Offensive rebounding is one of the most basic actions on a basketball court. But to do it effectively on a consistent basis you need a rare combination of traits: an indefatigable spirit, strength and athleticism and a natural understanding of angles and positioning.
In other words, you need to be wired like Angel Reese.
The Chicago Sky's star rookie has been a historic force on the boards since making her professional debut three months ago. Her 12.3 rebounds per game not only lead the league, but would be the highest single-season mark ever. It is specifically her work on the offensive glass that has everyone talking. There, too, she is putting up tremendous numbers: a league-best five per game, which no one besides Hall of Famer Yolanda Griffith has ever done.
"That's her. That's all her," Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said. "That's grit and grind like we always say. It's a will and a want to … That's all her desire to go get a rebound and create second-chance opportunities. That's what the game is all about."
After racking up numerous accolades in college, including leading LSU to the 2023 championship, Reese fell to No. 7 in the 2024 WNBA Draft, largely due to concerns about how her unrefined offensive game would translate. There were no such fears about her willingness and ability to do all of the little things that contribute to winning.
"I think most of us that were the talent scouts know that [offensive rebounding] is a translatable skill and that she would come in the league doing that every single day, and she has," Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said.
No one knows offensive rebounders better than Reeve, who spent over a decade coaching Rebekkah Brunson and Sylvia Fowles, the league's top two all-time in that category. What made them different, Reeve said, was their "innate" desire to go get the ball. She never had to ask them to do it.
Reese sees that same quality within herself.
"I think it's just a knack," Reese said. "My mom was a great rebounder in college, she led UMBC in rebounds, so just kinda having a knack for it. It's just something that's in me."
Reese's hard work under the rim has kept a Chicago offense lacking playmaking and outside shooting afloat.
The Sky rebound 34.7% of their missed shots, which is the best rate in the league. As a result, they take more field goals per game (72) than any other team despite being seventh in pace (96.64), and are ninth in offensive rating (97.7) even though they have the worst true shooting percentage (49.1) of any group since the 2021 Atlanta Dream. Reese herself is part of the problem with the Sky's poor efficiency, but while she's shooting under 40% from the field, their offensive rating drops from 99.5 with her on the court to 86.1 when she sits.
Heading into the season, the Sky were projected to be one of the worst teams in the league. Instead, with Reese leading the way they own the eighth and final playoff spot heading into their national TV showdown against the defending champion Las Vegas Aces on Sunday. Tip-off for that game is set for noon ET on CBS.
Critics will point to Reese's poor finishing, and claim she's padding her stats by recovering her own misses. To be sure, she needs to be better than 47.5% in the restricted area, but only 44 of her 135 offensive rebounds (33%) have come in that fashion. Reese creates far more second chances by getting to balls that no one else would have gotten to, or, in some instances, even tried to get.
Here she is in the third quarter of the Sky's recent loss to the Phoenix Mercury, a game in which she had 10 offensive boards to tie the third-highest single-game total in league history. Pinned under the basket, she sheds Monique Billings, reaches above Diana Taurasi to tip the ball to herself, gathers and powers up for an and-one.
Reese credits her ambidexterity -- she's naturally right-handed but shoots with her left -- as a major factor in her success, as well as her "really good eye" for the ball. "I've been playing this game for a really long time," Reese said. "Shots are either gonna go short or they're gonna go long and you know what kind of shot is gonna go long and short."
The stereotypical Reese offensive rebound is one like this against the Dallas Wings in June. Marina Mabrey pulls up for a jumper that comes up short, and Reese comes rushing into the paint from the opposite corner. She gets a hand on the ball, which pops out to the 3-point line, then saves it with a diving pass to Lindsay Allen. A few seconds later, Mabrey gets another chance and buries a 3.
"Her energy is hard to match," said Mabrey, who was traded from the Sky to the Sun just before the Olympic break. "She goes out and tries to get every rebound that she possibly can. She's relentless … they literally can't stop her from getting the rebound."
That, ultimately, is what separates Reese, and is why she's on pace for the greatest offensive rebounding season we've ever seen. With 13 games remaining, she needs just 28 to surpass Griffith's single-season record of 162. Assuming Reese stays healthy, it won't be too many years before we start seeing her climb the all-time chart, especially with longer seasons in place.
One day, perhaps, she could even challenge Brunson for the top spot.
"It's really a will craft," Brunson said. "It's a determination craft. Who embraces the physicality, the energy that it takes to compete on the offensive glass. Because you gotta want to do it, you have to enjoy it and you have to understand it gives your team extra valuable possessions."
Reese embraces and enjoys it all. "This is what's expected out of me."
