Tyson Chandler of the Knickerbockers has a shot to add a pretty good entry in the team record book Wednesday night against the Wiz in DC.<\/p>\n
If he records 20 or more rebounds, Chandler will be the first Knick ever to string together four consecutive games with 20-plus boards.<\/p>\n
Chandler had exactly 20 rebounds in each of the last three Knick games against the Pistons, Kings and Bucks.<\/p>\n
The physically-imposing defensive-minded seven-footer is in his twelfth professional season and second with the Knicks.<\/p>\n
Averaging 33 minutes of playing time per game, Chandler hasn\u2019t sat one out all season despite his bruising style of play.<\/p>\n
His eleven boards per game average is helped in part by credit he earns on his almost manic devotion to the \u201cback-swat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also referred to as the \u201cback-tip,\u201d \u201ctap-out\u201d or \u201ctip-back,\u201d Chandler has honed his back-swat ability into an art form. Rather than pull down the loose basketball off either the rim or backboard, Chandler often swats it back to just shy of mid-court when his team\u2019s on the attack.<\/p>\n
If the game\u2019s official scorekeeper views the successful back-swat such that recovery of the ball by a teammate came directly because of the unusual maneuver, Chandler gets credit for an offensive rebound. If a scramble ensues after the back-swat, the guy who ends up with it gets the board.<\/p>\n
Chandler leads the league in offensive rebounds (4.5 per game). Four in every ten rebounds he\u2019s credited with are on the offensive end. Of those, I\u2019d say about half are the result of successful back-swats.<\/p>\n
Basketball writer Nate Taylor\u2019s recap of Knicks\/Pistons in Tuesday\u2019s New York Times incorrectly stated that no NBA player has ever recorded 20 rebounds in four straight games. When I saw Taylor’s assertion while eating my morning oatmeal, I immediately went to the computer to double-check it. While Chandler would indeed set a team record, lots of players over the years have notched 20-plus boards in four or more consecutive games.<\/p>\n
Bill Russell holds the record for the longest run of 20-rebound games (15 straight). The best rebound man of my era has to be The Worm and he twice had seven-game streaks of 20 or more boards in a game.<\/p>\n
Russell and Chamberlain were such dominant rebounders, one or both averaged over 20 boards per game over a stretch spanning 1957 to 1969. Nobody has averaged 20 per game over a full season since.<\/p>\n
While Taylor screwed up a pretty basic league record-keeping fact, he deserves credit for writing an excellent in-depth story<\/a> a few weeks earlier about Chandler\u2019s prowess as a back-swatter. It\u2019s a unique talent. A unique play. It\u2019s helped Chandler put up some gaudy rebounding stats this season and adds second chances for teammates keen on shooting soon after hauling in the nicely-delivered Chandler back-swat.<\/p>\n -Sometimes a step back is a good way to move forward. After an unpleasant season as bench coach of the Boston Red Sox alongside Bobby V., Tim Bogar is going back to managing in the minor leagues. Bogie is the new manager of the Texas League\u2019s Arkansas Travelers. The long-running club is an Angels double- A farm team with a relatively new ballpark in North Little Rock. Bogie\u2019s return to long bus rides in the middle of the night follow five years of charter flights and nice hotels in the big leagues. The objective is a major league managing job. Bogie has drawn interest from a handful of MLB teams seeking a new manager in recent years but hasn\u2019t closed a deal. The success Bogar had as a minor league skipper and teacher of fundamentals before taking coaching jobs at Tampa Bay and Boston has created a foundation of readiness for his shot at a managing job at the major league level. By going back to filling out a lineup card every day, Bogar\u2019s move to the Texas League will probably help him reach his ultimate goal better than playing second-fiddle at the big league level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tyson Chandler of the Knickerbockers has a shot to add a pretty good entry in the team record book Wednesday night against the Wiz in DC. If he records 20 or more rebounds, Chandler will be the first Knick ever … Continue reading