Rebounding

[Ceerqqq]

I've had this thought in recent years that perhaps the best way to emphasize to players how important rebounding is to the team's goals is to point out that when a shot doesn't go in the hoop, you're looking at a loose-ball situation. The players understand that when there's a loose ball on the court it is a prime opportunity to gain a possession and deprive the other team of one. You move reflexively to get to it first and beat the other hands going after it.

The ball may not be on the floor, it may be up in the air, but the situation you're facing is the same. Go after it as quickly as you can and don't let the other team deprive you of possession. When a player from either team throws the ball up there at the hoop, you're looking at a possible opportunity to get your team a victory. Something to look forward to and try to anticipate.

Now I don't know if that's the very thing that the coaching staff tells them every day in practice, but I have wondered in my ignorance if it isn't the kind of coaching analogy that could maybe get these kids focused the way they need to be on the art of rebounding...

 

[upperdeck]

the problem isnt going for the ball, the problem is they just dont go to the proper spot when the shot goes up..

 

[Ceerqqq]

the problem isnt going for the ball, the problem is they just dont go to the proper spot when the shot goes up..

That's the one big difference between a ball that's suddenly loose on the floor and one that's bouncing off the rim. At least with rebounding you can hope to gain a positioning edge by guessing right on where the carom is heading. A big factor, indeed.

I still do wonder, though, if players looked at rebounding with the same instinctive eagerness as they would a floor scramble, they might not make that early move to gain position...