Why can't this team rebound????

[catben]

They aren't small
They aren't totally non-athletic
They aren't young
They aren't un-coachable

So what seems to be the problem???
My middle school coach taught us how to put a BUTT on someone when the ball goes up and then go after the ball. Why is that SOOOO difficult for this team to do????
You don't have to be big and strong to block out, so why are our kids that have played for MANY years so bad at it???

 

[SkyPrince1]

Williams, Carr, and Almador can't jump for s**t.
Robinson no effort.

 

[fatguy87]

Give Georgia and Florida some credit. They are elite offensive rebound teams.

Outside of those two games, we've actually been decent overall on the defensive glass. This might be a surprise, but defensive rebounding is our strongest defensive 4 factors. We are 67th in defensive rebound% and ranked below 70th in every other. Our worst defensive category is forcing turnovers, by far.

That gaping hole in forcing turnovers is a reason for our issues on defense. Also not being elite in any defensive category is also why we've had consistent struggles on that end.

Let's compare the 2015 Cats rankings to this years on the defensive 4 factors

2015:

eFG% - 1
TO% - 40
OR% - 208
FTR - 63

2025:

eFG% - 71
TO% - 301
OR% - 67
FTR - 102

The 2015 team was elite in one defensive category, opponent's eFG%. They were below average at keeping opponents off the glass, but they were so good in particular at forcing misses that they still had an all time great defense.

This year's team is trying this jack of all trades thing except they are failing miserably in forcing turnovers.

 

[Myth Buster51]

Williams, Carr, and Almador can't jump for s**t.
Robinson no effort.

Moses Malone, Robert Parrish, Karl Malone and Wes Unseld couldn’t jump over a phone book. Rodman and Jerry Lucas were relentless. It’s about desire and effort, not jumping ability.

 

[CapnBlubs]

Moses Malone, Robert Parrish, Karl Malone and Wes Unseld couldn’t jump over a phone book. Rodman and Jerry Lucas were relentless. It’s about desire and effort, not jumping ability.

And our guys are NOT trying hard enough. Someone needs to tell them that. Ideally Pope but who knows if anyone will get it across to them? It hasn't changed all f'ing year.

 

[tmuck]

That's the concern going forward with Pope coached teams...lack of toughness...can't rebound...and bad defensively. That's the way his teams were at BYU and Utah Valley too. If he doesn't get it figured out...he won't last long here.

 

[rick64]

Rebounding is about effort and toughness. Our bigs need a big dose of that.

 

[BigBlue1992]

Moses Malone, Robert Parrish, Karl Malone and Wes Unseld couldn’t jump over a phone book. Rodman and Jerry Lucas were relentless. It’s about desire and effort, not jumping ability.

I hear ya but you cannot compare Moses and Karl Malone to Andrew Carr and Amari Williams lol. Those are two of the physically strongest men to ever play the game.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

Because our guards don’t box out and our bigs get shoved under the basket by the opposing bigs

 

[Basscat1987]

This team has a major issue with giving good effort when the game isn’t in doubt yet. And that’s a serious concern

 

[Rockfly78]

rebounding and defense is a choice. our guys don't hustle and they aren't tough. when things go bad they pout. it's concerning

 

[Myth Buster51]

rebounding and defense is a choice. our guys don't hustle and they aren't tough. when things go bad they pout. it's concerning

Izzo and Brad Underwood have strengths as coaches that many others don’t. Demanding toughness is one of those they have in common. I’m not critical of Pope as a coach - he’s just not wired to coach that way. And I’m not sure how many of these portal Cats would have come to Lexington if he were 🤷🏻‍♂️

Rebounding in college involves a lot of ingredients. One of them is the willingness to get your nose bloody, or that of the opponent. I’m not talking about playing dirty, I’m talking about physical contact, relentlessly moving, colliding and having your jersey covered with your opponent’s sweat. I don’t see that ingredient in any of the Cats bigs.

 

[JonathanW]

They aren't small
They aren't totally non-athletic
They aren't young
They aren't un-coachable

So what seems to be the problem???
My middle school coach taught us how to put a BUTT on someone when the ball goes up and then go after the ball. Why is that SOOOO difficult for this team to do????
You don't have to be big and strong to block out, so why are our kids that have played for MANY years so bad at it???

We have only 3 guys taller than 6'7. Carr is just not very physical (he can be on offense when he wants to). Garrison plays soft. Williams actually is a good rebounder (12.2 per 30min only trails Cousins and Oscar over the past 25 years). Also contributing is our offense, where the bigs stay out away from the goal, meaning they are not in a good position to get offensive rebounds. That's a trade-off.

