Hornets.com’s 1-on-1: ESPN’s Mark Jones
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January 12, 2007
Hornets.com and Hoop magazine writer Jim Eichenhofer chatted with ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Mark Jones prior to Friday’s nationally-televised game between the Hornets and Washington Wizards.
In addition his weekly work calling NBA games for ESPN, Jones also broadcasts college football contests. He frequently partners with analyst Tom Tolbert on pro basketball games, but Tolbert was unable to attend Friday’s game due to inclement weather in Oklahoma City and throughout the region.
ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Mark Jones
Q: What is your prediction on how the rest of the Hornets’ season will play out? Do you think the Hornets can remain within reasonable distance of the eighth playoff spot until everyone returns from injury?
A: I think it’s a credit to Byron Scott that the guys, collectively, haven’t let go of the rope yet. I don’t anticipate that they will. I think they’ve got to tread water until they get some healthy bodies back, David West and Chris Paul. Then they should be able to make up some ground on the seventh and eighth seeds. I don’t think five games back out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference is an insurmountable deficit.
Q: Of the players who remain healthy, which Hornets are you most looking forward to seeing play tonight?
A: I think Devin Brown has really seized a nice opportunity. With some of the injuries, he’s done a great job of coming in and playing well. He’s got a championship pedigree, going back to his days with the San Antonio Spurs, and he’s really a self-made player.
He’s a guy I’ve watching personally, coming up through the NBDL. He’s done really well for himself. I think he’s one of the more inspirational stories right now.
Q: Setting aside your potential bias as a fellow Canadian, do you expect Steve Nash will win his third consecutive MVP award this season?
A: [laughs] Boy, that’s a great question. I think he could be deserving of it, but I would think that if Dallas ends up with the best record in the Western Conference, Dirk (Nowitzki) might break through this year.
Q: When you hosted the now-defunct weekly ESPN program NBA Today, you were known for ending the show by pretending to shoot a basketball and holding the follow-through. How’s your jumper looking these days?
A: That was my favorite show. My jumper is pretty good. I play in the ‘Old Man’ league for guys 40-and-over in Miami, where I live. Once in a while I go down to Miami High, where Tim Hardaway has some good runs. Once in a while I even get lucky and get to touch the ball [grins]. And score, too.
Q: Why did ESPN decide to end that show after it had been on since the 1980s? Was it because there are so many more NBA highlights shows on TV now than there were 10 years ago?
A: It was because of the programming. The motivation for the show kind of changed. There were so many other NBA studio-type shows that were evolving. Shows of that ilk took (NBA Today’s) place when ESPN got (rights to) NBA games.
Hornets.com and Hoop magazine writer Jim Eichenhofer chatted with ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Mark Jones prior to Friday’s nationally-televised game between the Hornets and Washington Wizards.
In addition his weekly work calling NBA games for ESPN, Jones also broadcasts college football contests. He frequently partners with analyst Tom Tolbert on pro basketball games, but Tolbert was unable to attend Friday’s game due to inclement weather in Oklahoma City and throughout the region.
ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Mark Jones
Q: What is your prediction on how the rest of the Hornets’ season will play out? Do you think the Hornets can remain within reasonable distance of the eighth playoff spot until everyone returns from injury?
A: I think it’s a credit to Byron Scott that the guys, collectively, haven’t let go of the rope yet. I don’t anticipate that they will. I think they’ve got to tread water until they get some healthy bodies back, David West and Chris Paul. Then they should be able to make up some ground on the seventh and eighth seeds. I don’t think five games back out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference is an insurmountable deficit.
Q: Of the players who remain healthy, which Hornets are you most looking forward to seeing play tonight?
A: I think Devin Brown has really seized a nice opportunity. With some of the injuries, he’s done a great job of coming in and playing well. He’s got a championship pedigree, going back to his days with the San Antonio Spurs, and he’s really a self-made player.
He’s a guy I’ve watching personally, coming up through the NBDL. He’s done really well for himself. I think he’s one of the more inspirational stories right now.
Q: Setting aside your potential bias as a fellow Canadian, do you expect Steve Nash will win his third consecutive MVP award this season?
A: [laughs] Boy, that’s a great question. I think he could be deserving of it, but I would think that if Dallas ends up with the best record in the Western Conference, Dirk (Nowitzki) might break through this year.
Q: When you hosted the now-defunct weekly ESPN program NBA Today, you were known for ending the show by pretending to shoot a basketball and holding the follow-through. How’s your jumper looking these days?
A: That was my favorite show. My jumper is pretty good. I play in the ‘Old Man’ league for guys 40-and-over in Miami, where I live. Once in a while I go down to Miami High, where Tim Hardaway has some good runs. Once in a while I even get lucky and get to touch the ball [grins]. And score, too.
Q: Why did ESPN decide to end that show after it had been on since the 1980s? Was it because there are so many more NBA highlights shows on TV now than there were 10 years ago?
A: It was because of the programming. The motivation for the show kind of changed. There were so many other NBA studio-type shows that were evolving. Shows of that ilk took (NBA Today’s) place when ESPN got (rights to) NBA games.
