Rodman Lifts Standard of Rebounding in NBA

Dennis Rodman has spent much of the 1991-92 National Basketball Association season jumping through the roof. In most cases, such a description would qualify as a figurative overstatement. But not for Rodman. He once jumped through a roof. Literally.

It happened in Bokita, Okla., where Rodman spent time with friends while attending Southeast Oklahoma State University in nearby Durant. Rodman and Bryne Rich, a teen-ager he befriended after moving from Dallas, were practicing jumping on a trampoline at Rich’s house. It was one of their favorite activities.

Sometimes, they would put the trampoline next to the house and bounce on it until they could jump on the roof. Sometimes, they would put it next to the outdoor basket and jump and dunk.

One day, the trampoline was placed next to a shed in back of the house. Rodman and Rich began bouncing and when they got high enough, they jumped toward the roof of the shed with every intention of landing safely.

“We went right through it,” Rodman said. “We landed on top of the shed and fell through.”

During those exhilarating moments when a powerful jump off the trampoline propelled him high in the air, Rodman remembers fantasizing about the NBA. “I always used to say, ‘Damn, if I can jump like this in the NBA, I can get every rebound,’ ” Rodman said.

He hasn’t done that -- yet. But he has grabbed a staggering 40 percent of all Pistons’ rebounds this season. Rodman has been to rebounding this season what Michael Jordan has been to scoring in the last six seasons. He has stunned the NBA with, in a figurative sense, out-of-this-world numbers.

Rodman leads NBA rebounders with an average of 18.0 a game, the highest average since Elvin Hayes averaged 18.1 rebounds in the 1973-74 season.

If not for a slow start, Rodman’s average would be even higher. He had five rebounds in the Pistons’ first game. But in each of the last 45 games, he has led Detroit in rebounding. In 18 of the last 28, he has had 20 or more rebounds, averaging 20.4 a game.

On Jan. 23, he had a career-high 27. He said his goal was to get 30. Five days later, he grabbed 32. Now his goal is to get 20 in one half. “I keep amazing myself,” Rodman admitted.

Perhaps most amazing is that he is dominating an area that is usually controlled by much taller or wider players. Rodman is 6-foot-8, 210 pounds. Charles Barkley won a rebounding title five years ago despite being two inches shorter. But he’s 40 pounds heavier. Others have been an inch or two taller or shorter, but usually 20 to 50 pounds heavier. The last leading rebounder who was close to Rodman’s build was 6-6, 215-pound Harry Gallatin in 1954.

Rodman has been the key player on a Detroit team that has struggled, but would be in much worse shape if not for him. In their first 18 games, the Pistons were 8-10. In the 28 since Rodman began spending considerable time near the rafters, they are 18-10.

“Every time I take him out of the game, we go down the drain,” said Coach Chuck Daly, who then proved he is adept at the art of overstatement. “I don’t know if we would win a game without his rebounding.”

“I never played on a team with a guy that got 32 rebounds,” said Pistons guard Isiah Thomas.

There are solid technical reasons to explain Rodman’s success. He is a student, constantly watching tapes of the players who shoot the most. He looks for tendencies. When they miss, which way does the ball usually bounce?

“When a guy shoots it,” he said, “99 percent of the time, I know where it’s going to go.”

He knows how to hold. “You just kind of hold a little bit,” he said, not wanting to draw the wrath of referees. “Just a little bit.”

He knows how to position himself near an opponent’s center of gravity. “You just push under his body and take his legs out from under him,” Rodman said. “I scoot down and get in the middle of his body and he can’t explode as much. It keeps him off balance.”

And Rodman has developed the skill of tipping the ball. Sometimes, he tips it two or three times to get it away from taller players. He uses his athleticism to beat them to the spot where the ball comes down.

But his success can also be attributed to two important, old-fashioned factors -- hard work and desire.

Rodman is the premier blue-collar worker in the league. Last week, the Pistons played an overtime game against the Hornets in Charlotte, N.C., where Rodman got the 32 rebounds. He complained afterward because Daly allowed him to play only 50 of the 53 minutes. Afterward, the Pistons flew home and arrived in the early morning hours. That night, Rodman played 46 of 48 minutes against the Cleveland Cavaliers and had 22 rebounds. And after that, he rode the stationary bicycle and lifted weights for 30 minutes. It’s a regular routine -- after practice and games. “I’m afraid I might get out of shape,” Rodman said.

He has not missed a game in five years.

He also has a great desire to succeed. Rodman, a late bloomer, was 5-foot-11 in high school and did not play basketball. He bounced around for four years before enrolling at Southeastern Oklahoma when he was 22. He was 25 when he played his first NBA game. He never stops appreciating where he is.

“Don’t let anybody kid you,” Daly said. “What it really comes down to is desire. Just desire and hard work. He’s got these new shorts now that are weighted, and he works out to improve his conditioning.”