Glass Domination Question

[AdamOnFirst]

Can somebody who is more knowledgeable about basketball than me opine on how NU has suddenly become hyper dominant on the glass, especially the offensive glass? TO my eyes it looks like they're being more aggressive lately and Martinelli playing more has had a big impact, but is there anything more systemic or strategic they've done to suddenly become great on the glass? They generated an absurd shot disparity vs Michigan.

 

[CappyNU]

Can somebody who is more knowledgeable about basketball than me opine on how NU has suddenly become hyper dominant on the glass, especially the offensive glass? TO my eyes it looks like they're being more aggressive lately and Martinelli playing more has had a big impact, but is there anything more systemic or strategic they've done to suddenly become great on the glass? They generated an absurd shot disparity vs Michigan.

I think it's twofold - a) they replaced a 6'3" guard with a 6'7" "big guard" in Martinelli, and b) the schedule has softened up considerably from earlier in the year.

 

[TheC]

Also Nicholson is one of the biggest bodies in the conference and he’s finally gotten himself into playing shape

 

[PurpWildCatNation]

Also Nicholson is one of the biggest bodies in the conference and he’s finally gotten himself into playing shape

Pretty much this. He's occupying the bigs of other teams now and Martinelli and Barnhizer are capitalizing

 

[IGNORE2]

If you watch Mart, he boxes out - sticks his ass on a player and puts his arms back to feel what direction that player moves. Then he moves with him. Mart does it all the time but I have seen others do it too now. We even had a rebound off the bounce recently.

Well executed box outs lead to higher rebounds for the 2-3. BB has been crazy on the boards. BB has always been good on the boards but I think Mart and MN / Hunger are giving more opportunities by executing more often.

 

[GatoLouco]

I've asked myself the same question: how did we become good at rebounding.

Martinelli playing more, Nicholson getting into much better shape, those surely play a role. But I think it's not so much we got better as it's that my brain registered the home game against Purdue and the road game at Illinois and decided we were bad on the glass. When, in reality, we were bad against those teams and/or on that day.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

I've asked myself the same question: how did we become good at rebounding.

Martinelli playing more, Nicholson getting into much better shape, those surely play a role. But I think it's not so much we got better as it's that my brain registered the home game against Purdue and the road game at Illinois and decided we were bad on the glass. When, in reality, we were bad against those teams and/or on that day.

They are using Nicholson differently. Nowhere near as much running around the perimeter. Defensively he is dropping back into the paint as quickly as he can. Less of the (silly) 5-man switching where he's stuck on the perimeter.
On offense Nicholson is playing closer to the basket. Martinelli is crashing the offensive boards and loves going inside (compare that to Robbie Beran).

There is something to be said for playing a bigger lineup. (and it has been said often here)

 

[NUCat320]

I’m no expert, but both Martinelli and Nicholson have O-boards accounting for one-third of their rebounds, and Preston and Hunger are at half.

This *seems* extreme to me, thought maybe someone will correct me. Nicholson is not a great rebounder in general, but those extra possessions are good things.

 

[EagerFan]

Nick definitely has good box outs going on, but both he and Brooks are also solid and rushing the shot and skying up to rip the rebounds down. When they're both on the court, one of them is usually going to get a chance at it. Especially those times that neither of them is the shooter. Matt has been leaning on his guy more often as well, so he isn't necessarily getting a rebound, but has been better at preventing - sometimes.

What I really noticed last night was how much he, and Hunger, were sealing off their guys to open up easy layups. They've clearly been practicing that recently.

 

[SmellyCat]

As for why the offensive rebounds have gone up, at least part of that is NU just doesn't shoot as well as they did with Berry in the lineup. They got a lot of OR in the first half last night when they were shooting poorly, but once they started shooting better, those opportunities rightfully dried up. I think Martinelli had five offensive boards in the first 13 minutes or so of the game, and he finished with...five.

May be my imagination, but I think Barnhizer got like ALL the rebounds at the start of the second half. I think maybe four or five missed Michigan shots in a row were corralled by him. When he decides he wants to rebound, he always seems to be in the right place.

 

[CappyNU]

May be my imagination, but I think Barnhizer got like ALL the rebounds at the start of the second half. I think maybe four or five missed Michigan shots in a row were corralled by him. When he decides he wants to rebound, he always seems to be in the right place.

It is not your imagination, Barnhizer collected the first 6 defensive rebounds in the 2nd half, finishing with 8 in the half in total.

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

Reasons in no particular order

1.) Level of competition

Good teams rebound well. The toughest part of the schedule is over and the Michigans are not as good at rebounding as the Wisconsins and Purdues of the world.

2.) Martinelli

The kid has had a nose for the basketball since he came here. The difference between a decent-good rebounder and a good-great rebounder is often that natural instinct to be in the right place at the right time for the ball. The rest is effort and fundamental boxing out and getting the ball. Martinelli poses all these especially on the offensive glass. Dude is often even in position for lose balls. This is not a knock on Berry as he is a very solid rebounder for a guard. Just Martinelli is better rebounder and his minutes went up.

3.) Nicholson
Ever since Hunger started over him dude has played different. This team has a much easier time winning games when Matt keeps opponents off the boards and snags some boards himself. It limits defensive possessions making our limited depth not as tired. It creates more scoring opportunities as well. He needs to keep limiting his fouls as well because he’s our best defensive option at the 5 and it’s not close.

4.) Playing Better

NU is just hitting the boards harder. Guys are boxing out and putting more effort into it. It’s easy to see and they need it to win now that Berry is out.

Collins teams have typically focused on rebounding and defense. This team started the season very unusual for his tenure which was lights out offensively. They still shoot the 3 very very well. The team relied on their shooting a bit too much early. Last year the defense kept games close and winnable. This year the shooting allows them to out pace other teams especially with the turnover differentials. Even though it’s a lot of the same cast, it’s a very different team.

 

[TheC]

3.) Nicholson
Ever since Hunger started over him dude has played different. This team has a much easier time winning games when Matt keeps opponents off the boards and snags some boards himself. It limits defensive possessions making our limited depth not as tired. It creates more scoring opportunities as well. He needs to keep limiting his fouls as well because he’s our best defensive option at the 5 and it’s not close.

It really is true that the turning point for Matt was losing his spot in the starting lineup. At one point in a press conference, I thought Collins alluded to Matt not being entirely healthy at the beginning of the year and needing time to get into shape, but I wonder if Collins also had a good ol' fashioned come to jesus meeting with Matt to get his ass in gear that included the temporary benching.

 

[GatoLouco]

ol' fashioned come to jesus meeting with Matt to get his ass in gear that included the temporary benching.

Surprised he did not put out a public statement saying he instructed Matt to take the necessary steps to make the program successful.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

It really is true that the turning point for Matt was losing his spot in the starting lineup. At one point in a press conference, I thought Collins alluded to Matt not being entirely healthy at the beginning of the year and needing time to get into shape, but I wonder if Collins also had a good ol' fashioned come to jesus meeting with Matt to get his ass in gear that included the temporary benching.

Nicholson has been very good since we got slaughtered at Illinois.

I believe the coaching staff re-assessed what they were asking him to do on both ends of the floor and realized that he was getting tired spending too much time on the perimeter, especially defensively.

On offense Nicholson now will hold the ball out at the arc, looking for cutters, and of course still sets screens, but he heads into the paint right away when he isn't doing those things. And his teammates started looking for him.

Hunger had that big game against MSU, but it didn't work after that - he averaged about 10 minutes a game as the starter - the coaches eventually figured it out.

 

[EagerFan]

Matt also gets a few reverse pick n rolls per game, whatever you want to call the play where they roll and he stays, and dumps over his shoulder to them.

 

[SmellyCat]

I know it's been said before, but Nicholson is a nice passer as a big man.

 

[hdhntr1]

Nick definitely has good box outs going on, but both he and Brooks are also solid and rushing the shot and skying up to rip the rebounds down. When they're both on the court, one of them is usually going to get a chance at it. Especially those times that neither of them is the shooter. Matt has been leaning on his guy more often as well, so he isn't necessarily getting a rebound, but has been better at preventing - sometimes.

What I really noticed last night was how much he, and Hunger, were sealing off their guys to open up easy layups. They've clearly been practicing that recently.

Since they lost a chunk of O they have had to come up with new ways to generate it

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

I know it's been said before, but Nicholson is a nice passer as a big man.

One of the cool things about it is that Nicholson can see guys like Martinelli and Barnhizer post up and dump the ball into them, while the shot blocker is out guarding Nicholson.

And the back door cuts are effective against teams that fall asleep defensively.

A couple new wrinkles that have helped the offense this year. Wish we would have seen that with Pete Nance and Ryan Young doing a high/low game to destroy our opponents. Who says coaches can't improve?!?!?!