The world is not fair to rebounders. If a player cleans the glass, the skill is often attributed to his "athleticism" and nothing more. For whatever reason, shooting is considered a skill, while rebounding is considered a trait. Actually, shooting is the only acknowledged "skill" in basketball. Most of the other stuff gets chalked up as reflex, I suppose.
Dwight Howard suffers from this misconception as it is assumed that he is the league's best rebounder because of his innate size and strength. Since he's "a physical specimen" as they call it, there's little appreciation for his nuanced abilities.
Howard's best tactic is that he combines his physical prowess with guile. When an opponent boxes him out, Dwight likes to tap said opponent on the shoulder, as he slithers to the opposite side.
Perhaps you might recall this tactic from your childhood days. Tap a friend on the left shoulder. As he whips his head around to that side, swoop to his right and take his chicken nugget.
It might not be the most "mature" strategy in the universe, but it is clever. Opponents box out wherever they feel contact. When Dwight ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Ethan Sherwood Strauss
How NBA Rebounding Technique Is so Much More Than Athleticism
November 20th, 2012 by Ethan Sherwood Strauss Leave a reply »
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