As Scott Hamilton said about Plushenko, he had no program. There is more (or should be more) to skating than jumps and flailing arm movements. There was no choreography, no "whole" to the program. France's Surya Bonelay used to do the same kind of skating: a series of big jumps attached to uninteresting linking between the jumps, and the jumps were solid but NOT effortless. They had hard, sometimes jerky landings and sometimes a wide swinging free leg, not great technique. When I think of past champions who combined huge jumps with true artistry (John Curry, Robin Cousins come immediately to mind), his winning effort came up sadly lacking.
You have to understand that all of those NBC comentators were experienced, highly honored skaters who know the difference between raw technique and technique plus presentation. They didn't deny his jumping ability. But they all know that he was honored for the huge jumps, not the grace with which they weren't done.
