ORBs

NCC 90- ELMHURST 97
93 FGAs
39 Threes
32% ORBs
38 Turnovers
+26 Shots

Comments:  When you force 38 turnovers and create a +26 shot differential, you ought to win.  Unfortunately we came up short in our first conference game on the road.  We did a nice job in the second half, coming from 22 down to cut the lead to 4 points, but if you've learned how to interpret our "Formula Goals" above, you can easily see that ORBs were once again our Achilles heel.

I've said for years that offensive rebounding is the Rodney Dangerfield of basketball statistics... it gets no respect.  Most coaches in conventional basketball don't even keep this stat, and if they do they are only concerned with the raw total ("We got 12 O-Boards tonight!"), not being aware that ORB's must be calculated relative to total missed shots in order for the stat to be meaningful.

Anyway, last night we only had 6 ORBs at halftime for a stellar 19%.  No wonder we were down.  In the second half we captured 45% and that accounts for our improved second half performance (outscoring Elmhurst 49-44).  And by the way, we didn't do any rebounding drills in the second half.  Offensive rebounding is not about technique and drilling... it's about desire and awareness. 

Moral of the story:  Offense sells tickets... but offensive rebounding wins games.