A rebound is the recovery of a missed shot, credited as offensive when the shooting team keeps the ball and defensive when the defending team gains it.
The rebound is the sport's second chance and its full stop. Every missed shot produces one, credited to the player who secures the ball, and split by consequence: an offensive rebound extends the possession and often produces the easiest putback in basketball, while a defensive rebound ends the possession and starts the fast break.
Rebounding built some of the book's most untouchable totals. Wilt Chamberlain's 23,924 career rebounds and his 55 in a single game against Bill Russell's Celtics in 1960 sit beyond argument, and Russell himself averaged over twenty rebounds a game for his career. The skill mixes size, timing, positioning, and the box out craft this glossary treats as its own term.
Team rebounding percentages have replaced raw totals in serious analysis, since pace inflates counting stats, but the book and the quizzes keep the raw numbers for historical questions. Rebounds are also the R in every per game line ever recited by a fan, points, rebounds, assists, the three numbers that have summarized a player for a century of arguments.
In use"He pulled down the rebound with one hand and fired the outlet pass in one motion."