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.

As this takes place, Dominique Jones flashes from the weak-side block to the ball side corner.  His defender, Dominic James, stays attached to his hip and follows him into the corner.  Now, we have talked about Jones lack of a jump shot, so there is no real reason to follow him into the corner.  James’ best bet would have been to let Jones run to the corner uncontested and stay in the paint to defend any lob.

With James running into the corner, the weak-side is completely left undefended by the Bucks.  Larry Sanders is covering a Mavs’ big man setting a screen.  He is right on his hip instead of being in help position, another mistake.

With the ball in the air, Sanders seems to see what is up, and he tries to recover to J.R. Giddens, who is cutting to the basket undefended.

Giddens makes the catch at the rim and hits the buzzer-beater, sending the game into overtime.  Here is the play in real time:

Bucks vs. Grizzlies

The next game, the Bucks were faced with yet another late game situation.  This time, there was .7 seconds left for the Grizzlies to try and win the game.  It’s funny, the Grizzlies come out in a similar set that the Mavs used a day earlier.  The one difference is that instead of the three ball-side players being in a straight line, you have two players bunched next to each other with another in the block.

As the basketball gets handed to the trigger man, both players (one big man and one guard) start towards the block at the same time.

As the big man stops and sets a screen in the middle of the lane, the guard cuts to the corner off a screen being set.  At the same time, Sam Young takes a few steps to the corner and then quickly changes directions, flashing to the top of the key off of the screen that is being set in the middle of the lane.  His defender, DeMarcus Nelson bites hard on the flash to the corner and runs himself out of position.

Sam Young is now running to the top of the key with nobody near him.  Not only is this important because he will be able to get up an uncontested shot, but because he is so wide open he can turn into the ball before making the catch.  While this doesn’t sound like a big deal, it saves valuable tenths of a seconds in a late-game situation like this.  Another thing to look at is the man defending the inbounder, Deron Washington.  Washington is doing a good job being active and taking away the pass to the corner, but that isn’t where the ball is going, and he leaves the passing lane to Sam Young wide open.

Sam Young makes the catch, rises, and fires before the Bucks can get someone to close out on him.  Here is the play in real time: