With the NBA Championship run in full swing, you’re probably getting pretty amped to see which of the remaining four cities – Oklahoma City, Dallas, Chicago or Miami – will bring home gold. If you’re a fan of one of the other 26 teams, you might still be burying your head between the couch cushions, unable to witness the Thunder, Mavericks, Bulls or, Heaven-forbid, the Miami Heat win an NBA Championship. But for the basketball fan who likes to keep up with the action and take a peek at the game while your boss is not leering over your shoulder, NBA’s TNT Overtime Extra live streaming player can provide a unique, though sometimes frustrating, escape route.
After your sponsor has their word and you draw your attention away from the ads surrounding the player, you find that you have five different viewing options: Mosaic View, Team 1 Player Cam, Team 2 Player Cam, the Backboard Cam, and the Action Cam.
Mosaic View
The Mosaic view is what it says it is: four different cameras on one screen. Even in full-screen mode, there’s a little bit too much to follow, unless you’re viewing on a flat screen TV, in which case you’d probably be watching the actual game. Those who actually want to see shots and flagrant fouls won’t benefit from this option as it mainly gives a glimpse into the parts that make the whole (i.e. the coaches, bench players and a steadicam following whatever it can).
Team 1 & Team 2 Player Cam (and the Drawbacks with the Picture-in-Picture Feature)
Say you are watching the Bulls play the Heat: the team player cams will follow a selected player, most likely the MVP candidate of the group. So the Heat Player Cam might as well be called the LeBron Cam, as most of the time the camera follows LeBron running around in circles. Hardcore Mike Bibby or Udonis Haslem fans won’t appreciate this option very much. But, if you like to see the different types of patterns of offense and defense the star players run on the court, this is a cool option that you rarely get to see on national television. Say you want to follow the Miami and Chicago player as selected by TNT simultaneously: the player also offers a ‘Picture in Picture’ option, but the lesser screen is a mere thumbnail. Close and drag as you will, it is simply not beneficial unless on a much larger projection.
The Backboard Cam
The backboard cam gives the fan a bird’s eye view of free throw shooting and the occasional slam dunk, but is otherwise somewhat disorienting to those accustomed to the standard halfcourt cam that pans to follow the action.
The Action Cam
The action cam is not quite what it says it is: rather than a panoramic view of the dribbles and passes, the action could be anything from players on the court to an enraged coach.
Just because you’re watching on the Web doesn’t mean you’re commercial-free; they pop up during timeouts and such. But during moments where you’d typically have tons of TV ads, your mosaic gives you a glimpse of both team benches, cheerleaders, mascots, floor-moppers, and just about everything that might be going on when the cameras are usually idle, which is pretty cool. Those cameramen who get trampled by 7-footers from time to time are actually filming something! This can make you feel like you’re at the game, so to speak, as just about everyone at the game is on-camera except for the rowdy crowd you’d normally be chanting with. Then again, the cameraman who didn’t find anything interesting to capture and is fixated on a discarded towel can really take you out of the moment, too.
If you’re looking to keep a window in the corner of your computer to distract yourself from work, homework, or whatever you may be doing that is keeping you from your living room and television set, and just want to take a gander at the score, field goal percentages, box scores, or follow a couple select players around, the TNT Overtime player will do. But when someone exclaims, “Dude, did you see the game?” even compulsive liars will be most likely reduced to admitting, “I caught some of it.” The player has just enough to keep you from missing the game entirely, but plenty to keep you wishing you were in front of the tube or able to score tickets.
Decide for yourself: the next game (Heat @ Bulls) streams live tonight at 5:30pm PT, 8:30pm ET.
