ESPN’s top NBA, college football voices Fowler, Breen dish on Heat, UM-Clemson and more
In recent weeks, some Miami Heat and Miami Hurricanes fans have spent more hours listening to the soothing tones of Mike Breen and Chris Fowler than to members of their immediate family.
Two of ESPN’s best play-by-play announcers shared thoughts off the air this week, Breen in a phone conversation and Fowler via a Zoom session with a couple dozen writers.
Breen’s exemplary work calling NBA games in the Disney bubble without fans in attendance — and from 20 rows up in the stands instead of the traditional courtside seat — has reinforced that he belongs alongside Marv Albert as the greatest NBA announcers of the modern era, with Dick Stockton (when he was in his prime as CBS’ lead NBA voice in the 1980s) and Kevin Harlan also warranting acknowledgement.
Breen — with his always-appropriate cadence, alertness to detail, conversational style, dry wit and a quick, effective signature call (Bang!) — already owns the play-by-play record for most NBA Finals on television, with these Finals his 15th in the role.
Breen addressed several issues as the most unusual NBA season ever nears a close:
▪ On the challenges of calling games on the Disney campus since Aug. 1, having left the complex only twice (for four days each) to visit his family and his golden retriever in New York:
“The biggest challenge is being away from your family; to be away this length of time was something that I’ve never experienced and a little more difficult than I thought it would be,” he said.
Breen and the other network play-by-play announcers and game analysts have had to quarantine only one day every time they arrived — or returned — to the bubble. Conversely, the couple of dozen writers and TV reporters in the top media tier were required to quarantine for a week.
But unlike those writers and TV reporters (such as Rachel Nichols and Malika Andrews), Breen and the other network game announcers could never attend practices or interview a player or coach in person - only on Zoom. The game announcers are in a different part of the Disney campus than the players, and Breen hasn’t had a single in-person conversation with a player or coach in 2 ½ months there.
Despite that, he estimates he has taken 25 COVID tests. “We were testing twice a week the first couple months and testing every day” recently.
As for calling the games, “our location was a little farther up and away from the court than normal, and we had the Plexiglass around us. It was not easy on some nights even to identify players, particularly in the middle of a skirmish for a rebound.
“One of the concerns was misidentifying someone in a big moment. A couple times I identified the wrong guy; one time, both were wearing the same [type] handband and the names on the jerseys initially weren’t [visible] because of the social justice messages.
“My concentration level was at all-time high because so many times in the past, I would get the call from seeing an official up close; now it’s a little more difficult. And you miss seeing the emotion in the faces of the players. We had Zoom calls with players and coaches, but it’s not the same as sitting on the bench before a game; that’s where you get so much of your information. That was challenging.”
▪ Breen said he was “pleased that finding the energy without the fans was not a problem. Once the game starts and you see these players show their incredible talent, you get fired up.
“But not having fans was an incredible challenge from a couple standpoints, more so for players than us. I don’t know that I realized how much I used the crowd in my calls, especially in big moments.
“I’ve always tried to be concise with my calls in big moments and let the crowd be a part of it. You had to pick and choose when you would lay out [and not speak for a few seconds]. You could hear some crowd noise from the virtual fans but clearly it wasn’t the same. To be in a quiet arena five minutes before Finals games, it has been so strange.”
▪ He said he “would leave the arena some nights wondering if you nailed it that night. Some nights I wasn’t sure because I thought, ‘OK, maybe I was a little too overexcited without the fans.’ Some nights I thought maybe I could have pumped it up a little higher.”
▪ What did he learn about the Heat during the past 2 ½ months that stand out to him?
“The two things are their ability to find players that maybe others are not as high on and turn these players into terrific NBA players. Part of that is scouting and seeing the potential; they have a great scouting department. And their player development is one of the best in the game.
“They don’t expect the player to do only things they do well. They get them to work on their weaknesses. They don’t believe he’s only going to be a three-point shooter or a defensive specialist. They make players work on all aspects of their games. They do a tremendous job making players more complete.
