Advice to Ollie: win the boards, win the game

[deedougie]

Since the Wichita State game until last night one stat has been good to determine whether UConn will win or lose a game.

Rebounding.

“The inconsistency with the rebounding is alarming, and it’s bad,” said Ollie. “We’ve got to do better.”

Is it really inconsistency? Actually the stats are very consistent about UConn's chances for a victory is if they win or lose the rebounding battle.

Here is the team's rebounding +/- since the Wichita State game and result in ()

v. Wichita St. -13 (L)
v. Tulsa -8 (L)
v. ECU +4 (W)
v. UCF +2 (W)
v. Tulane +9 (W)
v. Memphis -15 (L)
v. Villanova -16 (L)
v. SMU (tied) (W)
v. Temple -1 (L)
v. UCF -12 (L)
v. Cincy -5 (L)
v. USF -9 (L)

The only outlier is the USF game, where they won the battle but we all know that UConn almost blew that game cause they couldn't board and USF is even worse that UConn.

So my two cents of advice for Ollie to finish above .500 this season?

"Get your players to box out and grab the damn ball."

 

[Husk1881]

Diarra is our best option for getting boards. I dont know how he gets so little playing time. He has great positioning and an incredible reach. I get that he fouls a lot but DO does just as much and is half the talent. If your game plan is going to be to pick and roll along with shoot poorly behind the arch, might as well stack the paint with the best rebounders and hopefully give your guards a second shot.

 

[Lefty2one]

Doesn't help when we have a bunch of freshman in the frontcourt (who all need to get a lot stronger) along with an Ivy league transfer who should never see the floor. And to top it off, it doesn't help that KO favors Onuorah and his 1 reb in 17 minutes vs Carlton and his six boards in 13 minutes. At the same time, I'm certain KO has never put this team through a boxout drill. We make NBA teams look like elite box-outers.

 

[WrenchFan69]

While I'm almost certain he's already seen this post, I think you should both email and tweet it at him as well. He really should know better than this.

 

[gtcam]

Since the Wichita State game until last night one stat has been good to determine whether UConn will win or lose a game.

Rebounding.

“The inconsistency with the rebounding is alarming, and it’s bad,” said Ollie. “We’ve got to do better.”

Is it really inconsistency? Actually the stats are very consistent about UConn's chances for a victory is if they win or lose the rebounding battle.

Here is the team's rebounding +/- since the Wichita State game and result in ()

v. Wichita St. -13 (L)
v. Tulsa -8 (L)
v. ECU +4 (W)
v. UCF +2 (W)
v. Tulane +9 (W)
v. Memphis -15 (L)
v. Villanova -16 (L)
v. SMU (tied) (W)
v. Temple -1 (L)
v. UCF -12 (L)
v. Cincy -5 (L)
v. USF -9 (L)

The only outlier is the USF game, where they won the battle but we all know that UConn almost blew that game cause they couldn't board and USF is even worse that UConn.

So my two cents of advice for Ollie to finish above .500 this season?

"Get your players to box out and grab the damn ball."

Thanks for the stats
So yeah, to answer your question it is definitely, as KO said, inconsistency. If UConn consistently outrebounds the other team, they win. Rebound is an action of being consistant - in positioning, sighting ball flight angles, keeping hands up etc

 

[jibsey]

Our offensive rebounding is bad. We usually get 1 shot

 

[Greathusky]

Give Williams a shot. The kid does not serve another DNP considering the non talent we are putting out there on the floor.

 

[jbdphi]

I didn't realize if we were only able to get more rebound against Temple then we could have won the game!

There are other metrics that matter (i.e. shooting %, turnovers, etc). There is no single metric to fix this team.

 

[whaler11]

Since the Wichita State game until last night one stat has been good to determine whether UConn will win or lose a game.

Rebounding.

“The inconsistency with the rebounding is alarming, and it’s bad,” said Ollie. “We’ve got to do better.”

Is it really inconsistency? Actually the stats are very consistent about UConn's chances for a victory is if they win or lose the rebounding battle.

