NB's Fingertip Rebounding

[dualskeptic]

I think Natalie loses rebounds because she often does not leave her feet, reaching for the ball with her finger tips instead. I noticed a couple of examples of this in tonight's Houston game. If she were to jump when necessary in going after a rebound, she could be a more powerful rebounder. What am I missing?

 

[Goodgood]

I think her left hand is not 100% and it shows. She did not catch the ball very well and got tied up a couple times because of her injury. No, she did not jump like Kiah or Gabby, more like Courtney.

 

[Kaizen]

She has 8 rebs and 4 stls tonight, but not great in offense rebounds. Butler is doing great job to stop Gilbert in second half.

 

[Goodgood]

She has 8 rebs and 4 stls tonight, but not great in offense rebounds. Butler is doing great job to stop Gilbert in second half.

She didn't look rusty at all. Always knew where she should be, ran at full speed, made some great passes. Nice, soft touches. She exceeded what I was hoping for at this stage.

 

[CocoHusky]

I think Natalie loses rebounds because she often does not leave her feet, reaching for the ball with her finger tips instead. I noticed a couple of examples of this in tonight's Houston game. If she were to jump when necessary in going after a rebound, she could be a more powerful rebounder. What am I missing?

You are not missing anything. She is a 6'5" positional rebounder. At that size even without great leaping ability she will snag quite a few rebounds.

 

[dualskeptic]

You are not missing anything. She is a 6'5" positional rebounder. At that size even without great leaping ability she will snag quite a few rebounds.

My point is that she could get more if she were a "positional rebounder" who jumped. Does it take "leaping ability" to leave the floor?

 

[Carnac]

My point is that she could get more if she were a "positional rebounder" who jumped. Does it take "leaping ability" to leave the floor?

Mr Skeptic, It's a wise man who knows when to leave something alone. Let's leave this alone for now, and revisit it in a month or so after her injury has had more time to fully heal, and she has become more comfortable playing again on a regular basis. If there's an issue with her rebounding technic, I'm sure Geno and staff will bring it to her attention.

I join Goodgood in his assessment that she's going better than I expected at this point. You know she's working her tail off trying to fit in and blend into the team's fabric, and do whatever she can to help the team win. She's only played in 3 games thus far. Let's give her a few more games before we begin to "knit-pick" her performance.

 

[dualskeptic]

Impatience is one of my faults, Mr. Carnac. Natalie is probably under a lot of pressure, and I agree with what you've thoughtfully said.

 

[todbo]

Tough to teach a big big to leave the floor. At 6'5" Natalie has probably never HAD to jump, in high school or college. After a season or so of urging from Geno and crew, she'll be elevating as she should--and she'll be simply amazing.

 

[UC10NN]

Tough to teach a big big to leave the floor. At 6'5" Natalie has probably never HAD to jump, in high school or college. After a season or so of urging from Geno and crew, she'll be elevating as she should--and she'll be simply amazing.

Same can be said of KLS. Don't get me wrong, I am routing for her but it's only recently that she has been leaving the floor for a rebound. It does not seem natural for her to go all out for a rebound.

 

[AndyCT]

My point is that she could get more if she were a "positional rebounder" who jumped. Does it take "leaping ability" to leave the floor?

Yes, it does. Not all players have the same "hops".

A couple of years ago - you might not remember - UConn had a center named Stefanie Dolson. She was the same height as Natalie and had about the same vertical jump - i.e. none. During Stefanie's senior season, as the team's All-American center, when it came time for the opening tip the shorter Breanna Stewart jumped center. Actually except maybe for Tina Charles, from Kara through Stefanie UConn has had a long and glorious history of centers that have little or no leaping ability, and in those same years they've won half the National Championships. It's going to be okay.

All Natalie needs to do is whatever she can - I'm sure the coaches were aware of her highlimitations when she transferred - and everything will work out, even if like Larry Bird she never leaves the ground...

 

[donalddoowop]

I watched the Houston game again. Butler jumps for some rebounds. She does not jump to block shots. Butler will be , barring injury, a very good player. Being surrounded with high level talent she will, imo, excel in scoring, rebounding, and passing.