If You Say It Long Enough ...

does it make it true? I have been involved with a number of social institutions that had written "mission" statements. There certainly nothing

wrong with having these statements. What I question is the application of

those statements. Just because we have them does not mean we actually

practice them. I think advertising people are experts at trying to repeat something that is true or not. If they (ad executives) repeat it long enough and often enough we begin to accept it.

If I was going to apply this to your basketball team, I hear coaches talk about how hard their teams play or how they emphasize the defensive end of the floor or how they take pride in their ability to communication

etc. etc. Yet if you viewed their practices/games you might observe something else. (If you say something long enough and often enough,

you may believe it is true.)

One of those sayings coaches like to talk about is we ALWAYS send three players to the offensive board! I think the Lou Holtz quote may apply at this point .... "When all is said and done, more is said than done!"

If I could do it all again, I would watch my words more closely and find a way to assess what I believe is actually happening. Now it is very difficult to break down video of the game because most of us have to go back into the classroom the next day and for some odd reason we need our sleep. So to accurately evaluate and analyze our games takes time something we tend to be in short supply of especially during the season. This assessment might be a worthwhile exercise to consider after the season is over.

"Who's leading in this dance?"

I have some information to share that is relevant I believe to all coaches concerning an aspect of the game they may be largely either ignoring or at the very least taking for granted. How many player are you sending, allowing/encouraging to go to the board on the offensive end of the floor? You have five choices. I came upon some interesting information I want to share. This may or may not influence your rebounding strategy. Like so many aspects of the game I don't think there is a singular correct answer. YOU have to decide how many players you want to rebound on the offensive end of the floor and how many you want to recover to protect against transition. At the NBA level it appears to me the philosophy is to send 1 or even 0 players to the offensive glass and everyone else gets back (well sort of) in transition. College programs differ. Some send 3 players to the offensive board and 2 are assigned defensive responsibilities. Some may even send 4 to the offensive glass and keep one player back for defensive protection. Just remember, is

what you want to happen actually happening? When the shot goes up on

the offensive end of the floor, how many of your players are pursuers and

how many are statues? I may not be the sharpest pencil in the box but it

seems to me when the shot goes up you have two choices; move into

position to pursue the possible rebound or get back on defense.

For you analytical types this information will make you "giddy." The information below was compiled by Dave Klatsky an assistant coach at

Colgate University. Coach Klatsky did a self study on the Colgate team.

He considered the following in his study:

1. What kind of shot was taken 2. How many players crashed 3. Did they rebound, and if so did they score. 4. If they did not rebound, did the opponent get a transition opportunity, and lastly, 5) did they score off that transition opportunity.

TABLE ONE

Poss. Orebs. Score Oreb% PPP Otran% OPPP

0 crashers 61 0 0 0.0% 0.000 49.2% 1.433

1 crasher 209 54 50 25.8%. 0.926. 33.5%. 0.900

2 crashers 211 83 85 39.3% 1.024 29.4%. 0.935

3 crashers 65 32 39 49.2%. 1.219 29.2% 0.632

4 crashers 10 4 6 40.0% 1.500 50.0% 0.000

Interpretation of Results:

a) The more players sent to the board, the more rebounds were secured.

b) Points per possession increased, the more people who crashed the

boards.

c) Revealing that in this study 270 shots taken that had either none or 1

crasher. (Should be a concern if this is your team.)

TABLE TWO

This study is based on where the shot was taken from:

Poss. Oreb. Score Oreb% PPP Otran% OPPP

At the Rim 234 67 76 28.6%. 1.134 39.3% 1.054

Mid-Range 44 11 9 25.0% 0.818 27.3% 0.917

3 Pt. Attempt 279 95 95 34.1% 1.000 29.4%. 0.829

Interpretation of Results:

a) 3 Point Shot resulted in the most offensive rebounds

b) Resulted in the highest offensive rebound percentage

c) Fairly low offensive transition percentage & lowest offensive points per

possession

I realize this study comes from a division one program but the real take away from this blog is the hope you will look at how many players you are

actually sending to the offensive board on each possession. Some coaches

don't want to send more than three players to the glass for fear of giving up

transition points but the data suggests otherwise. Consider at your own risk!

I am not proud of the fact that I far to often neglected to evaluate what was

actually happening on the offensive end of the boards in the area of offensive rebounding. On each shot attempt how many players actually

pursue the rebound? I have a feeling on many shot attempts we have players in the limbo zone. Not retreated or heading back on defense and

not taking steps towards the rebound but rather standing and observing.