Hustle Plays that Matter - Offensive Rebounding

We all know that effective offensive rebounding gives you extra offensive possessions and easy scores on put backs and wide open shots on the ensuing defensive scramble. Here's three illustrations from this week of NBA basketball that prove how important the extra effort on the offensive glass pays off.

Thursday night, Bulls vs. San Antonio. The Bulls shot less than 40% for much of the game but were buoyed by numerous second chance points. A key play was the last possession of the first half, the Bulls take and miss a shot, Luol Deng outworks the San Antonio bigs and kicks it out to a wide open Kirk Hinrich who knocks down a buzzer beating 3 pointer which enables the Bulls to take the lead going into half time.

Saturday night, the Mavericks vs. the Clippers both teams playing the second of game of a back to back. Clippers down 2 possessions, Dallas ball with 2 minutes to go. Dallas misses two shots and gets both offensive rebounds allowing them to burn a minute off the clock and ice the game.

Sunday afternoon. The Orlando Magic vs. the Raptors. Orlando up 7 with just over a minute to go, miss on a shot and poke out the offensive rebound to burn 30 seconds off the clock before the Raptors are forced to foul.

Too often we get so wrapped up in defensive transition that we neglect the offensive glass and the easy points and fouls created by going to the glass hard. Send your 3, 4 and 5 men to the glass hard on each shot attempt and keep possession and get easy baskets. If you have the ball, your opponent can't score!