UConn's Rebounding Guards

[oldude]

So often NCAA tournament games turn on rebounding; holding a team to one shot only or securing an extra offensive possession can be the difference between winning and losing in March. UConn lost a ton of rebounds off last year’s team. Z, Gabby and Kia were all exceptional rebounders, accounting for over 18 rpg, almost half of UConn’s total last season.

So far in the tournament Pheesa has been Pheesa, and Megan has really stepped up her work on the boards, but the rebounding Samuelson has been slowed by back problems. While Liv has provided some good minutes off the bench, she’s not quite strong enough yet to be the dominant rebounding force we expect her to become. Faced with some formidable rebounding opponents, UConn has found a somewhat unexpected cache of rebounds from their two guards.

Against UCLA, one of the best and most athletic rebounding teams in the country, UConn lost the rebounding battle by only 3. Crystal grabbed a couple and Christyn pulled down 4 rb’s including 3 on offense. Against Louisville, the two guards were even more prolific on the boards. Crystal had 5 rb’s including 1 on offense. Christyn did absolutely tremendous work off the glass with 7 rebounds including 4 on offense, and the Huskies won the rebounding battle by 6.

Crystal tends to chase down long rebounds with her explosive quickness. Christyn, on the other hand, has been an absolute revelation by crashing the boards amongst the trees and coming down with rebound after rebound that she has no earthly right to secure over big front court players, and yet she does it again and again.

Heading into tomorrow’s matchup with ND and their two talented Bigs, and then potentially one more matchup with Baylor’s twin towers, should both teams advance, it will continue to be all hands on deck for UConn when it comes to rebounding. In pursuit of a 12th banner, UConn’s rebounding guards might just be the difference.

 

[msf22b]

No doubt olddude, Christyn's rebounding has been a revelation.
Some kids just have an inner sense just where the ball is going...she seems to be one of them.
And remember, she's not small at 5' 11'' or so.
A tough rebounding guard....just what the doctor ordered. Also handles the ball more...

 

[warbler1055]

Guards play will be crucial but no more important than Lou and Pheesa performance and ability to rebound and score!!! Just hope that we will play our A game.

 

[JoePgh]

Against UCLA, one of the best and most athletic rebounding teams in the country, UConn lost the rebounding battle by only 3.

Given that UCLA was shooting at a much lower percentage than UConn (and thus providing more defensive rebounding opportunities for UConn), this statistic is deceptive. I think a better measure of rebounding success is how many offensive rebounds they allow their opponent to get. As I recall without checking the box score, UCLA got 18 or 19 offensive rebounds in that game, which is a dismal performance for UConn's rebounders. Most of the time, allowing the other team more than 10 to 12 O-bounds leads to trouble. Allowing 18 or 19 is just bad.

I think UConn will be able to rebound adequately against either Notre Dame or Oregon, but for obvious reasons, I think they are going to be "up against it" in that department if they play Baylor. To win that game, they will need to rely on pace and mobility (and obviously efficient first-shot success in their offense), and get transition scoring whenever they do get a defensive rebound.

 

[oldude]

Given that UCLA was shooting at a much lower percentage than UConn (and thus providing more defensive rebounding opportunities for UConn), this statistic is deceptive. I think a better measure of rebounding success is how many offensive rebounds they allow their opponent to get. As I recall without checking the box score, UCLA got 18 or 19 offensive rebounds in that game, which is a dismal performance for UConn's rebounders. Most of the time, allowing the other team more than 10 to 12 O-bounds leads to trouble. Allowing 18 or 19 is just bad.

I think UConn will be able to rebound adequately against either Notre Dame or Oregon, but for obvious reasons, I think they are going to be "up against it" in that department if they play Baylor. To win that game, they will need to rely on pace and mobility (and obviously efficient first-shot success in their offense), and get transition scoring whenever they do get a defensive rebound.

OK, but another factor was UCLA’s poor shooting %. They had many more opportunities for offensive rebounds simply by missing so many shots.

UCLA shot a terrible 31% for the game and 27% from 3. They missed 16 shots from the arc, with many of those shots resulting in long rebounds.

 

[MilfordHusky]

We have Squeaks and they don't. I think she'll be a surprise.