“You’re going to feel every bit of Stan Van Gundy’s frustration if his team had a tough quarter,” Burke said.

Then there is Rivers, the coach of the Clippers, who acknowledged that he barely listens to the questions. His default response, he said, is to say something along the lines of “We need to play better.” Still, the league’s sideline reporters appreciate his diplomacy.

“Doc Rivers might not tell me anything,” Burke said, “but he’s going to have a smile on his face and his tone of voice is going to be absolutely delightful.”

One of the goals with any telecast, said Craig Barry, the executive vice president and chief content officer for Turner Sports, is to bring viewers as much access as possible. In-game interviews, he said, help deliver a richer narrative. For that reason, said Lisa Salters, a sideline reporter for ESPN, she feels it is important to use her own access to inform her questions.

“Some of the best stuff happens from overhearing the huddles,” she said.

But Salters and her colleagues also need to be concise. By agreement, the sideline reporter is permitted two questions. Sometimes, Burke said, she will tell a coach beforehand that she intends to ask only one with the hope that it will generate a more thoughtful response. But there are times when she can sense that the coach is just not in the mood for a chat.

“I do think you have to be smart enough about the circumstances to say, ‘I’m only going to ask one here,’” she said, “if for no other reason than self-preservation.”

The one-question method can backfire. During Game 3 of the N.B.A. finals last season, when the Golden State Warriors found themselves trailing the Cleveland Cavaliers by 17 points after the first quarter, it was left to Burke to sift through the wreckage by asking Steve Kerr, the usually affable coach of the Warriors, what he had seen from his team.