Two games in a row, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Summer League team faced similar late game defensive situations. With under a second left, the Bucks’ opponent had the ball on a sideline out of bounds play, and on both occasions the Bucks allowed their opponent to score a game-winning/game-tying bucket (This doesn’t count the basket that Rodrigue Beaubois hit from an ISO set with .7 seconds left to win the Bucks-Mavs game in overtime). Both times, it was due to a defensive blunder, and both times it cost them the game:
Bucks vs. Mavs
With 0.3 seconds left, the Bucks were holding onto a 2 point lead. Here, there is just enough time for a catch and shoot, but more than likely the opposing team would be running a play right at the rim:
As the ball gets to the trigger man, J.R. Giddens gets a staggered double screen set for him from the two Dallas Mavericks’ bigs. These screens are set so Giddens can curl around the screens and get freed up by at least one of the screens.
One thing that a rookie big struggles to pick up when they come from college to the pros is passing. This is because the ways that teams send doubles are different and more complicated, there is more ball pressure, and the defenders are bigger/quicker. However, DeMarcus Cousins looks very comfortable identifying defenses and making the correct pass in the half court. Cousins was only credited with one assist during his debut, but he showed the type of instincts you don’t usually see as a rookie, let alone a 19 year old rookie:
Cousins makes his first catch as a professional just a few steps away from the block. Instead of rushing the move, he lets the play develop and allows for the passer to cut through, clearing out an easy double team. Cousins then takes what I like to call a “bait dribble.” If you watch the video again, you can see the man who eventually doubles kind of floating, and then as soon as Cousins puts the ball on the floor, the double team comes. This is because most NBA teams like to double team on the first dribble the big man takes, and DeMarcus Cousins knows this. The dribble that Cousins takes isn’t to make a move or better his position, it’s to draw the double team so he can kick the ball to an open teammate. It works, as the defense is forced to rotate, but the Kings can’t knock down the open shot. This is really impressive to me because there are bigs that have been in the league for years that struggle with this concept, and here is Cousins getting it right on his first touch in the pros.
