By: Rhan Moraleda and Kevin Maynes of Basketball Republic
THIRDY Ravena’s debut game for San-en Neophoenix let the country take a closer look to Japanese basketball through an exclusive livestream provided by the B.League. But more than the on-court brilliance of Thirdy, one aspect that is worth noticing during the game was the solo commentating of Anthony Suntay.
Mr. Suntay, who started his career in the UAAP in the 90's as a courtside reporter and became a familiar voice in the PBL and PBA, was referred to the B.League by his Australian agent. He is under contract to do the commentating for the exclusive livestream set by the B.League for Thirdy’s first 10 games. It's possible though that the livestream will air for more as the response of Filipinos was overwhelming as B-League announced that Thirdy’s debut game hits almost a million views on their different social media platforms.
So how does it feel to do a solo commentary? The veteran sportscaster who has international experience covering NBA Finals, NBL Australia and FIBA Games pomptly said, "Most of the time talagang kasanayan ng lahat is dalawa, and that's the most comfortable. Pag ikaw lang, kausap mo sarili mo, medyo mahirap yun." However, it is something that he has gotten used to throughout the years as he also covered some sports such as football, tennis, and badminton, and other sporting events like the Youth Olympic games, 3x3 basketball tournament, and Olympics, as a solo commentator.
The challenge though is to give much information as he wanted to as he has to do many things usually done by two commentators while just alone in his make-shift studio inside his home. Certainly, the focus is to commentate on the game at hand, so it is a challenge to jot down notes and at the same time look at the live stats shown in the game screen to share the numbers to the audience watching. In the end, the former ESPN and Star Sports commentator is just hopeful that the information he is giving is enough to entertain the audience. True enough, he really helps the Filipinos understand more the on-going plays and brought more life to the games of San-en Neophoenix.
Considering the welfare of the viewers, despite having a good job done as a solo voice who gave life to B-League for Filipinos, Mr. Suntay is still hoping to have a partner soon so to better explain the game and share more information on what's happening in the court.
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