I thought I had noticed some loosening of Porter's rule to abandon the offensive boards and get back on defense this year, at least until the last few games. It seemed maybe one guy was being allowed to hang out under the offensive board for a second or two while everyone else hightailed it to the other end. Here are the data for the last four years for percentage of rebounds captured by the Ramblers in Loyola's front court . [LU offensive rebounds /(LU offensive rebounds + Opponent defensive rebounds)]

Year............ %...... National Rank
2017-18:.... 22.3%.... 349
2018-19:.... 19.8%.... 354
2019-20:.... 21.4%.... 350
2020-21:.... 24.7%.... 321

A journalist might say it shows a nearly 25% increase over the last three years. I no longer have access to a statistical package, but my eyeballs tell me this trend probably wouldn't be statistically meaningful.


Here are the game-by-game numbers this season:

Game .... %
Lewis 17.9
Chi State 19.2
UIC 26.7
Wisconsin 18.8
Richmond 30.0
St Francis 23.5
Ill State 33.3
Ill State 28.0
North TX 27.6
Ind State 21.4
Ind State 19.2
No Iowa 25.0
No Iowa 9.1
Valpo 19.2

Not much that's obvious here except maybe the relatively higher numbers for the Richmond through North Texas games. I do know that I noticed our guys really hurrying to get back on defense in the second UNI game. It's why I looked at the data.

Thanks for the informative post.

Kenpom data shows our highest OR% since 2015 and highest ranking since 2013.

21: 25.3% (241st)
20: 21.4% (335th)
19: 19.9% (348th)
18: 22.1% (332nd)
17: 20.6% (342nd)

Slightly different from yours, but definite improvement this year.

_________________
MBB Scholarship Chart

I noticed this too. There has been a noticeable change in strategy. Last year, once in a while, someone would look for an offensive board. It seemed like it occurred two or three times a game. Now, there is at least one - sometimes two - Ramblers looking for a board on more than half the shots.

I think that going for more offensive rebounds is partially driven by the strategy to shoot more 3s. These strategies are compatible for at least 3 reasons in my mind.

1) Since 3s are a lower percentage shot than 2s, they're more likely to miss and you need more rebounds to avoid coming up empty on too many possessions.

2) Without getting into the math and physics too much, the launch angle and distance of 3s creates rebounds over a wider areas compared to 2s. This means that offensive players can get more rebounds without being in perfect rebounding position. It also means that big guys have a better ability to tip the ball out to one of our guards without being whistled for an over the back foul.

3) Building on #2, even if the opposing team rebounds a long shot, the additional time and distance of between the shot and the rebound gives the 3-4 Rambler players who aren't going for the rebound more time to get into transition defense. Plus, there's a chance opposing team may need to chase down the rebound or get the ball at a difficult place to quickly turn into a transition offense. So on a longer shot, there's more ability to send 1-2 players for the offensive rebound without compromising the transition defense too much.

Has anybody noticed whether the Ramblers only crash the offensive boards only after a 3 attempt?
Would be interesting to keep track of.

Three point attempts often lead to longer rebounds. With our increased 3-point shooting this year (21.5 attempts per game vs. 15.8 attempts per game last season, 16.6 attempts per game in 2018-19), it makes more sense to try to hang around for a loose/odd rebound than in previous seasons.

Also, the chances of a miss on a three point shot are about 15% higher (even if you're shooting well) than on a two-point shot (such as a jumper, layup, etc.).

the strategy is to limit fast break points and be able to set up your defense. and in the end limit good clear uncontested shots the opponent gets....how are we ranked in defensive field goal % this year........but if you know the other team does not run.etc.....UW always sends 3 guys to the offensive boards....but they got two huge dudes and have an organized retreat ,,,,Its a chess game.....get an easy basket vs giving up an easy basket,,,