4 ms·

How Rebounds Work

69 points by ritchiea 12y ago

cujo 12y ago
I usually enjoy reading these "advanced metrics" findings in the basketball realm, but this one isn't much. I guess it allows for these pictures to be printed out and hung up somewhere, but anyone who has played basketball competitively knows this as an instinct. Heck, I imagine most people who simply take a hard look at the angles can intuit this.
photosite 12y ago
I can't think of anyone more highly attuned to the instinct part of this than Dennis Rodman.
- harryh 12y ago
  The best 3rd best player ever: http://skepticalsports.com/?p=112 http://skepticalsports.com/?p=112
- shakesbeard 12y ago
  "We were standing in the lay-up line, warming up and shooting, and Rodman was standing back and watching everybody shoot. I said, ‘Hey, come on, you have to participate; everybody’s shooting lay-ups, you have to shoot lay-ups, too.’ And he said, ‘I’m just watching the rotations on the basketball.’ I said, ‘Excuse me?’ He said, ‘Like, when you shoot, your ball spins three times in the air. Joe’s sometimes has 3 1/2 or four times.’ That’s how far Rodman had taken rebounding, to a totally different level, like off the charts. He knew the rotation of every person that shot on our team — if it spins sideways, where it would bounce, how often it would bounce left or right. He had rebounding down to a science, and I never heard anyone think or talk about rebounding and defense the way he could break it down." Isiah Thomas on Dennis Rodman's rebounding. http://www.businessinsider.com/dennis-rodman-basketball-genius-2014-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/dennis-rodman-basketball-geni...
  - GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
    The common narration is that players like Rodman have "instinct" instead of "smarts". I'll leave it unsaid as to why this is.
    - agumonkey 12y ago
      When you pay attention to data that much, it's a science just like any other kind right ?
Jonovono 12y ago
Another cool basketball article: http://grantland.com/features/expected-value-possession-nba-analytics/ http://grantland.com/features/expected-value-possession-nba-...
clairity 12y ago
goldsberry says that randomness in rebounding is one of the things that keeps basketball interesting in the era of advanced analytics. but as a player, there's not much to it. of course it helps if you're tall, but if you're diligent about boxing out and go after the ball, you'll get rebounds. you don't need to over-think the randomness since it will average out over a game. and if your teammates are doing their jobs boxing out, your team should have favorable chances of getting rebounds just through floor coverage alone. ps - http://www.secondspectrum.com http://www.secondspectrum.com is doing some really cool visualization of sportsvu data from the nba.
inzax 12y ago
As shown on https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hacker-News/1558365107716690 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hacker-News/1558365107716690
misterbwong 12y ago
I'd be curious about the results when taking fatigue into consideration. Seems like a person shooting in the 4th on tired legs is more likely either shoot short or over shoot by a larger margin due to their fatigue affecting fine motor skills.
mozboz 12y ago
Clicked expecting relationship advice. Stayed to learn about basketball.
slashnull 12y ago
The rebound visualizer widget is the illest thing http://grantland.com/wp-content/themes/vip/espn-grantland/assets/rebounds/index.html http://grantland.com/wp-content/themes/vip/espn-grantland/as... Edit: damn, I need to git gud with D3
bmoresbest55 12y ago
As a competitive basketball player at center(the biggest player, typically) I can attest to more than the occasional randomness of rebounding. The main goal is keeping your man, on offense or defense, from getting the ball. Then worry about rebounding the ball, yourself.

69 points by ritchiea 12y ago

cujo 12y ago

I usually enjoy reading these "advanced metrics" findings in the basketball realm, but this one isn't much. I guess it allows for these pictures to be printed out and hung up somewhere, but anyone who has played basketball competitively knows this as an instinct. Heck, I imagine most people who simply take a hard look at the angles can intuit this.

photosite 12y ago

I can't think of anyone more highly attuned to the instinct part of this than Dennis Rodman.

harryh 12y ago
The best 3rd best player ever: http://skepticalsports.com/?p=112 http://skepticalsports.com/?p=112
shakesbeard 12y ago
"We were standing in the lay-up line, warming up and shooting, and Rodman was standing back and watching everybody shoot. I said, ‘Hey, come on, you have to participate; everybody’s shooting lay-ups, you have to shoot lay-ups, too.’ And he said, ‘I’m just watching the rotations on the basketball.’ I said, ‘Excuse me?’ He said, ‘Like, when you shoot, your ball spins three times in the air. Joe’s sometimes has 3 1/2 or four times.’ That’s how far Rodman had taken rebounding, to a totally different level, like off the charts. He knew the rotation of every person that shot on our team — if it spins sideways, where it would bounce, how often it would bounce left or right. He had rebounding down to a science, and I never heard anyone think or talk about rebounding and defense the way he could break it down." Isiah Thomas on Dennis Rodman's rebounding. http://www.businessinsider.com/dennis-rodman-basketball-genius-2014-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/dennis-rodman-basketball-geni...
- GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
  The common narration is that players like Rodman have "instinct" instead of "smarts". I'll leave it unsaid as to why this is.
  - agumonkey 12y ago
    When you pay attention to data that much, it's a science just like any other kind right ?

Jonovono 12y ago

Another cool basketball article: http://grantland.com/features/expected-value-possession-nba-analytics/ http://grantland.com/features/expected-value-possession-nba-...

clairity 12y ago

goldsberry says that randomness in rebounding is one of the things that keeps basketball interesting in the era of advanced analytics. but as a player, there's not much to it. of course it helps if you're tall, but if you're diligent about boxing out and go after the ball, you'll get rebounds. you don't need to over-think the randomness since it will average out over a game. and if your teammates are doing their jobs boxing out, your team should have favorable chances of getting rebounds just through floor coverage alone. ps - http://www.secondspectrum.com http://www.secondspectrum.com is doing some really cool visualization of sportsvu data from the nba.

inzax 12y ago

As shown on https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hacker-News/1558365107716690 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hacker-News/1558365107716690

misterbwong 12y ago

I'd be curious about the results when taking fatigue into consideration. Seems like a person shooting in the 4th on tired legs is more likely either shoot short or over shoot by a larger margin due to their fatigue affecting fine motor skills.

mozboz 12y ago

Clicked expecting relationship advice. Stayed to learn about basketball.

slashnull 12y ago

The rebound visualizer widget is the illest thing http://grantland.com/wp-content/themes/vip/espn-grantland/assets/rebounds/index.html http://grantland.com/wp-content/themes/vip/espn-grantland/as... Edit: damn, I need to git gud with D3

bmoresbest55 12y ago

As a competitive basketball player at center(the biggest player, typically) I can attest to more than the occasional randomness of rebounding. The main goal is keeping your man, on offense or defense, from getting the ball. Then worry about rebounding the ball, yourself.