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Two Offensive Rebounds Helps The Bucks Win

April 29th, 2010 Sebastian Pruiti Leave a comment Go to comments

The Hawks had a big lead last night, and they saw it disappear in part of the Bucks’ hustle and the Hawks’ lack of it. This really showed when it comes to offensive rebounding. The Bucks got themselves two key rebounds and it really gave the Bucks a big lift, propelling them to a lead late in the fourth quarter.

As Brandon Jennings sets up to shoot his second foul shot, you want to pay attention to Josh Smith and Ersan Ilyasova who are on the right side of the lane.

As the shot goes up, Smith has himself in very good position, boxing him out and keeping him out of the lane.

However, as the ball comes off the rim, Josh Smith gets tall and gives up on his box out. I think the reason he did this is he went to go for the rebound instead of holding the box-out. I think everything learned in high-school that you don’t rely on your athleticism to box-out and get a rebound. You hold the box-out and grab the rebound when it comes to you.

Because Josh got lazy, Ersan Ilyasova is able to chase down the rebound as it rolls to the corner. The ball then gets swung around and John Salmons gets to the line where he gets both of them. That is a 4 point swing because if the Hawks would have gotten the rebound and scored, they would have been up by 5. Now, they are only up by 1. Here it is in real time.

On this second offensive rebound, you have Brandon Jennings coming off of a Kurt Thomas screen. The Hawk to pay attention to here is Jamal Crawford.

As Thomas spots up (instead of rolling to the basket) Jamal Crawford gets sucked towards Thomas. This clears a lane for Ersan Ilyasova and he takes advantage by diving right to the basket.

Now as the shot goes up, you can see all of the Hawks’ players just watching the basketball instead of boxing out. Ersan Ilyasova continues to the rim untouched.

As the ball comes off the rim, Ilyasova gets to the ball first and kicks it out to Carlos Delfino.

To compound the error, nobody closes out hard on Delfino, and he is able to knock down the three pointer. This time, this offensive rebound created a 5 point swing, because instead of the Hawks coming down, scoring, and taking the lead, they fall behind by 4 points. Here is the play in real time.

Categories: 2010 Playoffs, 4th Quarters, Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks Tags:

Lynn

This is a bit off topic, but my thoughts on Jennings free throw when I first saw it, was that it would be the best way to intentionally miss a free throw. In those rare occurences where teams are in desparation mode or wanting to run out the clock at the end of the game, they mostly intentionally miss off the backboard. But a well placed shot off the side of the rim would be more effective, especially if a player was placed along the baseline to that side.

Just a thought.
james

that ft miss from jennings is UGLY
RAy1981

^ My thoughts exactly
Kamron

Hawks gave up a chance for getting 2 points while allowing the Bucks to get 2 points. That is a 4 point swing right there.

That is a chance at a 4 point, or even a 5 point swing. But it's not like this error alone cost the Hawks 4 points- this error plus a hypothetical successful offensive sequence and an actual bad defensive sequence costs the Hawks 4 points.
It matters a lot at the end of games eg down 2, you miss a defensive rebound, you miss a chance to tie & give the other team a chance to extend the lead. But, as I said, NBA teams average about a point per possession- if we want to put a real value on missing a box-out, it's about 1 point (unless they get an easy putback etc from the offensive board).

Or, to look at it another way- if the Bucks hadn't scored off of the offensive rebound, it wouldn't mean that Smith should be forgiven. It shouldn't matter either way- he screwed up and maybe gave the Bucks an extra possession at a critical juncture. What they do with that possession doesn't make the mistake any better or any worse.

Sure it was a tough bounce, but if Josh Smith is in a more athletic position, rather than being flatfooted, he could probably have gotten a better jump on the basketball.

Ok, I see what you're saying now- not that he didn't box out to keep Ilyasova away from the ball, but I watched it again and yeah, the carom is so low that he might have had a jump at it if he wasn't flatfooted and had his hands up. But it went by pretty quickly, it'd have been a heck of a play to grab that (or a very good anticipation).
I guess it's not so much that Smith should've made that play for sure, but that he just wasn't playing with the focus that you'd expect from the end of a game 5, standing up and watching the ball go by rather than being in position to make something happen.
zenartiste

I hear what you're saying about the first sequence but think your point a bit subjective. Yes, Josh could have, should have, held the box out. Yet that may not have helped him. Ersan would have been on his back and therefore closer to the bouncing corner ball (which is what happened anyway).

As for Crawford, I agree with the Kamron. And more. If you watch it again, he wasn't even sucked in towards Thomas' spot up. He simply checked out and floated to no man's land while watching the play unfold before him. Sheesh, would someone get him a beer and popcorn (or whatever delicacy they serve in Atlanta's arena)? Wake him when it's time to jack another jumper? One would hope that being the longest tenured without a playoff game would equate to intense effort at this point of the game and not a deer in the headlights reaction. Apparently not.
Kamron

btw, I know most of my comments are negative, but I love the site & what you're doing here. What can I say, a screwed-up childhood leads me to express positive emotions via criticism. :)
Kamron

Wrong on the first one- Smith could've put The Box-Out Of The Century on Ilyasova and that still won't do much stop him from chasing down a long rebound in the corner. If he's forced to lean in against the box-out it'll slow him a little bit, but no one gets blamed when the ball bounces into the corner like this.
On the second one- it's painful to watch Crawford shuffling back and forth between his feet- he's not even in a stance ready to move, he's just f&^$ing waiting around for this whole defense BS to get overwith so he can take some more shots. Even when Delfino shoots, his man goes right past him to the rim for the board while he's just gawking at the play. He puts an arm out half-heartedly, touching his man as he goes by. Pathetic.
He has always been a 'good' player on a bad team, and apparently nothing has changed.

Also, please don't call an offensive rebound a "4 point swing" based on Atlanta hypothetically scoring on the other end. Why not call it a 6 point swing, the Hawks could've hit a 3 and got fouled? Possession is worth about a point all things considered.
Sebastian Pruiti

Sure it was a tough bounce, but if Josh Smith is in a more athletic position, rather than being flatfooted, he could probably have gotten a better jump on the basketball. As for the swings you can call it a 4 point swing because the Hawks gave up a chance for getting 2 points while allowing the Bucks to get 2 points. That is a 4 point swing right there.