.

is this done anywhere else?