I was watching two college teams play the other night and during a span of time in the second half the underdog team outscored the higher rated team something like 32-6. If you watch many high school or college games, there often seems to be a scoring drought of some duration during the first or second half of the game. Why do these droughts occur? The opponent's defense plays a part. Poor shot selection and poor rebounding can also contribute to the decrease in scoring.
I have long believed one of the cures for scoring droughts is offensive rebounding. Can you develop a system to increase the likelihood of being more efficient at this aspect of the game? Yes you can, although I must admit I see a fair number of coaches who seem to spend very little, if any time on improving this area. Most nights in high school, you will not make more than 30-35% of your three point attempts and make no more than 40-50% of two point attempts. You can do the math, but you are looking at almost every time you play at missing well over half the field goals you attempt. Now if this train of thought doesn't affect how you view
offensive rebounding, I doubt if anything will!
One of the truths about rebounding, especially when it's offensive rebounding, is the randomness of it all. I am not a gambler, but I still want to increase my odds if I can. Studies have shown where the majority of shots will rebound to when shot from different locations on the floor. I was never accused of being the sharpest pencil in the box but I can figure out where potential offensive rebounders should locate themselves when a shot is taken.
Most coaches try to create a triangle with their players when a shot is taken. One player on each side of the rim and a third between them. Another coach I highly respected believed you wanted two players opposite the shot and especially if you were playing against a zone you wanted to create a situation where 1 defensive player was forced to rebound against two offensive players.
I have to admit I never tried to chart where our players missed when they shot but I do believe the truly great offensive rebounds almost instinctively know where their team mate's shots will rebound to if the shot is missed.
There are some techniques which can be taught that will help some of your players increase their offensive rebounding proficiency. Some are teachable and some are not. Some examples to consider teaching:
a) Don't run into the back of the man assigned to block you out. Hit, spin,
fake and go but make an effort to evade the block out.
b) Move into areas where the ball is most likely to rebound towards. Hard to
believe but if you watch your team's video you will probably be "shocked"
how often your players don't even move towards the right areas.
c) Use the Moses Malone move. When a shot goes up slide along the
baseline. Get inside your defender then create space by backing them
out.
d) If you are ball side when a shot goes up, see if you can go underneath the
rim and move inside defenders on the weak side.
e) Tip a rebound if you cannot control it. Keep the ball alive. If you can't
control it, give your teammates a chance.
f) Long shots often result in long rebounds
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