BASKETBALL ENDGAME DECISION

After watching a game last night, I became interested in how teams defend a "homerun" play when you are up 2 or 3 points and the other team has the ball out under their own basket with 5 or less seconds left.

Should you put a tall defender on the ball and make it difficult to throw over him or should you have the man guarding the ball play centerfield and and help on the long ball?

Kentucky in its famous 1992 game vs. Duke (Christen Laettner hit a shot at the buzzer on a homerun look) chose to not put a defender on the ball and double Laettner instead. This did not work as Laettner still caught the ball.



I believe that you have to make it difficult to throw the pass. You may deflect it or you may make the passer miss his target. Therefore I would put a defender on the ball.

What do you think?