I agree blocking out is a lost art. I played a lot of pickup basketball in my early 40's at work (lunch time, indoor court), and was a pretty good rebounder, not because I was athletic (I was not), or tall, but because I blocked out, and I moved/fought to get into a good rebounding spot while the shot was in the air (knowing most misses come off on the other side of the rim).

 

[kywildcats8]

We have only 3 guys taller than 6'7. Carr is just not very physical (he can be on offense when he wants to). Garrison plays soft. Williams actually is a good rebounder (12.2 per 30min only trails Cousins and Oscar over the past 25 years). Also contributing is our offense, where the bigs stay out away from the goal, meaning they are not in a good position to get offensive rebounds. That's a trade-off.

I agree blocking out is a lost art. I played a lot of pickup basketball in my early 40's at work (lunch time, indoor court), and was a pretty good rebounder, not because I was athletic (I was not), or tall, but because I blocked out, and I moved/fought to get into a good rebounding spot while the shot was in the air (knowing most misses come off on the other side of the rim).

do you have any eligibility left- UK could use you

 

[bnewt]

rebounding is mostly effort, too many are too anxious to leak out for a dunk or 3 point shot
Williams & Robinson just won't put out the effort

 

[ala_kat2]

Williams, Carr, and Almador can't jump for s**t.
Robinson no effort.

It’s all about boxing out and anticipation of where the shot is going to come off the rim. O. Shiebwe was great at this. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have very long arms ( most of our players do). And then there’s EFFORT and “want to”.

 

[billoliver40]

Positioning would be part. Trying to get out and running on offense may be another.

Good rebounders....Chuck Hayes, Charles Barkley and the like are more about attitude than pure physical.

 

[mcwildcats04]

Can we just try and play more zone? Would probably solve a lot of our issues.

 

[CatsFanIL]

Give Georgia and Florida some credit. They are elite offensive rebound teams.

Outside of those two games, we've actually been decent overall on the defensive glass. This might be a surprise, but defensive rebounding is our strongest defensive 4 factors. We are 67th in defensive rebound% and ranked below 70th in every other. Our worst defensive category is forcing turnovers, by far.

That gaping hole in forcing turnovers is a reason for our issues on defense. Also not being elite in any defensive category is also why we've had consistent struggles on that end.

Let's compare the 2015 Cats rankings to this years on the defensive 4 factors

2015:

eFG% - 1
TO% - 40
OR% - 208
FTR - 63

2025:

eFG% - 71
TO% - 301
OR% - 67
FTR - 102

The 2015 team was elite in one defensive category, opponent's eFG%. They were below average at keeping opponents off the glass, but they were so good in particular at forcing misses that they still had an all time great defense.

This year's team is trying this jack of all trades thing except they are failing miserably in forcing turnovers.

To his point, this is honestly good coaching by Florida and Georgia. They aren't blessed with many elite perimeter shooters, so it's a legitimate practiced focus for the team to crash the offensive glass. Most offensive rebounds end in high percentage shots, whether it's at the rim or kick-out 3's (highest percentage made 3 in the game) - in the past this is why Houston has been really good, they know they don't have great perimeter shooters but the make a VERY focused effort to manhandle the offensive glass.

Most teams, like Kentucky, aren't used to teams sending as many guys to the offensive glass. Most teams don't send more than 2 guys consistently (maybe 3) because it hurts their transition defense

 

[NociHTTP]

Can't?

 

[catben]

Can't?

Struggle to keep the opponent from getting more than we do.

Is that clearer for you????

 

[NociHTTP]

Struggle to keep the opponent from getting more than we do.

Is that clearer for you????

I'm not the one confused. How many times does it need to be stated here that THE ISSUE is they are not prepared for games and are lazy.

 

[catben]

I'm not the one confused. How many times does it need to be stated here that THE ISSUE is they are not prepared for games and are lazy.

So Coach Pope just needs to bring back Billy Clyde to make them “tougher”???

I do believe that a bigger emphasis needs to be placed on rebounding and keeping our opponents off the offensive boards. And that definitely comes from the coaching staff. Coach Pope addressed it in his postgame presser so hopefully it will get better.

I also think that we don’t need anymore excuses for NOT doing better.

 

[NociHTTP]

So Coach Pope just needs to bring back Billy Clyde to make them “tougher”???

I do believe that a bigger emphasis needs to be placed on rebounding and keeping our opponents off the offensive boards. And that definitely comes from the coaching staff. Coach Pope addressed it in his postgame presser so hopefully it will get better.

