Rebounding (or "Why Obie is Smarter Than Everyone Else")

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Come on guys, clearly rebounding doesn't really matter that much. Never mind Red Auerbach, Pat Riley, Jack Ramsay, Larry Brown, Phil Jackson... those guys had it all wrong. Remember when Riley told his Lakers "no rebounds, no rings" during the 1985 Finals? Remember that? That's a myth, like Ainge biting Tree Rollins. What he really said was "no defensive field goal percentage under 40 percent, no rings." The headline writers didn't like that one, so they just substituted rebounds in there to make it shorter. 

I mean, rebounding clearly doesn't matter. Just look at last night. Walter played 46 minutes at power forward. He had to play that much, because of his defense. And Mark Blount, too. If Brandon Hunter had been in there, some schmo like Udonis Haslem might have burned us for 18 points and 17 rebounds on something like 9-for-12 shooting. Thankfully, we have stoppers like Walter and Blount to handle those things. When you can play defense like that so Udonis Haslem is limited to just 18 points and 17 rebounds, who cares about rebounding? Walter McBlount forced him to miss three shots, didn't he? And I bet McBlount had a whole handful of deflections. Deflections are more important than rebounding, too. In fact, Riley actually told the '85 Lakers, "no defensive field goal percentage under 40 percent and no deflections, no rings." That's what he really said.

It's all part of this huge misconception about basketball. The uneducated think offense is half the game. They think putting the ball in the basket is important. They think shots close to the basket have a better chance of going in than shots far from the basket. They think moving without the ball makes a player more likely to get open for an uncontested shot. They think an offensive possession is more than "chuck it up there before we have a chance to turn it over." They think occasional rebounds of missed shots create good scoring opportunities close to the basket. They think getting three players back to defend against a fast break should be enough. 

Thankfully, Obie knows better. He knows that three is worth more than two, so clearly, three-point shots are better than two-point shots. He knows that offense isn't about moving or passing, it's about getting your best player the ball far from the basket, where he's least dangerous, and asking him to do something he can't do - create offense for four guys standing around watching. He knows that offensive rebounding is overrated and the most important part of offense is being in position to get back on defense. 

But the players love the guy. That was enough for Grady Little, right?

Mark