Now I am well aware of the existing, all-encompassing NBA thread, but if there is one NBA show that merits a thread of its own, it is Inside the NBA . . . presented by Hyuuuunnndai, as Kenny and Charles might say. Winner of a Sports Emmy for Best Studio Show, this show provides outstanding post-game analysis and even better, countless hilarious moments, often thanks to the Chuckster.

The summer break is, as the boys might say, "gone fishin'" and Inside is back tonight after the Mavs/Suns game!

Ahh, I love this game.

I hope this thread sticks. It'd be nice to have an ongoing discussion for the only worthwhile NBA post-game show on television.

Unfortunately, staying up for this show is sometimes impossible. Unless my Spurs are playing on the west coast, I just raise the white flag and usually call it a night. This season, I'm going to record Inside, but it looks like I'll have to record a two-and-a-half window to catch it. Y'never know when another team will go into double or TRIPLE overtime.

Last night's show was okay. There's some rust there and the addition of Reggie Miller will take getting used to. I did enjoy some of the Scot Pollard snark, and EJ going to the "baby-wailing button" to close out the night.

Also, I like the new set, even though it seems a little cavernous.

Nice, glad to know I wasn't the only Inside fan around. Now I don't want to get into any ABC/ESPN bashing, but I will say this -- TNT's presentation of the NBA from the games themselves to the post-game show is in a league of its own. You can't beat announcing duos like Marvelous Marv & Steve Kerr or Kevin Harlan & Doug Collins. Seriously, Doug Collins has got to be one of the most underrated color guys around -- the man predicts plays right before they happen. Of course, I often miss the glory years of the 2002-03 season when one of the best three-man booths ever was assembled: Marv Albert, Mike Fratello, and Jeff Van Gundy. They could've been doing a Clippers/Hawks game and I still would've watched just to hear the banter. Also, when it comes to Inside the NBA, I appreciate how Kenny and Charles don't hold back and they'll be critical of certain players and coaches -- maybe it's just me, but I think ESPN and ABC kiss up to too many guys on their post-game shows. Pulling an Ahmad Rashad, if you will . . .

I was pleasantly surprised at the Reggie Miller addition, I think I'll like him a lot more than Magic -- or Earvin, as Charles might say. Speaking of the Chuckster, my favorite line of the night went something to the effect of: "The Dallas Mavericks play defense like I do -- that is, they don't." Classic.

I like the new set as well -- Studio A, it's been too long!

TNT really does everything right with their broadcasts. The studio crew is, IMO, the most consistently funny thing on TV, the commentators know their stuff and aren't annoying, and I love those Trophy commercials they run during the playoffs. Plus they aren't afraid to mock Kobe, which is always a plus.

I adore Reggie Miller, but I have to say I enjoyed the many tense moments that resulted from putting Charles and Magic together. Sometimes you could visibly see Charles rolling his eyes.

Does anyone remember a few year's ago when they fixed up a mock "Champions Club" on the set (complete with velvet rope), and E.J. and Kenny took great glee in informing Charles of all of the lackluster athletes who were enjoying themselves as he, ringless, stood outside? So cruel, yet so priceless. Kenny would periodically call out things like, "Hey, I see Luc Longley!" as poor Charles shook his head incredulously.

Ahh, I remember that quite vividly. EJ was relishing the moment because he takes a lot of ribbing from Charles, so it was a nice role-reversal. I can just hear him now: "Hey, Charles, Fennis Dembo is in here! Zan Tabak is going nuts!"

Oh, and who can forget the "Staff on Crack" (tm...Chuckster) a.k.a. the Turner Sports Graphics Department. These people are great and they're not afraid to rip their studio mates either. I love their low-budget photoshopping and timely video replays. "Gone Fishin'" is now a time-honored spring tradition because of these folks.

There have been so many great "graphics moments" on Inside. Some I can barely remember. I loved last season's pogo-ing Stephon Marbury graphic. Great stuff.

Mark Cuban has an interesting response to this over at his blog, where he basically calls out the Inside the NBA crew for being comics instead of actually breaking things down statistically.

That said, I love this crew, if only for their relentless busting on Craig Sager's wardrobe.

I was delighted to see the return yesterday of "Who He Play For?" I wish these guys could be on TV year-round.

"Aw, I see. Y'all are playin' a joke on the Chuckster."

I can't believe "Who He Play For?" made a triumphant return and I missed it!