I also think that we don’t need anymore excuses for NOT doing better.

I totally agree with you, minus the BCG suggestion. Pope needs to get tougher in-game. Motivate the guys. Fight for them. Beban example for the guys. He's talked about the poor effort and poor rebounding for several games now.

 

[The_Answer1313]

"SOME" of rebounding is effort.

But it's largely a skill based stat just like shooting, forcing turnovers, blocking shots etc etc.

Some guys can do it well, others cannot.

 

[Soupbean]

They aren't small
They aren't totally non-athletic
They aren't young
They aren't un-coachable

So what seems to be the problem???
My middle school coach taught us how to put a BUTT on someone when the ball goes up and then go after the ball. Why is that SOOOO difficult for this team to do????
You don't have to be big and strong to block out, so why are our kids that have played for MANY years so bad at it???

See thread above this one. Its about effort. Our bigs try to box out of do nothing after that to release to the ball. Rebounding in todays game is dynamic and takes both levels of effort to get the ball. Cant just box out. As a matter of fact I almost think the second level effort of releasing to the ball is more important than the box out. You have to have the athetic effort to react quickly to any direction to secure the ball or some athletic guy on their guy is flying to the rim to get it. A box out without release and snag is useless.

Our bigs get stuck flat footed on box outs and if Oweh and Butler arent dropping back in to help out we're hurting against quicker teams. This is even more important now that 50% of shots come from outside with longer rebounds.

 

[ManitouDan]

Izzo and Brad Underwood have strengths as coaches that many others don’t. Demanding toughness is one of those they have in common. I’m not critical of Pope as a coach - he’s just not wired to coach that way. And I’m not sure how many of these portal Cats would have come to Lexington if he were 🤷🏻‍♂️

Rebounding in college involves a lot of ingredients. One of them is the willingness to get your nose bloody, or that of the opponent. I’m not talking about playing dirty, I’m talking about physical contact, relentlessly moving, colliding and having your jersey covered with your opponent’s sweat. I don’t see that ingredient in any of the Cats bigs.

Very good post — I’d think they would watch film and realize how far they are being pushed . I know from playing you don’t realize how badly you are being rooted / shoved out of position til you see it on film … problem is we are not improving !

 

[Creed Bratton]

We get outrebounded for the same reason that the opponents get to lose balls....effort

 

[Eagles_Ball]

The team is overall pretty unathletic. And they're SOFT. Bad combo. I honestly don't think they play hard for 40 mins as a group. It's frustrating because they're all upperclassmen for the most part. It's only gonna get worse in SEC play. We won't beat many SEC teams if we don't shoot it well, but I think we'll shoot it well plenty enough. My opinion really hasn't changed. Given what the SEC is, this team is +/-2 games of .500 in conference I think. Capable of beating one of the best at home (Gators) and capable of losing to one of the worst on the road (UGA).

 

[will1976]

They aren't small
They aren't totally non-athletic
They aren't young
They aren't un-coachable

So what seems to be the problem???
My middle school coach taught us how to put a BUTT on someone when the ball goes up and then go after the ball. Why is that SOOOO difficult for this team to do????
You don't have to be big and strong to block out, so why are our kids that have played for MANY years so bad at it???

As we well know it's all about effort. Ask Charles Barkley or Dennis Rodman.

 

[Play some D]

Oscar would hurt these guys going for a rebound.

 

[Kybluedude]

Need Brea and Robinson at 6 6 to help gang rebound. Get in there and battle!

 

[megablue]

