Kara Lawson announcing

[shizam]

Too comfortable with herself and laid back. Too much dead air. I’m watching b-ball not attending a funeral.

 

[BostonCanuck]

I respectfully disagree. I find her color commentary to be insightful, on-point and often entertaining. Along with Lobo and Burke before them, I consider Kara to be the among ESPN's best television personalities for women's basketball - when paired with the right play-by-play person (i.e. not Adam Amin). I also think it's more the job of the play-by-play announcer to control the extent of any "dead air"; and to your point, Pam Ward hasn't been very good at that in this series. And while I have enjoyed Pam's work over the years, she does not seem to have great chemistry with Kara, unfortunately.

 

[EricLA]

I'll have to focus more on it - I love Lawson - I actually prefer her ever so slightly to Lobo mainly because I find Kara a tad bit less PC and slightly more refreshingly honest. But both of them are 2 of my faves...

 

[MilfordHusky]

I really like Kara's work. She is knowledgeable, experienced, articulate, and humorous. Some games are better than others, but I enjoy listening to her.

 

[JordyG]

I'll have to focus more on it - I love Lawson - I actually prefer her ever so slightly to Lobo mainly because I find Kara a tad bit less PC and slightly more refreshingly honest. But both of them are 2 of my faves...

Just not in the booth together. Then they get real chatty and are prone to non sequitar's and digressions.

 

[stamfordhusky]

I really like Kara's work. She is knowledgeable, experienced, articulate, and humorous. Some games are better than others, but I enjoy listening to her.

Agree 100%. .

 

[Scud49]

I always have liked her style and her knowledge of the game is excellent IMO.

Plus, if there were a few "gaps" I see nothing wrong with that, I've always subscribed to the "less is more" mantra when it comes to announcing. I even remember that one NFL game they broadcast without any announcers - just the crowd noise coming through, I thought it was great.

 

[meyers7]

Too comfortable with herself and laid back. Too much dead air. I’m watching b-ball not attending a funeral.

I always have liked her style and her knowledge of the game is excellent IMO.

Plus, if there were a few "gaps" I see nothing wrong with that, I've always subscribed to the "less is more" mantra when it comes to announcing. I even remember that one NFL game they broadcast without any announcers - just the crowd noise coming through, I thought it was great.

I agree, "dead air" is a good thing. No need to fill in dead air with babble. I'm watching a game, not trying to learn about everyone's life story. Got the Hallmark Channel, Lifestyle or WE for that.

 

[wire chief]

Just another Kara fan clocking in.

 

[Lawrence]

Too comfortable with herself and laid back. Too much dead air. I’m watching b-ball not attending a funeral.

SORRY, Kara Lawson is great...she sticks to the game...

 

[Dillon77]

Another Kara fan weighing in: knows her stuff; is prepared; and, has a sense of humor. Generally happy to hear/see she's doing a game I want to watch.

She's also not afraid to give her two cents when they're the only pennies in the pond:
When ND was getting pounded by Louisville last season, she pointed out that most of the remaining (non-injured) ND players were pretty exceptional players in their own right (McDonalds' All-Americans, etc.) and that it might be a bit too early to call it a season on the Irish if they could (and she most certainly inferred they should) get it together.

 

[MSGRET]

Too comfortable with herself and laid back. Too much dead air. I’m watching b-ball not attending a funeral.

I disagree, my two favorite color commentators are Kara and 50, they aren't babbling all the time like Burke who gets on my nerves . I want to watch a game not listen to someone talk just to listen to themselves talk. It used to be where you could watch a game without all the consistent talk.

 

[Beemer]

I always have liked her style and her knowledge of the game is excellent IMO.

Plus, if there were a few "gaps" I see nothing wrong with that, I've always subscribed to the "less is more" mantra when it comes to announcing. I even remember that one NFL game they broadcast without any announcers - just the crowd noise coming through, I thought it was great.

I remember that game. Nothing but the game sounds & the crowd. I loved it. These days I have found the "mute" button very handy when watching any sport.

To get back on track- I like both Rebecca & Kara. They're very knowledgeable about the game.

 

[shizam]

Good comments about Kara’s willingness to say the truth about a player or team whether positive or negative. Lawson and Lobo with Adam are a poor mix though they are all intelligent. They miss too much of the action and fall in love with each other’s jokes. I’m sure they’re aware of it and it’s by design. Makes them seem bored with the game at that juncture which they probably are.
Doris Burke is great. Deb A is alright. La China ? is very good. She has great insights like Kara but I like her delivery and energy a lot more. She does the Dream games. She easily could be a lead analyst

 

[Zanzman]

Sorry Shazam but didn’t Doris stop doing women’s games a year or 2 ago

 

[MilfordHusky]

Good comments about Kara’s willingness to say the truth about a player or team whether positive or negative. Lawson and Lobo with Adam are a poor mix though they are all intelligent. They miss too much of the action and fall in love with each other’s jokes. I’m sure they’re aware of it and it’s by design. Makes them seem bored with the game at that juncture which they probably are.
Doris Burke is great. Deb A is alright. La China ? is very good. She has great insights like Kara but I like her delivery and energy a lot more. She does the Dream games. She easily could be a lead analyst

Deb A is very intelligent and knowledgeable, but I find her highly annoying. Maybe it's her homerism or her voice, but I prefer to listen to others.

 

[BigBird]

I really like Kara's work. She is knowledgeable, experienced, articulate, and humorous. Some games are better than others, but I enjoy listening to her.

Kara is good at worst and outstanding at her best. Like others, I think Lobo and Kara were good together as studio hosts, but they faltered as in-game analysts by ignoring the game part. Their job isn’t easy, so I cut them a little slack.

 

[shizam]

Sorry Shazam but didn’t Doris stop doing women’s games a year or 2 ago

Yes Doris does the men’s games only now

 

[stwainfan]

 

[Monte]

Good point. They would stay on the topic(the game itself), and allow me not to mute, if they only had ONE person doing the game. REAL basketball fans who are watching the game do not need or WANT entertainment and side stories when the game is in progress.

 

[triaddukefan]

She's not smiling now

 

[Florida Fan]

Agree 100%. .

I like Kara also, but in general, all the announcers, from my perspective, and with questionable eyesight, need to stop chatting and tell me who has just scored the basketball. I know the UCONN players but not everyone else. Somebody puts on a good move and scores, should get credit and my approval, but first I need to know who she was. It seems, sometimes, that finishing the comment takes precedence over the play by play, what we tuned in to see.