Here is the team's rebounding +/- since the Wichita State game and result in ()

v. Wichita St. -13 (L)
v. Tulsa -8 (L)
v. ECU +4 (W)
v. UCF +2 (W)
v. Tulane +9 (W)
v. Memphis -15 (L)
v. Villanova -16 (L)
v. SMU (tied) (W)
v. Temple -1 (L)
v. UCF -12 (L)
v. Cincy -5 (L)
v. USF -9 (L)

The only outlier is the USF game, where they won the battle but we all know that UConn almost blew that game cause they couldn't board and USF is even worse that UConn.

So my two cents of advice for Ollie to finish above .500 this season?

"Get your players to box out and grab the damn ball."

You do realize you win the raw rebounding stats when the other team misses a lot of shots...

Rebounding percentages are a much better measure of the quality of your team’s rebounding performance.

 

[UConnDan97]

Diarra is our best option for getting boards. I dont know how he gets so little playing time. He has great positioning and an incredible reach. I get that he fouls a lot but DO does just as much and is half the talent. If your game plan is going to be to pick and roll along with shoot poorly behind the arch, might as well stack the paint with the best rebounders and hopefully give your guards a second shot.

I decided to take a look at our bigs to see what their rebounding numbers would be when corrected for 40 minutes of play. I've decided to put Cobb back into the mix since he's been re-instated. Here's what I came up with (hopefully I haven't made any errors):

Cobb - 13.9 per 40
Williams - 11.0 per 40
Carlton - 10.8 per 40
Diarra - 10.8 per 40
Onuorah - 8.7 per 40
Whaley - 6.5 per 40

I have to admit that I was a little surprised to see Whaley's numbers, since my eyes were telling me something different than what the numbers say. But the numbers are what they are.

I think everyone agrees that we should see a healthy dose of Carlton from here on. But the interesting thing is that maybe we need to see a healthy dose of Cobb and Williams to go along with Carlton...

(and to head off any boo-birds who say, "Well then why the heck hasn't Ollie played Cobb more than 9 minutes a game!"...Cobb averages 6.5 turnovers per 40, unfortunately...)

 

[mauconnfan]

Since the Wichita State game until last night one stat has been good to determine whether UConn will win or lose a game.

Rebounding.

“The inconsistency with the rebounding is alarming, and it’s bad,” said Ollie. “We’ve got to do better.”

Is it really inconsistency? Actually the stats are very consistent about UConn's chances for a victory is if they win or lose the rebounding battle.

Here is the team's rebounding +/- since the Wichita State game and result in ()

v. Wichita St. -13 (L)
v. Tulsa -8 (L)
v. ECU +4 (W)
v. UCF +2 (W)
v. Tulane +9 (W)
v. Memphis -15 (L)
v. Villanova -16 (L)
v. SMU (tied) (W)
v. Temple -1 (L)
v. UCF -12 (L)
v. Cincy -5 (L)
v. USF -9 (L)

The only outlier is the USF game, where they won the battle but we all know that UConn almost blew that game cause they couldn't board and USF is even worse that UConn.

So my two cents of advice for Ollie to finish above .500 this season?

"Get your players to box out and grab the damn ball."

Get kids who like rebounding and are more physical, add much smarter. It's effort and smarts. You can teach all you want about the concept itself but if you are not prepared for the shot to go up you're too late, but it doesn't mean you stop from trying. Watched Larrier about 5X accept he was boxed out the other night that's unacceptable. Whaley was trying to box out but he was easily pushed under the basket where rebounding is impossible. That's how Brimah lived for years, under the basket.

You want to rebound better, recruit stronger smarter kids that's how. But you are right, they need to rebound better. Our best rebounders consistently are our guards and that's never good.

 

[auror]

Appreciate your work, but rebounding margin is the worst stat in the sport and needs to never be used.

As @whaler11 said, do you know why we lose the game when we lose the rebounding margin? Because we're missing so many shots the opponent gets more chances at easier defensive rebounds and vice versa they are making more shots and we get less easy rebounds. Simple. Does not tell you how rebounding is actually affecting the game.

