My initial reaction here is "Wow, Coach Nick is really on point." And for the most part, he's seeing the same things that I saw when I wrote my post-game rant. The Thunder weren't running plays down the stretch, and their main guys were trying way too hard for points when they were having a bad night. Moreover, they failed to notice wide-open players on more than one occasion.
But he also focuses on some areas that I really didn't. The Thunder were playing really lazy transition defense, and consistently refusing to find their defensive assignments. Honestly, if I was Coach Brooks, I'd have the Thunder work on finding their defensive assignment in transition, because if they would've done that, they could've saved the game.
The one problem I have with the video (and it is a huge one) is that he uses this loss as a vehicle to continue his Russell Westbrook hate. Westbrook wasn't even involved in half of the bad plays shown in the video, despite the fact that he did commit some same maddening errors. The reality is that if anyone's the main culprit, it's Kevin Durant, because he destroyed the Thunder's offense with terrible plays in a game where offense is key. You could even pin it on Brooks, who didn't settle his players down or call the right plays. Other players committed terrible errors as well. Ibaka got a shot blocked and didn't get back in transition. Kevin Martin played atrocious defense. Thabo missed two solid three point attempts.
Westbrook, on the other hand, hit a really clutch three to keep the team in the game, got to the line at an important time, made an excellent pass to an open Sefolosha in the corner, and got a really critical rebound, giving the Thunder a chance to tie the game in the final seconds. Moreover, I would agree with his decision not to foul the Rockets when the Thunder still had a chance to get the ball back, because I'd rather trust the team's defense than leave the game up to the chance of free throws. The theme of this video is nothing but leftover Westbrook hate.
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