The inbounds pass is like the long snap in the NFL - no one pays attention to it until things go wrong.
And yet, the play has provided some of the most memorable playoff moments in NBA history. Boston's Larry Bird famously picked off Detroit guard Isiah Thomas' pass with six seconds left in Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference finals. John Havlicek intercepted Hal Greer's pass in Game 7 to seal the Celtics' 1965 Eastern Conference championship over the Philadelphia 76ers. If the Nuggets end up losing the Western Conference finals, the enduring images will be of two botched inbounds plays that, in effect, sealed Denver losses in Games 1 and 3.
Inbounding the Basketball seems simple enough. Right?
Not necessarily.
"It's a whole process," Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups said. "First of all, there's got to be good screens set. Second of all, as an inbounder you have to have two or three options that you're going to go to. You've got to know who's defending - if they are fast or strong or long or like to get in passing lanes. And then you have to worry about the man on the ball, if he's active, if he's trying to stop you from getting the ball where you want.
"And you have five seconds."
Denver's problem in Game 3 was miscommunication. Kenyon Martin's pass to Carmelo Anthony was based on the assumption Anthony was fading toward the midcourt line to get the ball. Instead, Anthony curled and Martin's pass was off-target.
Nuggets coach George Karl drew up a play where Anthony could catch and score quickly so Denver could get two possessions to the Lakers' one.
"I'm still thinking 2-for-1 was the way to go," Karl said Sunday.
Inbounds plays depend on where the ball is - in the frontcourt, the backcourt, the baseline or sideline. A garden-variety sideline inbounds pass has three options: a player at the strong side corner, one at the medium post and one at midcourt/backcourt. The Nuggets had all three options.
"To me, technically they'd done
everything right," ESPN analyst and former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "To me, those steals would have taken place whether he went into the backcourt or not."
Lakers forward Lamar Odom guarded the ball in both situations.
"Right when he first gets it, you try to jump up and down and block his vision," Odom said. "And then you try to trace the ball to get in the passing lane, and hopefully he might throw it a little to the left or right, or have to put some air behind it and hopefully that gives your teammate enough time to get it."
According to Billups, the Nuggets have about "four or five" inbounds plays, but the two that resulted in turnovers were "specialty" plays that were not part of the normal group they ran all season long.
"The special ones ain't working," Billups said, smiling. "We're going to have to go back to our regular plays."
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
