there's nothing more frustrating for a defense than locking in, communicating, rotating, and contesting a shot for 20+ seconds to force a miss - only to have the opponent grab an offensive rebound and have to try to do it all over again.
allowing offensive rebounds hurts a defense in several ways:
more possessions and shots lead to more points (obviously)
scoring efficiency dramatically rises on second chance possessions (over the past ~20 nba seasons, average team offensive ratings (ortg) have hung around 103-110; average team ortg on second chance opportunities were between 113-119)
they help wear down the defense, and not just physically; nothing is more tiring mentally than hustling on d and not having it pay off in the form of possessions and points on the other end
offensive rebounds are particularly valuable in big games and in key moments, where the importance of every possession and fluctuation in momentum is magnified.
tyson chandler was one of the best offensive rebounders i've watched in recent memory. as a member of the dallas mavericks, new york knicks, and phoenix suns, he often kept possessions alive not by trying to grab the ball, but instead by jumping up and tapping it back to his teammates on the perimeter. from 2013 to 2018, tyson generated at 140+ tapbacks (~15% of his offensive boards have stemmed from this play).
chandler has suggested that he stumbled onto the strategy: "once i started getting double-teamed and boxed out, i realized, ‘ok, i can’t get to my full jump — i’ll be getting over-the-back calls all the time.’ so i started jumping like i do on a jump ball and batting it with one hand to my teammates."
one game that really sticks in my mind was chandler's first game as a los angeles laker. with just under a minute left in the game, the lakers led the minnesota timberwolves 111-110. then this happened:
tyson's work on the offensive glass generated three extra possessions for the lakers, and they held on to drain the clock and win the game 114-110.
in that situation, those back taps were essentially defensive stops on the other end. huge plays.
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