		REB/GAME	REB/GAME
COACH	SEASON	KENTUCKY	OPPONENT		MARGIN	WINS	LOSS	WIN%	COACH
PITINO	1989-90	35.6	43.3		-7.7	14	14	0.500	PITINO
PITINO	1990-91	37.5	40.2		-2.7	22	6	0.786	PITINO
PITINO	1991-92	34.1	35.8		-1.7	29	7	0.806	PITINO
PITINO	1992-93	40.1	34.1		6.0	30	4	0.882	PITINO
PITINO	1993-94	38.3	39.0		-0.7	27	7	0.794	PITINO
PITINO	1994-95	40.5	37.0		3.5	28	5	0.848	PITINO
PITINO	1995-96	41.7	35.8		5.9	34	2	0.944	PITINO
PITINO	1996-97	39.4	34.2		5.2	35	5	0.875	PITINO
SMITH	1997-98	42.1	33.9		8.2	35	4	0.897	SMITH
SMITH	1998-99	39.7	33.6		6.1	28	9	0.757	SMITH
SMITH	1999-00	39.3	34.5		4.8	23	10	0.697	SMITH
SMITH	2000-01	38.5	35.7		2.8	24	10	0.706	SMITH
SMITH	2001-02	40.1	34.6		5.5	22	10	0.688	SMITH
SMITH	2002-03	36.8	30.9		5.9	32	4	0.889	SMITH
SMITH	2003-04	36.3	31.4		4.9	27	5	0.844	SMITH
SMITH	2004-05	35.2	34.0		1.2	28	6	0.824	SMITH
SMITH	2005-06	36.1	33.3		2.8	22	13	0.629	SMITH
SMITH	2006-07	36.3	33.1		3.2	22	12	0.647	SMITH
GILLISPIE	2007-08	33.5	31.9		1.6	18	13	0.581	GILLISPIE
GILLISPIE	2008-09	36.9	32.0		4.9	22	14	0.611	GILLISPIE
CALIPARI	2009-10	41.6	33.5		8.1	35	3	0.921	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2010-11	37.4	33.8		3.6	29	9	0.763	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2011-12	38.9	32.2		6.7	38	2	0.950	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2012-13	37.8	33.5		4.3	21	12	0.636	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2013-14	40.2	30.8		9.4	29	11	0.725	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2014-15	38.0	31.2		6.8	38	1	0.974	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2015-16	38.8	33.6		5.2	27	9	0.750	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2016-17	39.8	35.0		4.8	32	6	0.842	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2017-18	38.6	33.5		5.1	26	11	0.703	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2018-19	38.5	29.2		9.3	30	7	0.811	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2019-20	36.6	32.5		4.1	25	6	0.806	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2020-21	38.0	36.2		1.8	9	16	0.360	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2021-22	40.1	30.4		9.7	26	8	0.765	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2022-23	39.4	30.1		9.3	22	12	0.647	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2023-24	37.6	36.8		0.8	23	10	0.697	CALIPARI
POPE	2024-25	40.8	36.6		4.2	12	3	0.800	POPE
PITINO		38.5	37.1		1.4	27.4	6.3	0.813	PITINO
SMITH		38.1	33.5		4.6	26.3	8.3	0.760	SMITH
GILLISPIE		35.3	32.0		3.3	20.0	13.5	0.597	GILLISPIE
CALIPARI		38.8	32.7		6.1	27.3	8.2	0.769	CALIPARI
POPE		40.8	36.6		4.2	12.0	3.0	0.800	POPE
AVERAGES		38.4	33.9		4.5	26.2	7.9	0.768	AVERAGES

 

[catben]

		REB/GAME	REB/GAME
COACH	SEASON	KENTUCKY	OPPONENT		MARGIN	WINS	LOSS	WIN%	COACH
PITINO	1989-90	35.6	43.3		-7.7	14	14	0.500	PITINO
PITINO	1990-91	37.5	40.2		-2.7	22	6	0.786	PITINO
PITINO	1991-92	34.1	35.8		-1.7	29	7	0.806	PITINO
PITINO	1992-93	40.1	34.1		6.0	30	4	0.882	PITINO
PITINO	1993-94	38.3	39.0		-0.7	27	7	0.794	PITINO
PITINO	1994-95	40.5	37.0		3.5	28	5	0.848	PITINO
PITINO	1995-96	41.7	35.8		5.9	34	2	0.944	PITINO
PITINO	1996-97	39.4	34.2		5.2	35	5	0.875	PITINO
SMITH	1997-98	42.1	33.9		8.2	35	4	0.897	SMITH
SMITH	1998-99	39.7	33.6		6.1	28	9	0.757	SMITH
SMITH	1999-00	39.3	34.5		4.8	23	10	0.697	SMITH
SMITH	2000-01	38.5	35.7		2.8	24	10	0.706	SMITH
SMITH	2001-02	40.1	34.6		5.5	22	10	0.688	SMITH
SMITH	2002-03	36.8	30.9		5.9	32	4	0.889	SMITH
SMITH	2003-04	36.3	31.4		4.9	27	5	0.844	SMITH
SMITH	2004-05	35.2	34.0		1.2	28	6	0.824	SMITH
SMITH	2005-06	36.1	33.3		2.8	22	13	0.629	SMITH
SMITH	2006-07	36.3	33.1		3.2	22	12	0.647	SMITH
GILLISPIE	2007-08	33.5	31.9		1.6	18	13	0.581	GILLISPIE
GILLISPIE	2008-09	36.9	32.0		4.9	22	14	0.611	GILLISPIE
CALIPARI	2009-10	41.6	33.5		8.1	35	3	0.921	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2010-11	37.4	33.8		3.6	29	9	0.763	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2011-12	38.9	32.2		6.7	38	2	0.950	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2012-13	37.8	33.5		4.3	21	12	0.636	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2013-14	40.2	30.8		9.4	29	11	0.725	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2014-15	38.0	31.2		6.8	38	1	0.974	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2015-16	38.8	33.6		5.2	27	9	0.750	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2016-17	39.8	35.0		4.8	32	6	0.842	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2017-18	38.6	33.5		5.1	26	11	0.703	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2018-19	38.5	29.2		9.3	30	7	0.811	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2019-20	36.6	32.5		4.1	25	6	0.806	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2020-21	38.0	36.2		1.8	9	16	0.360	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2021-22	40.1	30.4		9.7	26	8	0.765	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2022-23	39.4	30.1		9.3	22	12	0.647	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2023-24	37.6	36.8		0.8	23	10	0.697	CALIPARI
POPE	2024-25	40.8	36.6		4.2	12	3	0.800	POPE
PITINO		38.5	37.1		1.4	27.4	6.3	0.813	PITINO
SMITH		38.1	33.5		4.6	26.3	8.3	0.760	SMITH
GILLISPIE		35.3	32.0		3.3	20.0	13.5	0.597	GILLISPIE
CALIPARI		38.8	32.7		6.1	27.3	8.2	0.769	CALIPARI
POPE		40.8	36.6		4.2	12.0	3.0	0.800	POPE
AVERAGES		38.4	33.9		4.5	26.2	7.9	0.768	AVERAGES

