From the latest Sports Media Watch Podcast, longtime Pacers play-by-play announcer Chris Denari joins Jon Lewis and Drew Lerner to discuss his career as a fixture of Indianapolis sports.
Chris Denari on the Pacers In-Season Tournament success
For this group, led by Tyrese Haliburton, what has happened has given them a taste of what they want. A lot of these guys have not played in the playoffs. I mean, Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, came from Sacramento. They’ve never played a postseason game. So the In-Season Tournament gave them an opportunity to taste what it’s like to play in a playoff series, even though it was a one-and-done situation more like what they experienced when they were college players.
This is a process that I think is still building. This team is probably a little bit ahead of schedule. A couple of years ago they won 25 games. Last year they were predicted to win 25, they won 35 and I think would’ve won more if Tyrese wouldn’t have gotten hurt midway through the season.
What I was most pleased with is the fact that when they got on the national stage last week they didn’t waver. So many times you see a team get an opportunity, and they don’t make the most of the opportunity. And they clearly did with wins against two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, two teams that could easily win the NBA title in Boston and Milwaukee. So I thought that was a pretty good statement for those guys, to step up in those two instances and perform very well.
On ‘Malice in the Palace’ setting the Pacers back
There’s no question that that hurt and really set back the franchise in a lot of people’s eyes, even in the local community. I think everybody rallied around the Pacers in the short-term, but then it put a stain on that it took awhile to wipe off. That’s why it was so refreshing in 2011, 12, 13, 14 to see the Pacers rebound and get back on the national stage in those playoff series against Miami.
On if he lets the team’s success impact him
I’ve always enjoyed being a broadcaster with teams. I was the radio voice of Butler basketball for 17 years. I was the voice of the Indiana Fever for 18 years, part of the championship run with Tamika Catchings. And I’ve done this for 18 years. So I really enjoy having that relationship with a team. You have a job to do to be as objective as you can be when you’re on the air, though I think fans know when they watch the game, they know what we want, what [Quinn] Buckner and I want the Pacers franchise to be and to win.
I just, I like to have a stake in it. That’s just something, I think it comes from my childhood, from being around my dad’s teams, from playing high school basketball and division three basketball that I did. I just like — there’s a stake in it right? The losses, as I say, often times suck but the wins more than make up for that.
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