“And a third thing” — which Breen said he observed from Pat Riley very early in his 28-year tenure calling Knicks games — is “there are no excuses. You have a chance to win every night whether they have a full team or are missing key players. That kind of no-excuses mindset is throughout the organization.”
▪ Here’s how his signature Bang call on three-pointers and big shots originated:
“The first time I uttered it [on air] was at a Fordham basketball game as a student on the campus station. I tried it because when I was a Fordham student in the stands, when a Fordham player hit a big shot, I started yelling out Bang as a fan. I tried it on radio when I was at Fordham and ironically I didn’t like it. When I did Knicks radio I don’t think I used it.”
But then it began to grow on Breen and the audience.
It works because “it’s a one-syllable word on a big moment when the crowd goes crazy. You can make a big, excited call and then get out of the way.”
Several times over the years, fans have approached Breen and asked him to yell Bang into their phones to use on their voice mails or answering machines. He politely declines because he’s trying to get out of the arena to go home, but “I try to be nice about it.”
▪ Over these 2 1/2 months, Breen has enjoyed doing something he never gets to do - dining with TNT announcers Kevin Harlan, Ian Eagle, Brian Anderson and Spero Dedes - and indoctrinating Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson to golf. They stay on the Disney campus for meals and golf.
Holding the record for calling the most Finals on TV “makes me realize how blessed I am,” he said. “Marv is the greatest basketball play by play voice of all time and people forget how great Dick Stockton was.
“The best part of this experience has been people I work with, to have two men I have tremendous respect for and are lifetime friends — Jeff and Mark — here. Jeff was an assistant coach, Mark was a player when I started doing Knicks” games.
▪ Breen doesn’t put much credence in the record low NBA Finals ratings “because this year is a complete outlier with the calendar and the way the season has gone and the pandemic. There’s nothing normal about what we’re going through.”
FOWLER’S THOUGHTS
Some thoughts from Fowler heading into UM’s game at Clemson, which he calls with Kirk Herbstreit at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC:
▪ After announcing UM’s games against Louisville and FSU, Fowler said “the newcomers on that [Canes] team and the coaching staff, and on the offense and the defensive ends are the best collective group of newcomers that I’ve seen in this sport. I know not everybody’s played yet, but Miami has got the most exciting new pieces of anybody.
“I’ve seen impressive improvements on both fronts, schematically and energy wise. Schematically, a lot has been written already down there about [offensive coordinator] Rhett Lashlee, who is in the honeymoon stage with three games in, looks pretty good and you can see why Manny Diaz was excited.
“And you see why D’Eriq King was excited to come play on that offense. They’ve done an amazing job at boosting the confidence of the guys up front. You have to give a shout out to their new offensive line coach, Garin Justice, who comes in with a much more positive attitude. And then the scheme allows them to gain confidence by being much simpler. They’re very simple in the run game, which sometimes is viewed as a criticism, but I don’t mean it that way.
“Instead of 15 or 20 running plays, they have five or six, but what they do, they do very well. All the opponents who have played Clemson acknowledged that there is a clarity and a confidence in their running game. Obviously [it helps] when you’ve got Cam’Ron Harris and Don Chaney and Jaylon Knighton, any of whom can gain the tough yards and hit the home run.”
▪ On UM quarterback King: “He’s dynamic, an impressive person to speak to. There’s a much bigger test for him individually Saturday night. And for that group up front, they’ve kept the pocket really clean. I think he’s been pressured less than 12-14 percent of his drop backs and when he’s been pressured, he’s not been as efficient as he wants to be.”
Fowler said it will be interesting to see “how successful Clemson can be in getting at him, at exposing what others haven’t yet been able to expose in Miami’s offensive line, if there is stuff to expose, that’ll be really key if they keep him clean.
