THESE DAYS, the NBA seems to be giving up on the idea of offensive rebounding. It's not just that teams are averaging 11 offensive boards per game this season, down from 14.4 in 1991-92, when Dennis Rodman was the last player to grab more than 500 ORs in a season. It's that Miami ranks dead last in the NBA in total offensive rebounds (through Jan. 12), with Indiana, shockingly, 29th and San Antonio 28th. Apparently, the best minds in the league believe that crashing the glass doesn't win games.
Usually, I let Gregg Popovich and LeBron James go about their business. But the numbers say that the teams that shun offensive rebounding do so at their peril. They are failing to maximize their scoring, and they're creating a giant opportunity for smart clubs to surpass them in the future.