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player ready...Maybe Bobby Knight does have a future in television when his coaching days are over at Indiana. At least, he`s a pretty good talent scout, as Quinn Buckner can attest.
In just a few years, Buckner has gone from being a shaky analyst on syndicated Big 10 games to a smooth-talking partner of Bob Costas on NBC`s pregame ”NBA Showtime.”
And all because of a comment made by Knight while Buckner was helping lead the Hoosiers to a national championship.
”Coach Knight talked to me when I was a sophomore about the possibility of getting involved with television,” says Buckner. ”I took (the suggestion) and said, `No, thank you.` At least that was my first reaction.”
It wasn`t until Buckner retired from playing in the NBA after 10 seasons
(six with the Milwaukee Bucks) that TV, in the person of Chuck Howard, presented itself as a viable career. Howard, who was producing a Big 10 ”Game of the Week” for Rasmussen Communications at the time, called Knight looking for an analyst.
”Coach Knight recommended me,” says Buckner, 37. ”I sat down with Chuck and he asked me if I could do an Indiana game. I said sure.”
Then Howard asked, ”What happens if coach Knight strongly disagrees with a play? How would you react?”
”I would react and say whatever the situation demands I should say,”
Buckner recalls telling Howard. ”I wouldn`t be biased.”
Sure enough, Buckner`s first assignment was an Indiana-Iowa game. ”Coach was very good,” Buckner says, ”but I`ve never been so frightened in my life. I remember looking at the tape, and I looked like a ghost-eyes popped wide open.”
Buckner, as his work the last couple of years on CBS attests, has calmed down, partially through the work of a voice coach. ”I view this very much like I played,” says Buckner, who played hard in winning two state titles at Thornridge High in addition to an NCAA title (Indiana `76), Olympic gold medal (U.S., `76) and NBA crown (Celtics, `84). ”I need to know what everybody`s responsibilities are, how I fit into that, what I can bring to the table.”
And the effort paid off this season, as Buckner will not only work for NBC on its NBA telecasts, such as Sunday`s All-Star Game, but complete his CBS contract by working the NCAA basketball tournament.
”The only way CBS would go with (the NBC deal) was that I would agree to do the tournament,” Buckner says. ”NBC agreed to that for this year. Going into the deal, I didn`t know if there was any chance that this would come about.”
Buckner`s toughest chore this All-Star weekend may be talking about the plight of Magic Johnson, and the controversy the Lakers legend has created with talk of a comeback.
”Earvin should be allowed to play (in the All-Star Game),” Buckner says. ”Everybody would like to go out the way Earvin`s going out. Here`s a guy who carried the league, in a sense, for the last 10 or 11 years.”
All the consideration Buckner wants is to be treated as an all-around broadcaster, someone who can do more than talk basketball. ”I want to be a broad-based announcer,” he says. ”I want to do golf. I want to be part of an Olympics crew (and do) an event by myself. I want to have those kinds of abilities that leads people to say, `Let`s send Quinn down.` That`s the way I want to be.”
– If TCI-owned and operated Chicago Cable couldn`t find room for the Bulls-Suns game Wednesday night on SportsChannel-Plus, where`s it going to put a possible Blackhawks pay-per-view channel? ”It was a scheduling mistake on our part, and we are sorry for the inconvenience,” said Chicago Cable General Manager Richard Moss. ”We were testing (Channel 47) for possible use as a pay-per-view channel which inadvertently made it unavailable for
SportsChannel-Plus. . . . We`ve now taken the steps necessary to ensure it doesn`t happen again.”
– TNT coverage of ”NBA All-Star Weekend” starts at 9 p.m. Friday with Bob Neal, Hubie Brown and Doug Collins reporting from the league party. The cable channel will join Nickelodeon, BET and NBC for the hour-long ”Stay in School Jam” simulcast, hosted by Ahmad Rashad and Willow Bay, at 11 a.m. Saturday. And Neal, Brown and Collins wil host the annual Legends game, three-point shootout and slam-dunk contest at 6 p.m. Saturday. . . . SportsChannel airs
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”Pro Basketball All-Star Weekend Preview” at 6 p.m. Saturday, and
”Daytona Race Preview” at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. . . . ABC Sports begins its Olympics counterprogramming Saturday with the IBF middleweight title bout between champ James Toney and Dave Tiberi at 3:30 p.m. on WLS-Ch. 7. . . . Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda joins play-by-play man Joel Meyers as analyst on NBC`s telecast of Saturday`s softball game between major-league all-stars at 3 p.m. on WMAQ-Ch. 5. . . . Tennis broadcaster Bud Collins will change sports to host the USA Network`s live coverage of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.
– Sportscaster Les Grobstein works his 500th Illinois-Chicago sports contest Saturday when the Flames take on Eastern Illinois in a Mid-Continent Conference basketball game on WCBR-FM and WTAS-FM. Grobstein began doing UIC basketball and hockey in 1982. . . . WLUP Radio begins its affiliation with the NBA Radio Network with Sunday`s All-Star Game. . . . And one more note on Doug Collins: He has joined WSCR Radio as a regular contributor, appearing twice a week on Tom Shaer`s morning show.