Rebounding

Rebound location

Before you can rebound the ball, offensively or defensively, you need to know where to rebound it. Rebound location is dependent on three factors:

1) The angle from the basket

2) the shot distance

3) the shooter's touch. Basically, the majority of the time, the rebound will occur on the side opposite the shooter.

Shot Angle:

In the first illustration, shots from the wing will bounce to the opposite side approximately 70% of the time. A minority of shots will bounce directly back toward the shooter or hit the edge of the rim and deflect straight down.

In the second illustration, low angle shots from along the base line because of the backboard have a much narrower range. However, the percentages are about the same as a shot from the wing.

The third illustration shows shots taken from the top of the circle area which are much more difficult to read since they involve a much wider range. In addition to being short or long, rebounders must determine if the shot is traveling directly to or is to the left or right of the basket.

Shot Distance:

Normally, the longer the shot, the further away from the basket it will bounce. The shooter's touch will also have an impact on the distance of a rebound. A shot with high arc and back spin will hit in paint while line drive type shots will rebound further away from the basket.

Shooter's Touch:

Know the shooter's "shooting touch." A shooter with a soft touch and good back spin, the shot is most likely to rebound close to the basket. Shooters that shoot the ball hard or with little arc will rebound much further way from basket. However, rebounders must also analyze the path of the ball, and determine if the shot is long or short, headed straight toward the rim or is off to the left or right side of the basket. A shot that is short is most likely to rebound directly down or back towards the shooter.

Defensive Rebounding

Mentality

The best rebounding teams have a culture where every single time a shot goes up all the players on the court know they must make contact. One of the more frequent excuses used by players when a player goes right by them for an offensive rebound is "That's not my man". The defense will never be in perfect alignment with the offense to allow each player to box out the man they are guarding. This means that each player must find a player in their area to make contact with even if all they are able to do is alter the trajectory of the player crashing for an offensive rebound away from the path of the rebound. Players must know it's not any single persons responsibility to box out, it's THE TEAM'S responsibility.

Boxing Out Basics

The box out has a few simple steps to perform and the difficulty factor lies in reading the offensive players direction of attack. The steps are:

Initiate Contact
Seal Low and Wide
Find the Basketball
Get the Rebound

Defensive rebounders need to recognize that the offensive rebounder has several distinct advantages. The offense has a better perspective of the shot and it's path to the rim. They are able to see the ball and the defensive player in front of them allowing them to react to both when looking to attack the rebound. If the defense allows the offense to be the first to make contact or allows the offense to simply get through a gap then they have not done their job. This is why the defense must be the one to initiate contact with the offensive player in their area. This allows the defense to then read the path the offense is taking.

The offense can only go in 4 directions: Once you have established position the offense cannot go through you which prevents them from going directly forward. If the player chooses to go backwards and not crash, great! You've done your job. This leaves a player trying to get through to the left or the right. Once you initiate contact with your hand or arm this is when you want to turn towards the basket and Seal Low and Wide.

As a defensive player, you are facing the man you are boxing out which usually does not allow you to immediately see where the basketball is on it's arc towards the rim. By initiating and maintaining contact after sealing you have now given yourself a physical means of recognizing where the person you are boxing out is trying to go. Once they make their move, adjust to stay in front by shuffling your feet and moving to stay in front and maintain contact. You're generally not going to be able to back a player up who is trying to attack the basket so use the player's momentum against them. This means if they're pushing hard to get around you to the right, shuffle your feet to the right and drive them further out in the direction they were looking to go.

Elements of a good seal (see picture):

Low man wins: Win the battle of position by having a lower, stronger center of gravity.
Arms wide: The wider your base and arms, the more difficult it is for a player to get around you.
Butt Out: Use your hips and butt by sliding your feet to stay in front while maintaining contact to keep a defender behind you.

Going Through the Ball

Once you have your opponent sealed it's now time to find the basketball and get the rebound. The general principle of the idea is that if all the defensive players on the court box out, the offense should be unable to get the basketball. This of course is not always the case but the more offensive players that have been boxed out this gives a significant advantage to the defense who has inside position (generally) to the rebound. Great rebounders have the mentality of not only going to a rebound, but going through the rebound. A player who's momentum is going to stop at the spot of the rebound is going to lose it to a player who has momentum taking them through the rebound. Don't go to it, go through it.

Offensive Rebounding

The common thought is that offensive rebounding is mostly an effort based statistic where the hardest workers get the most offensive rebounds. It's true that effort is the key component but the most important skill for offensive rebounders is learning to read the ball as it leaves the hand of the shooter. There is no sure fire way to put yourself in a perfect position each time a shot goes up. On some occasions you may be out of position, in contact with another player and unable to reach it, or possibly too close or far in relation to the hoop to have a shot at the rebound

Reading the Shot

Reading the arc and understanding the dynamics of how a shot ends up where it does is the most essential component to being a good offensive rebounder. This entails looking at the following components each time a shot goes up:

Who is the shooter? - You should start to recognize who are the quality/poor shooters on your team and what their ranges are. If you are on a team that has a player who loves to shoot threes but isn't very good at it you know that the shot may be quite a bit off target. This person shooting may mean an air ball or a shot that hits the backboard or clunks clumsily off the rim. A quality shooter is likely to have a rebound rattle out, bounce high off the back rim and stay near the basket, or have the shot end up in the high percentage rebounding zone to the weak side of the basket. Recognize immediately who is likely to have a predictable rebound and who is likely to have an erratic shot pattern which will help you to make quick decisions on what part of the floor you should look to attack.

What is the situation? - Recognizing time and score situations is something talked about often in basketball but it's often forgotten about when it comes to rebounding. Is your team shooting threes late in the game? Be prepared to chase down a long rebound off an outside shot. Is your team emphasizing getting shot attempts from the low post? Rebounds are likely to end up within a close proximity to the basket opposite of the post man. If you're able to learn how to anticipate a shot before it happens you're much more likely to get the jump on an offensive rebound.

Was the shooter balanced? - One of the essentials to getting an offensive rebound is to read the ball as it comes out of the shooters hand. An additional component to this is reading the balance of the shooter as they step into the shot. A shooter stepping in off a pass into a shot is likely to be balanced and put up a quality shot. The opposite is true if someone is on a fast break and does not properly slow down and control themselves when trying to release a shot attempt. Notice what direction their momentum is taking them as that will have an affect on the trajectory of the ball. A player shooting a fade away shot is more likely to come up short and hit front rim while a player going forward shooting a floater is more likely to hit back rim. A player fading left or right will most likely miss in the same direction they are fading. Take notice of the body momentum of a player shooting when anticipating the arc and distance of the shot.

High arc or low arc? - Arc is going to significantly effect how a shot comes off the rim and it's likelihood of going in. The height and angle of every persons shot is going to differ but those with a flat shot with very little arc are going to be more likely to miss off the front rim/back rim. Having a more flat arc narrows the angle at which a shot is going to go in the hoop.

Where was the shot taken? - The place on the floor where the shot was released from will allow you to recognize where the ball is most likely to go off the rim on a miss as you saw previously with the shot angle analysis.

Fill a Rebounding Area

Filling open space is key to being a good offensive rebounder. When the shots goes up you as an offensive player have a distinct advantage of being able to see the shot in front of you as compared to having the shot come from behind you because as a defensive player you eventually have to turn to the basket. As the shot leaves the hand of the shooter, you want to crash to open space near where you anticipate the rebound is most likely to go. You're often better off crashing to open space on the floor near the basket rather than diving into a group of players where it will be tough to secure the ball if it comes your way.

South shore Basketball Club