The tape tells the story about U-M's struggles against the switching defense that Oregon played on Saturday. We also look at Brandon Johns and what is allowing him to be elite at grabbing rebounds.
Brandon Is Big-Time On The Boards
Sophomore forward Brandon Johns is rebounding just about everything. Is it technique, effort, instincts, basketball IQ, or athleticism that allows him to rebound at such a high level? The answer is, most likely, all of the above.
“My instincts are naturally to just go to the basket, no matter who’s on me or who’s trying to box me out. I’m going to get to the basket, no matter what. I’m not letting anybody stop me … I’m going to grab the rebound.”
Johns has the innate ability to find the right positioning and to sky high for rebounds. Not only that, but he has the strength to come down with them. His mentality of “not letting anybody stop me” doesn’t hurt, either.
Johns has been a menace on the boards in his last three outings, especially. The numbers are staggering. Against Iowa, he had a rebound rate (the percentage of missed shots the player rebounded while on the floor) of 24.6. In the game at Illinois, his number was a staggering 40.8. In Saturday’s loss to Oregon, Johns’ rebound rate was 28.8. His rebound rate were game-highs in the Illinois and Oregon games, while he was second to Iowa’s Cordell Pemsl against the Hawkeyes.
In the last three games combined, Johns has corralled 21 total rebounds (nine offensive, twelve defensive) in 49 minutes of play. It’s no coincidence that the sophomore tied his career-high in minutes (19) against Iowa, and set a new career-high (22) against Oregon.
He only played eight minutes in the game at Illinois, but had four rebounds, all defensive. That means in the Iowa and Oregon games, Johns had nine of U-M’s combined 22 offensive boards. In those two contests, U-M had 23 second chance points, meaning that over 13 percent of its scoring was produced via extra effort plays, like the ones Johns is regularly making.
“Offensive rebounds are a huge thing for teams, especially if they want to win,” Johns said after his nine total rebounds, including five offensive rebounds, in the loss to Oregon.
Here's more of Johns getting after it against Iowa:
Struggles Against Switches
