Brook Lopez and his rebounding.....

[Neon1]

Is Brook Lopez rebounding a coaching issue? I know that seems like a strange thing to ask, but the reason is this....

Brook Lopez EVERY TIME the opposition puts a shot up, he immediately turns his back to the basket and races to find his man to put a hand on him (think of what you do when you closing out a shooter), its not even boxing out, he's just racing out to put a hand on him.

He does this even when his man is NOT in the paint. I have 3 of his games on DVR and this is something he does almost on EVERY SINGLE SHOT.

The other times he is inexplicably out on the perimeter/mid range areas nearly face guarding his man even when they don't have the ball, and sometimes even when the ball is on the opposite side of the court, almost never not allowing his man out of his arms reach.

The other thing i noticed is how many times on his "Shows" up high, is that once he shows, he a lot of times he stays with the ballhandler instead of just "showing and going".


These seem like easy fixes, to get him out of these habits, but they are not being corrected (at least not in game), which the next logical step from there is, are these things the COACHING has instructed him to do?

I mean, his rebounding drop does coincide with Avery being there...


Have you Nets fans ever noticed this? If not, watch him close the next game once the opposing team puts up a shot. Discuss?

[624]

I've noticed it. It's frustrating because it's not like he's in position and getting physically outmatched....he just is never even around the basket when the opponent shoots.

[Neon1]

I've noticed it. It's frustrating because it's not like he's in position and getting physically outmatched....he just is never even around the basket when the opponent shoots.

Yeah, thats exactly what im trying to say here. He is never even down there, and it almost seems like thats what they want from him. I mean i see times where he is in the paint when the shot goes up and he makes a concious effort to completely ignore the ball (he doesn't even watch the flight of the ball) so he can close out on his man (what is he closing out on?), His back is COMPLETELY facing the basket.

It seems like he is being taught to not worry about getting the rebound himself at all, as long as its not HIS MAN that is getting the rebound he's okay or something.

Most bigs play almost a borderline illegal one man zone type defense...He is always within an armreach. Dwight for instance completely ignore thier man and sag into the paint unless they actually have the ball.

[NyCeEvO]

If there is any coach that I would blame Lopez' lack of rebuilding on, it would actually be Kiki Vandeweghe.

He was the last coach before Avery and he taught absolutely nothing. All of the discipline and techniques that Lawrence Frank had in place went out of the window with Kiki. He was literally telling the guys that they should just go out there and have fun. He reduced the playcalling and stopped working on fundamentals.

He liked Yi Jianlian and honestly believed he could turn him into the next international superstar big man a la Dirk Nowitzki.

Since Avery has come, he's actively tried to work on getting Brook Lopez rebound numbers up. I remember last year when he was talking to the media and he was saying that he didn't care how many points Lopez scored, if he doesn't get ten boards than it wasn't a good showing. Last year, when Avery had him intentionally focusing on getting rebounds, the rebounding numbers went up a bit. They still weren't to his liking but he couldn't do anything about it.

For me personally, it's absolutely maddening that he can't get rebounds. You cannot use the excuse that someone can do the rebounding for him. Getting rebounds is an easy thing to do and if you need to get another player (either Kris Humphries or Dwight Howard) just to compensate for how bad of a rebounder is that should tell you that something is wrong.

I feel like people are ok with Brook's rebounding numbers and are saying "that's why we have Kris Humphries".

No, having another player on the team doesn't justify a 7 foot center grabbing 3-4 rebounds a game. You shouldn't be boxing out solely so that your teammate can get the rebound. You box out so that you prevent your man from getting the ball, WHILE at the same time you have the inside track to grabbing it. The rebounding responsibility falls on both big men, not just one.

Your big man shouldn't be floating away from the basket and shooting 17 foot jumpers on a regular basis unless he shoots like Dirk. That's what guards are for.

Maybe we need to develop a system where he's benched when he keeps going to the perimeter. He needs to live in the paint and not just on offense. You'd think that a guy that tall and that long could grab 6 rebounds without even trying. It's ridic...

[NyCeEvO]

Like I said, if you just look up 'Avery Johnson rebounding' the first thing that comes up are articles about Avery Johnson commenting on Lopez lack of rebounding.

A Star Ledger article from last year, when Lopez averaged 6.2 rebounds per game, quotes Lopez discussing why his rebounding numbers are down:
He said “I don’t know, honestly, I feel like I’m still going after the ball. I don’t know.’’

However, Avery Johnson said, "“You’ve got to think, ‘I can get every one of them .Sometimes it’s a mental situation, where (Lopez decides) ‘It doesn’t look like I can get it, so I’ll go back on defense.’"

Avery is right about that. Lopez turns and just runs away from the ball.

Here's the link to the article that I was referring to from last year: http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2011/0 ... wants.html

[624]

I do remember Avery saying that, but at the same time I remember him stressing Lopez to get out on offense early as well, which could have had a negative effect.

[Shameer1016]

I mean his numbers aren't pretty for a 7 ft guy, but I've always been a gang rebound guy. I don't care who gets the rebound, just as long as someone gets the rebound. Plus I was spoiled by Kidd lol, I don't expect to see one of our big men rebounding the ball to well

[Born_Ready]

My only qualm is he makes ZERO effort to rebound. This is what I cannot wrap my brain around. It's like he wants no part of rebounding.

[SpeedyG]

Avery talked about "charting" Brook's effort in rebounding. I think it's time to take it up another notch:

FGA to Reb. Attempt Ratio.

You want to score points? You gotta match it with a rebound. You take 10 shots, you go after 10 boards. You take 20 shots? I better see you working for 20 boards.

[Darth Tyrannus]

C's fan, he is a horrible rebounder. We are terrible at rebounding as a team and Lopez should have capitolized on that. He only had 3 which means he does not care for it at all. He is great offensively but defensively he is alright and rebounding sucks. Granted he is coming off injury but still, he was not a good rebounder before. If he got a drive for rebounding he bet in the Top 5 of Centers easily. Just wanted to see your take of him from the last game versus us so don't flame me

[Neon1]

I mean, it cant be THAT hard for the staff to at least get him to FACE THE BASKET when a shot goes up. You cant rebound with your back.

[Sharcm1]

I see it all the time. A shot goes up and either he heads down the floor if he sees he team will get the ball or he immediately boxes out his player even if he isn't in the paint. When he does box out though he just let's another net get the rebound.

The big thing I see is when brook is there he doesn't want to battle his teammates for the ball and they don't let him have it the way other teams do with their big men.

[Neon1]

I see it all the time. A shot goes up and either he heads down the floor if he sees he team will get the ball or he immediately boxes out his player even if he isn't in the paint. When he does box out though he just let's another net get the rebound.

The big thing I see is when brook is there he doesn't want to battle his teammates for the ball and they don't let him have it the way other teams do with their big men.

Maybe he needs to stat pad like Dwight does. Dwight bitches at his teamates for not letting him get the rebounds. Dwight also isn't leaving the paint unless its he is showing on defending high 1-5 screen an rolls, he will just let his man have the open J rather then get out of rebounding position.

[Aussie 2point0]

You only have to look at the C's game to some it all We had 4 nets players (marshon, D-will Stevenson and Brooke.) They all watched the ball bounce towards Brooke and he stood there watching the ball.... The other all looked at him as if to say Dude grab the ball!!!!..... Brook was like Oh you want me to grab the ball? They were literally giving him a rebound and he didn't realise it.....

Like i always say he is an accidental rebounder