Payton gets all the way to the rim, but his angle isn't quite right, and he seems distracted by the taller, leaping Carter, the ball goes off the rim, and in the frenzy Carter dives across the baseline to slap it to a teammate, Muggsy Bogues. Bogues dribbles downcourt, where he is fouled and the Sonics call, yes, a timeout. Payton should have called timeout, he says now that Payton has missed the shot, and he and Costas harp on this some more. In this case, Collins was criticizing Payton even before the shot, but that doesn't justify his relentless criticism of players after plays that have not gone their way. I learn a lot, and even try to apply it when I play.
College basketball has the same problems to an even greater degree.
In the college game, this approach to broadcasting makes a sad kind of sense - the coaches are the constants, the lords and masters of the game. But in the NBA, the players are clearly the show. They know how to play the game - that's why they've gotten this far, after incredible competition for only 400 jobs. Vince Carter could have scored 34 yesterday with Regis Philbin coaching. Back to the game.