How to make up for your shortcomings in rebounding? The secret to counterattack is hidden in the video class

This season, the Celtics' interior lineup has changed a lot. Porzingis, Horford, and Kornet have left the team one after another, and Tatum, the top rebounder last season, has an undecided return due to an Achilles tendon injury last May.

Backboard protection has become an obvious weakness, and everyone in the Green Army knows it very well, especially during the running-in stage when newcomers are integrating and veterans are adjusting to new roles.

The team has made up its mind to make up for its rebounding shortcomings in other ways - such as relying on aggressive scrambling to cause opponents to make mistakes, or to increase the rhythm. Unfortunately, the results at the beginning were not good: in the first eight games, the Celtics were suppressed by their opponents on the boards, and the team's dismal start with 3 wins and 5 losses in the same period is probably not a coincidence.

The most embarrassing battle was the home loss to the mediocre Jazz on November 3. In that game, the Celtics allowed their opponents to grab 15 offensive rebounds and lost a total of 19 rebounds.

"We can't always be in the top five in the league," coach Mazzula said frankly that night, "but we must do better."

At that time, the Celtics could only grab 63.6% of their opponents' rebounds, ranking 29th in the NBA; the overall rebound rate ranked 26th at 47.5%. What's even more worrying is that they allow their opponents to score 18.6 points on second offense per game, ranking 27th in the league. The bleakness of the situation is evident.

However, it was from then on that the situation quietly changed.

In the past seven games, the Celtics' defensive rebound rate has risen to 70%, ranking 11th in the league; their total rebound rate has risen to 52.6%, ranking 6th; their opponents' secondary offensive scoring has also been suppressed to an average of 15.3 points per game, ranking 13th. In this round of matches, they took advantage of the situation and won 5 wins and 2 losses.

Looking at the entire season now, the Celtics' rebounding rate has risen to 16th in the league, which is not much different from last season's 11th place.

After training on Thursday, a reporter asked defender Derrick White: Which part of the team has improved the most since the start of the season? He answered without thinking: "I think it's rebounds. Of course we still have a long way to go, but compared to the feeling of air leakage from all sides at the beginning of the season, it's much better now. So I choose this."

Center forward Queta, who currently leads the team in rebounds per game (8.1), said that the real change started by watching the video. The coaching staff put the problem on the table frame by frame, and the whole team slowly figured out the opponent's rebounding routine. "At the end of the day, fighting for rebounds is about who works harder and who makes the first effort," Queta said. "You have to block your own man first, and then use both hands to firmly collect the rebound. We are now consciously fighting together as a team and working towards this goal."

He also mentioned that the players gradually realized that: slacking off in one or two rounds may seem insignificant, but if several people lose the chain at the same time, the problem will be magnified instantly. "Everyone is looking for problems within themselves and thinking about how to do better," Queta said. "Now everyone is united."