I realize it probably didn't help team chemistry to have Kevin Garnett blasting Kevin McHale in that interview before the Minnesota game last night, but what was Sir Charles thinking when he said the best option for the T-Wolves is to trade KG and look to the future? Trade a guy who is without a doubt one of the top five players in the league, arguably the best? Personally, I think the organization took a step in the right direction by trading Sam Cassell and not re-signing Latrell Sprewell, in what turned out to be a "failed experiment" in the end. But even Kenny seemed to agree with the idea!

Speaking of Spree, I hope he's making ends meet, finding a way to feed his family sans paycheck this year . . .

This guy who filled in for Ernie Johnson was just horrible -- at least Charles made fun of him a lot.

A picture of Charles Barkley's head superimposed on the body of one of those disgustingly fat Chicago Matadors dancers has got to be one of the funniest things I've seen in a while -- ahh, I love this show.

Four posts in a row? I'm not the only one staying up late to watch Inside, am I?

Anyway, pretty funny show tonight, from Charles giving Robin Yount a Milwaukee shout-out, to calling Jermaine O'Neal a pimp for his "lavender" shirt selection. He did make a great point about the Ron Artest situation though, there is no way 20 teams are in the hunt to get him. Only a few choice squads who are near the upper echelon, but aren't quite at the caliber of San Antonio or Detroit (Miami, Dallas, Minnesota, for example) would even think of trading for a basketcase like Artest. You only roll the dice on a guy like that when you think he's the final piece missing from a championship puzzle, not when you're some lowly lottery team trying to make the playoffs. Certainly, the Sports Guy's MJ/Rodman Corollary would be apt to cite here:

Having mentioned that, I only think the Diesel or KG could keep him in line, so you can scratch everyone else off the list. There is no way Ron Artest will be taking orders from a seven-foot German any time soon.

By the way, did I catch a Freudian slip from Charles near the end of the show?
"Is Magic coming by the studio next week? Oh yeah, that's right -- the Lakers are playing."

Oh snap, I'm gonna be posting here soon. I love Inside the NBA, I think it's one of the funniest things on TV overall. Better than most sitcoms if you can believe it. But Mean Mr Mustard, though I love that you're very enthusiastic about the show (I really thought I wasthe sole NBA fanatic in TWoP), would posting quad times consistute it as a TWoP Forum Faux-Pas?

skillzdatkillz, thanks for loving my enthusiasm, I'm glad to see you're a fan as well. And no, it's not a TWoP forum faux pas if there's 24 hours between two consecutive posts -- check the FAQ.

On another note, did anyone catch the starting lineups in the All-Star Game? Shaq's little heartbeat dance was hilarious . . .

Oh I see, sorry about that :) Yup I saw it as well it, but too bad he did the exact same dance last ASG, that was a little anti-climatic for me. The whole time, I was thinking what other pop'n'lock movement he'll come up with. Ah well, it's Shaq.
eta: Oh man, I just watched the entire intros with sound, and hearing Ozzy's Crazy Train being played by the orchestra to the West's team was just way too funny.

How I loved Chuck during the Dunk Contest: As soon as the camera pointed to the bright red suit of Damon Jones, he just shouted "OH MY GOD!" He kept insisting that we have to see it again, even to the point of distracting people watching the replay of Iggy's dunk, "okay okay, everyone's saw his nice dunk, guys in the truck? PLEASE go back to Damon's bright suit!" Too funny.

I only occasionally watch pre game (as much as I love Charles) but his All Star weekend performance may have gotten me hooked. My favorite line had to be,

I was laughing so much on last night's Inside the NBA. Charles is absolutely the best sport in every degree of that meaning. How many times have they made fun of his er-- large-ness? Just loved the whole deal.

And here why TNT is so much better at NBA coverage/reporting than any other network today: During the segment when Charles was talking about the reason behind Bryan Colangelo leaving the Suns, the music already was queued up and ready for commercial. But the astute Ernie (keep on fighting!) just simply said, "we dont' have to go to commercial" and let Charles go on to continue that thought.

Best wishes to Ernie Johnson. Hope you can get better and be back on the set,

The Tom Jones sight gag with Charles was hilarious tonight, especially with Kenny singing along -- oh, why can't TNT host the NBA Finals?

They didn't have enough money because Magic's crotch cost them advertising dollars. Sorry.

Did. . . I just see Craig Sager in . . . were those briefs? Or a swimsuit? I don't know what that was, but can anybody help me un-see it? I think he also winked at the camera (no, Craig, don't ever do that), and I KNOW he followed a blond into the elevator and said "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Am I supposed to be looking at Craig Sager in a whole new light? Because I don't want to.