“If he’s got time to look down field, he’s going to have success. And maybe because he is such a challenge to defend, you’ve got to spy him, can’t let them run wild. I do think the one thing you want to see more from Miami is the downfield shots. If you look at that aspect of the offense, you want to see the wide receivers get more involved. I think they’re scratching the surface with what they can do with the passing game, because I think those guys continue to blossom and get better, hopefully get Mark Pope and Mike Harley avoiding the drama, getting separation.
“I think there’s some more D’Eriq can do. He’s got to be better down the field and they’ve got to be better as a passing game down field; that’s the missing piece. But he’s a headache and he’s a problem just because of his ability to scramble and create, and that may be at a premium in this game. D’Eriq gives them a chance against anybody, because he can operate outside the structure of the offense and create problems on broken plays for the defense.”
▪ Fowler said defensive ends Quincy Roche (a senior) and Jaelan Phillips (a junior) are essentially “both in contract years, right? They’ve come in there, and when you’ve got that skill set, you can get paid a lot of money for a long time to do that and those guys are driven. I think what you’re seeing when you watch, it’s not even showing up in the stats, but they’re having a bigger impact on the game than the sack totals would indicate.
“Miami has a way of pressuring from a lot of different points. So if you look at there’s five or six different guys that have a sizable number of quarterback pressures and hits, which means even Nesta Silvera, even the defensive tackle inside can disrupt things. You bring Zach McCloud, you bring Gilbert Frierson, you bring Bubba Bolden from the safety position, and then they’ll throw some stuff at Trevor Lawrence.
“You got to seriously watch out for Trevor as a runner. That’s a problem that Miami is going to have when you approach the quarterback, you better have an athlete who can account for him. Because I think he showed against Virginia what he’s willing to do is run the ball and lower the shoulder.”
▪ I asked Fowler — who’s a part-time Miami resident — if college football is better when Miami is really good.
“The more high-profile teams, the more teams that move the needle are front and center, the better for the sport. And a lot of times, those are the named programs and Miami is a polarizing team. People have an opinion about them.
“Ever since 1983 when they exploded on the scene and had a great 20-year run there, Miami is a story when they’re bad, Miami is a story when they’re mediocre, because mediocre isn’t good enough, and Miami is a story when they’re good.
“We haven’t seen great Miami in a while and it remains to be seen how much they can close the gap area between Clemson, because I mentioned the ACC, it’s all about the gap. You’ve got to show the gap is close to where you could even dare to take a swing at the heavyweight. So we’re going to find that out. I do think I’m selfish. The more high-profile games Miami plays, a better chance I have of doing a home game late in the year, which is not a bad thing at Hard Rock, even when they can’t have bands is still an electric place to do a game.
“The national powers around the country are a little bit unstable right now, and Miami has a chance to make a big statement and then make a big step forward. Ed Reed and Michael Irvin and Jeremy Shockey can’t win the game for them on Saturday. But it’s interesting, I asked the Clemson players and they’re very aware [of Miami’s history] but they’re too young to remember firsthand Miami being good. But the ones that studied the history of the sport certainly know what the U has been about.”
And Fowler adds this: “Clemson is like a double digit favorite now, 34 non-playoff games in a row, which is pretty insane if you think about it, how much respect they have and how little regard most people have for their competition or the ACC… For the good of the ACC, it’s better if Clemson doesn’t start rolling through people because that would reinforce the perception that it’s a one-team league.”
A quick thought on Fowler: When he moved from studio to play-by-play, the first reaction was “he’s better in studio” because he was so good at that, and because he didn’t have the stereotypical play-by-play voice.
But he has evolved into a very good play-by-play man because of his knowledge, preparation, conversational style and ability to project his voice on big plays, which is now at high level. When Fowler and Herbstreit called the Steelers-Giants Monday Night Football opener, it was abundantly clear that they’re the best football announcing team (pro or college) on ESPN’s staff.
After calling UM-Clemson, Fowler and Herbstreit will announce the Denver-New England Patriots rescheduled NFL game at 5 p.m. Monday on ESPN.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 10:10 AM.
