Does UConn Have a Serious Rebounding Problem?

[Charliebball]

In the last week or two, a consensus seems to have emerged (possibly including Geno as well as less informed talking heads) that while UConn is very good in many aspects of basketball, it is at best undistinguished and perhaps even weak in the area of rebounding. One of the local newspaper reporters who cover UConn WBB as their beat noted that despite excellent statistics on shooting percentage, 3-point production, scoring defense, and several other statistical categories, UConn's rebounding margin is about 100th in the NCAA, and other rebounding statistics are in the same mediocre range.

Yesterday's Marquette game in Milwaukee did nothing to disprove that hypothesis. Apart from the rebounding stats from yesterday's box score, it was obvious from watching (especially in the first half) that UConn was getting basically nothing on the offensive boards. Sarah Strong had one rebound in the entire game (almost unimaginable). KK was UConn's top rebounder with 6. KK, Ashlynn, Azzi, and K9 had a combined total of 14 rebounds (but just 3 offensive rebounds) while the "twin towers" of Serah and Jana had a total of 5 rebounds in 26 combined minutes, although Serah was the only UConn player with multiple offensive rebounds (she had 2!).

It's worth noting that the first UConn - Marquette game in December showed an entirely different pattern. In that game, Sarah had 7 rebounds, Serah had 6, and Jana had 7 including 6 offensive rebounds. UConn won the rebounding battle by 37-27, and won the battle for offensive boards by 16-13. Three differences are obvious: (a) the December game was in Connecticut; (b) Sarah wasn't sick; and (c) Blanca played 22 minutes and had 4 rebounds. Do these factors fully account for the difference?

UConn's poor rebounding was not seen in other games against quality opponents:

Louisville (neutral): Total rebounds 47-43 in UConn's favor; offensive rebounds 15-12 UConn
Florida State (home): Total 40-27 UConn; offensive 12-10 UConn
Ohio State (home): Total 40-31 UConn; offensive 14-9 UConn
Michigan (Mohegan): Total 47-43 UConn; offensive 15-13 Michigan
Southern Cal on road: Total 41-33 UConn; offensive 10-7 UConn
Iowa (Barclay Center): Total 34-25 Iowa; offensive 10-9 Iowa
Notre Dame (home): Total 39-24 UConn; offensive 7-2 UConn
Tennessee (home): Total 39-30 UConn; offensive 11-9 Tennessee

So UConn won the total rebounding battle against all of these major opponents except Iowa, and lost the offensive rebound margin in 4 out of 8 games, but not by a big margin in any of these games. So the rebounding performance (or lack thereof) against Marquette in Milwaukee was much worse than against any of the ranked opponents.

I don't have the answer to this puzzle, but I assume the answer lies in the three factors mentioned above. This is certainly worth watching in the next few games. But the good news is that it does not seem to be a chronic problem against quality opponents.

When your team has one of the highest shooting percentages in women's basketball, you're not going to have as many offensive rebounding opportunities.........it's the defensive rebounding that concerns me........Sarah and Blanca have the knack to always be in the right place to grab a rebound while Shade/Heckel make their mark through maximum effort.......not sure about the rest of the team......it hasn't burned them so far, but if and when UConn goes up against South Carolina, UCLA or Texas it may turn out to be a serious issue.....

 

[oldude]

Nice statistical analysis. One of the best features of this blog. Let me present an idea that I don't see much here.
Geno is going to fix this come hell or high water. Geno is Rembrandt, not Jackson Pollock. Geno IMO cares to his core about the aesthetics of the game. It goes back to why we even have athletics. Many reasons but one for sure is the beauty of the movement. It's why half the nation is enraptured with these women. It's a spectacle of beautiful basketball.
IMO Geno's heritage is of fast-break basketball, which believe it or not touches James Naismith. The "inventor" of this style, John McClendon had connections with Naismith. Black basketball in the 50's into the 60's before integration. Then Red Auerbach, Dean Smith (remember he started at Kansas). Philadelphia style basketball- Ramsey, Lynam, Westhead, Martelli, Auriemma, Staley...
Final points: you can't run if you can't rebound! One of the golden rules. Long rebounds from all of this "hoisting" of 3's that goes on (I'm disappointed in Creighton) has always been a problem. Our defense is not "packed in", we are spread out, so the ball shouldn't just be flying over our heads. I was taught to turn toward my man or any man really, make contact, turn toward the goal, and go after the ball. Offensive rebounding is purely, to attack quickly to an open spot and then react to the ball. Our guys at the moment are just running back on D. Bigs have to use leverage, quickness, and pivoting to find the open hole. Serah and Jana are not reacting to the initial box out. Serah gives up and Jana goes over the back. Gotta move. (Rodman) Guards do what Ash does, attack that open space. Can't believe I'm gunna say this, but if Sarah is outside in the offense, she's gotta sprint inside to get more 2nd shots. (don't strike me down)
IMO Geno will fix this because he cannot play the way he wants to play without rebounding. Can we draft Bill Russell?

Here’s my take on this. Geno currently has the best team in the nation, leading the nation in just about every major statistical category. But he can’t just show up at practice and say. “Nothing to work on today.” He’s got to have something to get on his team about.

For the reasons I listed, I don’t believe UConn has a rebounding problem. Could UConn get better with their rebounding? Certainly. Will Geno stop harassing his team about rebounding? Absolutely not!

 

[hoopsfan22]

I notice when they rebound the ball they tap it to the opposite team instead of grabbing it.

