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C&J 475: Multimedia Journalism, Spring 2008

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T-birds, NBADL to Webcast

Thanks to a new device issued by the NBA, Developmental League basketball is now available to be seen online.

by BRIAN GATES

If Tingley Coliseum isn’t a place you like to visit too often, try watching the Albuquerque Thunderbirds from a new locale: home.

The Thunderbirds’ home games can now be seen live via a Webcast. The club’s media relations coordinator, Travis Weber, said the NBA sent all Developmental League teams a “truck in a box.”

“Truck in a box is a system that the NBA has sent us and basically it’s just an NBA, ESPN TV truck,” Weber said. “What it does is it allows us in one little box to Webcast all our games live."          

Tingley hasn’t been crowded as of late for Thunderbirds games but Weber says the NBA thinks that Webcasting will increase interest.          

“They want to start making the D-League a bigger deal and they want to be able to show it not only on NBA TV but any time someone can access it when they can’t come to a game and they can go online and follow their favorite team,” Weber said.

D-League president Dan Reed explained in his blog how the deal came about.

“A few months ago, the NBA's vice president of operations and technology, Steve Hellmuth, called me and excitedly told me about a new technology they wanted to test called the TriCaster, or, as he affectionately called it, a ‘truck-in-a-box,’” Reed wrote. “I, of course, eagerly raised my hand to suggest that we use the D-League as a guinea pig for this new technology.”

Reed also said that he feels Webcasting will be a good way to showcase the young talent in the D-League.

University of New Mexico student and Thunderbird employee Robert Gassaway is one of the people that helps operate the device. He said there is a lot of work to be done for every Webcast.

“Every game I do something different,” Gassaway said. “Either I’ll be on camera, many different cameras around the court or I’ll be on the computer broadcasting it and selecting shots, putting it online, showing commercials during the breaks, and just broadcasting it for the audience out there.”

Weber said the games that are shown on the Webcast are much like games that are shown on TV. And, like Gassaway, he believes there is a lot of work involved.

“We have someone that’s sitting there, like a director, picking whether or not they want to cut back and forth from one camera to another,” Weber said. “We can put up player names, scores and all that good stuff.”

Reed not only believes that fans of these teams will be interested in watching the Webcasts but also the fans of NBA teams whose first-round pick is playing in the D-League.

“What Phoenix Suns fan wouldn't have wanted to see their first round draft pick from Wisconsin, Alando Tucker, go off for 33 and 10 last night? How many Duke Blue Devil-lovers (or haters) are interested in seeing how Josh McRoberts plays against NBA-level competition in the D-League this week?” Reed wrote.

Fans are able to watch all of the D-League teams’ games online which allows them to watch some of the outstanding college players mentioned by Reed. Kris Collins is the only former New Mexico Lobo who is currently in the D-league. Collins plays for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

The Web cast games can be found on the D-League’s Web site which is http://nba.com/dleague. You must first register with the site and then you are able to watch all of the game for free.
           

Written March 13, 2008

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Albuquerque Connections:

Even before entering the NBA Developmental League, Kevin Pittsnogle played some of his biggest games in Albuquerque.

Pittsnogle led the University of West Virginia deep into the 2005 NCAA tournament in the Albuquerque region. Pittsnogle was a part in a Sweet 16 victory over second-seeded Wake Forest, and an Elite 8 victory over Bobby Knight’s Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Both of these games were in The Pit and inspired the sign shown on ESPN reading “You just got Pittsnogled!”

The 6-foot-11 Pittsnogle’s college career included two trips to the Elite 8 and an expected trip to the NBA.       

But when the 2006 NBA Draft ended, Pittsnogle was left without a team. That same offseason he was picked up as a free agent by the Boston Celtics but was waived shortly thereafter.

Pittsnogle’s fellow Mountaineer, Mike Gansey, also was undrafted in 2006 despite high expectations.   

Pittsnogle moved on to success in the Continental Basketball Association before being drafted in the Developmental League in 2007 by the Austin Toros. The Toros waived Pittsnogle in January 2008, and he was picked up by the Thunderbirds just a few days later.

Pittsnogle’s former teammate Gansey is now a member of the D-League’s Anaheim Arsenal and has a chance to once again share the court with Pittsnogle in Albuquerque.

The D-League also showcases players familiar to Albuquerque such as the Kevin Kruger (Utah Flash), a former UNLV player and son of Runnin’ Rebel head coach Lon Kruger, as well as former UNM Lobo Kris Collins, now of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.