The Ron Artest comparison that Henry Abbott makes in recapping this possession is pretty apt. These guys are so bad with the ball in their hands right now that any casual fan can tell they need fewer touches, but instead of deferring they take it upon themselves to ‘lead’ by tossing up long jumpers off the dribble like Kobe or Melo do.

However this doesn’t mean the right way to play them is to simply give them enough space to hang themselves. You should still try to deny them the option they prefer, even

just kidding, but this blog is a must-read for every serious NBA fan. Great job.

The rest of the article is great, though.

2. Then, on his right block post-up, Melo makes a poor/low kick-out pass to Afflalo.

3. Afflalo drops the pass, and, then … after picking it up off the floor … shoots a rushed 3, instead of shot faking and driving into to the lane with 7 full secs left on the shot clock. If Arron would have had the presence of mind to do this, instead of simply jacking a now only half-open 3, he would have drawn help from Ariza and created a wide open 3 for “Mr. Big Shot” at the Top Of The Key.

4. Nene did a good job of jamming the rebounder after the missed 3 by Afflalo.

5. JR Smith lost his concentration, however, and instead of picking up Nene’s check in defensive transition wasted his time by trying to create a steal in the Rockets’ back-court.

6. Melo was in the correct position in defensive transition and was NOT responsible for providing help on Scola’s layup down the middle of the court.

7. Billups was NOT in the correct help position in defensive transition, relative to his individual check located in the far corner of the court and was the Nugget player responsible for stopping Scola’s layup attempt … after JR Smith bailed out on his teammates earlier in the defensive transition sequence.

8. After Nene missed his bunny layup attempt and Afflalo missed his follow-up tip-in attempt … IMO, the Nuggets were NOT under instructions to foul the Rockets, in order to stop the clock, as there were more 30 secs left on the game clock and they were only down by 1 point, 121-122.

9. Therefore, JR Smith was not supposed to Aaron Brooks when he collects the outlet pass from Scola on the Rocket’s baseline.

10. Neither was Chauncey Billups supposed to foul Aaron Brooks in defensive transition.

11. What the Nuggets were supposed to do in defensive transition, if they failed to score on that offensive trip and there was more than 27 secs left on the game clock was defend for the Rockets’ entire offensive possession AND then after getting a stop themselves, attempt to either tie or win the game outright on their subsequent offensive possession [i.e. either down by 1, 2 or 3 points].

12. Either: a. Billups made a crucial mistake by committing that foul; or, b. Adrian Dantley failed to do a good job communicating his intended strategy to his players, specific to the time and score involved in this situation.

13. Given who the Nuggets and Rockets had on the floor for Brooks’ game-winning pull-up J, Denver should have had Afflalo [i.e their best on-ball defender] checking him, and shifted Carter to any one of Martin, Ariza or Battier [regardless of the height disadvantage involved].

Up by 11 points with 10 minutes left to play in regulation, the Denver simply gave this game away without George Karl on their bench directing the efforts of their team.

BTW, I agree with you 100% on the fact that MOST people who watch the NBA don’t really have a clue about just how important the work of a good head coach actually is when it comes to winning and losing games, on a nightly basis, in this league.