After that last post, I just had to share this line from ESPN's Bill Simmons:

Ahh, it's good to be back! I could've done without Magic's routine Laker lapping, but after waiting all summer, I'm not complaining -- I love this show.

"I'd rather go to Alcatraz than be in San Francisco!"

Great episode of Inside tonight, from the Caron Butler taste test of McDonald's straws to the Warriors' JumboTron shoving a pie into the Chuckster's face. Also, that interview with Baron Davis was hilarious -- "Don't worry, I ain't trippin' over Chuck." Of course, the highlight of the night was the doughnut taste test. Did anyone doubt for a moment that Charles wasn't going to find the Krispy Kreme?

Yay, a thread for the best NBA show on TV. I know it's a tired cliche by now, but they really make ABC/ESPN look bad. I love the ribbing Charles got for being so obviously anti-Golden State and I did love that Charles admitted he was rooting aganst the Warriors.

Once again, the "Staff on Crack" were on point with their quickie photoshopping; I loved the shot of the Chuckster swimming/sinking away from Alcatraz.

Will the Gone Fishin segment briefly become Gone to Sausalito?

:( I miss Ernie tonight. Congrats on his Emmy. The guy subbing for him tonight has nothing on him. I want my Ernie back. Hopefully it's just a one-night break.

Turner Sports needs to really start searching for a successor to Ernie Johnson. I'm not suggesting that EJ will hang it up real soon; he's about to work MLB telecasts, this year, IIRC.

At some point in the distant future, Ernie will retire and I don't believe "oh-so-bland" Mark Fein is the person that Turner would want to follow in his GINORMOUS footsteps.

The footage of the Charles Barkley pinata is priceless.

I love how Jet was saying that if you hit the real Charles with a bat, candy and Krispy Kremes would probably come pouring out. Methinks the Chuckster should stay out of the Bay Area for awhile, though, lest somebody try that out for realz...

I think its funny that the players actually follow what is said about them on the show. First you had Allen Iverson talking about how he really was going fishing after they lost and last night you had Boozer thanking Charles for calling him out (complete with a wink).

This show never fails to crack me up. Between the picture of the Chuckster that TNT put up when he was in the green room, to the endless footage of the Barkley pinata, to the "Gone Fishin'" segment (complete with the picture of Chuck in his Nowitzki uniform out at sea), I was just dying laughing last night.

Humor and valid NBA commentary in one show? It seems too good to be true.

I wish this show were around when it wasn't basketball season. How great would a weekly show during the summer/early fall be? A couple of hours of them discussing whatever they wanted to. Especially in July and August, when there's little to watch. They could even film on the road, so Charles could golf as much as he wants.

There was a show like that a couple of years ago ."Listen Up! Charles Barkley with Ernie Johnson"

Oh man, I don't think I have ever laughed as much from 1:30-2:00 in the morning. If I wasn't already laughing my ass off at Ernie in the black power salute, I would have certainly lost it at any of:

"You drink Kool-Aid?"
"Have you ever had government cheese?"
"How's your credit, Ernie?"

Oh so wrong in oh so many ways, but I was dying. That was damn funny. I love these guys.

I love the show, but Shaq added nothing tonight. He would just keep his mouth shut for long stretches or make those weird noises. Yeah, it was sorta funny sometimes, but they could've had a cardboard cut-out of Shaq and had the same effect. 'Blahblahblah..' indeed.

I've never thought Shaq was the hilarious wit that he has a reputation for being, so I wasn't surprised that he didn't add much to the show. I mean, he's pretty amiable and all, but he certainly didn't add any analysis.

Those acrobat guys talking about how much they liked Charles in those tight little shorts? Hilarious. I laughed so hard. One of the best shows they've had.

Didn't they invite them to be on the show? I hope they stop by the studio!

Link to a clip of Frank Caliendo dropping by. He has Sir Charles nailed!!! Great stuff.

I loved E.J.'s Neato Stat of the Night yesterday. Who knew that the Spurs are 0-2 when the other team outscores them? Hee!

One of my favorite athlete interviews this season was when Dirk came in and sat with Ernie, Kenny, and Charles. They talked with Dirk about his Hasseloff connection. Then at the end they plastered Dirk's head on one of the pro dancers and had him and Mark Cuban dance on the Dancing with the Stars stage. Dirk seemed so laid back and cool.