 

[OldVet]

I think there is a rebound problem when Strong is not on the floor and Blanca is hurt.

Serah seems to not want them bad enough because a center who is on center of the year lists should be averaging 8+ rebounds per game. Frankly, I would have benched Serah after the first few minutes at Marquette. I would have given a clear instruction and then if the same thing happened at the beginning of the third, I would have benched her again. A message needs to be sent and received on her rebounding or just bench her and play small ball for the rest of the season.

Jana is streaky with rebounds. There are games where she is all over the boards and games where she isn't.

Strong and Shade are really the only intentional rebounders we have. Everyone else seems to be well I'll take it if it comes to me but I'm not going to go out of my way to get a rebound....

Not true about Blanca and certainly not true about K9. Kayleigh averages more rebounds per 40 minutes than any other guard on the team, including Shade.

 

[FanSince17]

Here’s my take on this. Geno currently has the best team in the nation, leading the nation in just about every major statistical category. But he can’t just show up at practice and say. “Nothing to work on today.” He’s got to have something to get on his team about.

For the reasons I listed, I don’t believe UConn has a rebounding problem. Could UConn get better with their rebounding? Certainly. Will Geno stop harassing his team about rebounding? Absolutely not!

A problem for what? To win the BE, to reach a FF, to win it all? Geno IMO strives for a sort of perfection. (Who else could spend 5 years critiquing Paige, one of the most fundamentally sound players ever. Most coaches would just sit back and enjoy it) That’s what I’m saying. How close did the team come last year come to that? I’m choosing to ignore the stats and go with my 20-100 vision. They need to improve their rebounding. (More recently) Do you notice Sarah’s numbers waning?
Strategic question: when Sarah is at a wing or on top, the team gains a lot, but the team might suffer in the rebounding.
Could we be staring at TX or LSU wondering about our rebounding? UCLA? SC?
I think UConn 2026 has another level in them. Rebounding could be the ingredient.

 

[Bigboote]

Geno is Rembrandt, not Jackson Pollock.

Oh, man, that's the quip of the day! I'd love to comment on "Jackson-Pollack-style" coaches, but that would be totally inappropriate and, to be perfectly honest, in poor taste since I'm hiding behind a keyboard. But it sure would be fun.

 

[Blond D.]

When you have 2 players who are 6'4" and 6'5", with the way UCONN plays and tries to feed the post, at least ONE of them should be getting double doubles in rebounding and scoring.
One problem both Jana and Serah have are they have bad hands. Neither can handle a pass with much efficiency and they seem to enjoy bring the ball down around their waists. They also don't carve out a place to work their "magic"
Sarah doesnt have that problem. She gets in the right place at the right time and can handle a pass like shes Spiderman.

 

[oldude]

A problem for what? To win the BE, to reach a FF, to win it all? Geno IMO strives for a sort of perfection. (Who else could spend 5 years critiquing Paige, one of the most fundamentally sound players ever. Most coaches would just sit back and enjoy it) That’s what I’m saying. How close did the team come last year come to that? I’m choosing to ignore the stats and go with my 20-100 vision. They need to improve their rebounding. (More recently) Do you notice Sarah’s numbers waning?
Strategic question: when Sarah is at a wing or on top, the team gains a lot, but the team might suffer in the rebounding.
Could we be staring at TX or LSU wondering about our rebounding? UCLA? SC?
I think UConn 2026 has another level in them. Rebounding could be the ingredient.

For the reasons I outline in post # 13 of this thread, I don’t believe UConn has a rebounding problem under any of the scenarios you list. Beyond that you are saying basically the same thing I just said in post #27, that UConn can get better with their rebounding and Geno will continue to push the team to do so.

 

[oldhusky]

Geno can put a more traditional lineup on the floor and be a very good rebounding team if he chooses to, but thus far he has gone completely in the other direction. Playing small ball, traditional, or going big can be debated forever with cases to be made on both sides, but clearly Geno is knowingly sacrificing some rebounds to achieve other things by the lineup choices he makes.

It doesn't seem like any big other than Sarah has gained his confidence. What is probably still a question is what lineups he will use against teams with very talented bigs that could dominate us on the boards, or have good enough ballhandlers to handle our press.

 

[FanSince17]

Geno can put a more traditional lineup on the floor and be a very good rebounding team if he chooses to, but thus far he has gone completely in the other direction. Playing small ball, traditional, or going big can be debated forever with cases to be made on both sides, but clearly Geno is knowingly sacrificing some rebounds to achieve other things by the lineup choices he makes.

It doesn't seem like any big other than Sarah has gained his confidence. What is probably still a question is what lineups he will use against teams with very talented bigs that could dominate us on the boards, or have good enough ballhandlers to handle our press.

What the heck, we rebound better small. KK, Ash, K9 rebound. So, we’re saying opponents are getting rebounds over top us? I’d argue that we’re not in there fighting. Gotta get in there every possession, like they do every thing else every possession.

 

[UConnCat]

There certainly have been years when rebounding has been a concern. I think back to Dee’s junior and senior years when 5-10 Barb Turner was the power forward. Those years we played Tennessee in the FF and, of course, the Vols were demons on the boards. An oft-used phrase back then was “it wasn’t Tennessee’s first shot you needed to be concerned about.” Somehow, those teams always managed to grab the rebounds they needed to grab.

Do I wish this year’s team was better on the boards? Yes, I’m often frustrated by the offensive rebounds they give up. The only thing I hope for is that they’ll step up when they need to.