Any way you could post the Offensive Rebounds given up each year? That’s my biggest problem and is this team’s weakness that has been glaring these last few games.

 

[catben]

See thread above this one. Its about effort. Our bigs try to box out of do nothing after that to release to the ball. Rebounding in todays game is dynamic and takes both levels of effort to get the ball. Cant just box out. As a matter of fact I almost think the second level effort of releasing to the ball is more important than the box out. You have to have the athetic effort to react quickly to any direction to secure the ball or some athletic guy on their guy is flying to the rim to get it. A box out without release and snag is useless.

Our bigs get stuck flat footed on box outs and if Oweh and Butler arent dropping back in to help out we're hurting against quicker teams. This is even more important now that 50% of shots come from outside with longer rebounds.

Heck, I have noticed numerous times we don’t try to get inside position to block out once the ball goes up, especially on the defensive end where it should be much easier. This in turn makes it harder to block out. These last 2 games it was really bad.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Total rebounds per game is an awful way of looking at things.

Look at %

Offensive Rebounding % = 30.9% (156th) so basically average.
Defensive Rebounding % = 27.1% (67th) so above average.

Obviously the last two games were wayyyyy worse than 27%. What remains to be seen as we go through SEC play is whether or not that was just a byproduct of Florida and Georgia being really really good, whether we are poor.......or a combo of both.

 

[megablue]

Any way you could post the Offensive Rebounds given up each year? That’s my biggest problem and is this team’s weakness that has been glaring these last few games.

I’ll try to work it up tomorrow …

 

[megablue]

Total rebounds per game is an awful way of looking at things.

Look at %

Offensive Rebounding % = 30.9% (156th) so basically average.
Defensive Rebounding % = 27.1% (67th) so above average.

Obviously the last two games were wayyyyy worse than 27%. What remains to be seen as we go through SEC play is whether or not that was just a byproduct of Florida and Georgia being really really good, whether we are poor.......or a combo of both.

I think I know, but how are those % computed ?? Is it REBS/FGA or missed FGA ?? I assume missed FGA …

 

[Blue_2_the_bone]

Rebounding is more about positioning & effort than anything. We’re ball watchers. Terrible positioning. We have guys who have rebounded from being big instead of going to get them.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Rebounding is more about positioning & effort than anything. We’re ball watchers. Terrible positioning. We have guys who have rebounded from being big instead of going to get them.

Yes. Not much we can do about offensive rebounding. There's a level of skill, athleticism and timing to offensive rebounding that we simply do not have. We will get the ones that fall to us, sometimes, or like from Oweh flying in from the wing. But we are not going to turn into an offensive rebounding team. It's just not there.

Defensive rebounding is different. We can be in position and we can push them out of position. Even if it's team rebounding. One or two guys blocking out and another going for the ball. Our defense is not as bad as it looks on paper. It's not good. But it's not terrible. But we give the opponent 2 and 3 shots. A missed shot by the opponents has become a pass. I get it that Pope wants to play 4 and 5 out on offense. That's going to affect our offensive rebounding too. But we can't play 5 out on defense too.