The stat you want is OREB% and DREB%. or total rebounding % (TRB%).

Here are the numbers for you (best 3 of each cat in bold):

Wich (L): O - .211, D - .605
@Tulsa (L): O - .224, D - .694
ECU (W): O - .400, D -.688
UCF (W): O - .280, D - .686
@Tulane (W): O - .355, D - .800
@Memphis (L): O - .273, D - .500
Villanova (L): O - .200, D - .600
SMU (W): O - .303, D - .659
@Temple (L): O -.438, D - .543
@UCF (L): O - .188, D - .625'
CIN (L): O - .243, D - .706
USF (W): O - .192, D - ..595

Average in wins:
OREB% - 0.306
DREB% - 0.6856

Average in losses:
OREB% - 0.254
DREB% - 0.610

D1 Median:
OREB% - .292
DREB% - 0.712

In short, we're an okay offensive rebounding team, and we've been above average in wins. We're a bad defensive rebounding team and have been abysmal in losses (but not great in wins, either).

 

[deedougie]

Appreciate your work, but rebounding margin is the worst stat in the sport and needs to never be used.

As @whaler11 said, do you know why we lose the game when we lose the rebounding margin? Because we're missing so many shots the opponent gets more chances at easier defensive rebounds and vice versa they are making more shots and we get less easy rebounds. Simple. Does not tell you how rebounding is actually affecting the game.

The stat you want is OREB% and DREB%. or total rebounding % (TRB%).

Here are the numbers for you (best 3 of each cat in bold):

Wich (L): O - .211, D - .605
@Tulsa (L): O - .224, D - .694
ECU (W): O - .400, D -.688
UCF (W): O - .280, D - .686
@Tulane (W): O - .355, D - .800
@Memphis (L): O - .273, D - .500
Villanova (L): O - .200, D - .600
SMU (W): O - .303, D - .659
@Temple (L): O -.438, D - .543
@UCF (L): O - .188, D - .625'
CIN (L): O - .243, D - .706
USF (W): O - .192, D - ..595

Average in wins:
OREB% - 0.306
DREB% - 0.6856

Average in losses:
OREB% - 0.254
DREB% - 0.610

D1 Median:
OREB% - .292
DREB% - 0.712

In short, we're an okay offensive rebounding team, and we've been above average in wins. We're a bad defensive rebounding team and have been abysmal in losses (but not great in wins, either).

Wow, way more impressive. Well done! Let box out and get those defensive rebounds UConn!

 

[Austin316]

Vital is leading the team in rebounds5rpg, followed by TL 5.0, JA 4.5, Carlton 4.0

I think Carlton is our best rebounder with the minutes he gets.

Diarra isn’t bad but he fouls a little too much.

DO is a bust...

Cobb is tough but I’m not sure how much he’s going to play.

 

[Chief00]

Since the Wichita State game until last night one stat has been good to determine whether UConn will win or lose a game.

Rebounding.

“The inconsistency with the rebounding is alarming, and it’s bad,” said Ollie. “We’ve got to do better.”

Is it really inconsistency? Actually the stats are very consistent about UConn's chances for a victory is if they win or lose the rebounding battle.

Here is the team's rebounding +/- since the Wichita State game and result in ()

v. Wichita St. -13 (L)
v. Tulsa -8 (L)
v. ECU +4 (W)
v. UCF +2 (W)
v. Tulane +9 (W)
v. Memphis -15 (L)
v. Villanova -16 (L)
v. SMU (tied) (W)
v. Temple -1 (L)
v. UCF -12 (L)
v. Cincy -5 (L)
v. USF -9 (L)

The only outlier is the USF game, where they won the battle but we all know that UConn almost blew that game cause they couldn't board and USF is even worse that UConn.

So my two cents of advice for Ollie to finish above .500 this season?

"Get your players to box out and grab the damn ball."

KO, my friend, this is all on the coaches/player communication. It’s basic fundamentals and heart. As much as Larry Brown is your guru now - these statistics would never ever happen more than one game in a row on a Jim Calhoun team. He is the truly great coach, who you chose not to listen to.