When it comes to rebounding, getting compared to Dennis Rodman is a compliment of the highest order.
“I wish that I could teach what Jarred does. His understanding of angles, his understanding of timing.” — Jazz coach Will Hardy on Jarred Vanderbilt
The foundation of Rodman’s Hall of Fame career was built by crashing the boards and there have been few who have been as relentless and as successful in the art of rebounding since Rodman.
So, when Jarred Vanderbilt hears that his teammates have used Rodman’s name when describing the Utah Jazz forward’s rebounding abilities, he brushes past the name. It’s almost like he doesn’t even want to acknowledge that the words have been spoken. It’s almost too much of a compliment.
Vanderbilt hasn’t studied Rodman or any of the other rebounding greats voraciously. He’s certainly watched film and appreciates the art of rebounding, but he comes by the skill naturally. And to be perfectly honest, he wasn’t even much of a rebounder until injuries robbed him of his early playing time at Kentucky.
Once Vanderbilt was healthy, coach John Calipari told him that if he wanted to get into the rotation, there was one sure way to make it happen.
“I missed like the first 20-something games of the season,” Vanderbilt said of his lone year with the Wildcats. “I sat down to have a talk with coach Cal and he was just like, ‘You know, one thing that can get you on the floor right now is rebounding, defense and being a tough guy.’”
Say no more.
It was the exact same thing that the Minnesota Timberwolves needed last season when Vanderbilt made his case on the boards and became a regular in the starting unit.
His teammates have described Vanderbilt as “wild,” “unstoppable,” “a crazy person,” when talking about what it’s like to see him flying around on the court, seemingly appearing out of thin air to swipe a rebound or tip the ball out.
“Vando, he’s a maniac, man,” Mike Conley said. “He’s all over the place. … I’m so happy he’s on our team. I was so tired of playing against him when he was in Minnesota.”
If there’s any downside to the glass-crashing acrobatics and nonstop motor that Vanderbilt possesses, it’s the foul trouble that his peskiness seems to get him into.
Through the Jazz’s first nine games of the 2022-23 season, he has fouled out of two games, had five fouls in two other games, four in another two. In the Jazz’s most recent game, a loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Vanderbilt didn’t commit a single foul, his only such game of the season.
“It’s not his physicality, it’s not his activity. It’s two or three a game that are just unnecessary,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said of Vanderbilt’s fouls. “I think it’s just trying to find ways to understand the moment of the game, understand his own foul situation, to just try to keep away from some of those cheap ones. I never want Vando to play with any less energy or force or aggressiveness because that’s what makes him such a special player.”
While the fouling is sometimes an issue, special might be a bit of an understatement when it comes to Vanderbilt on the boards, and although he didn’t start in basketball as a rebounder, he’s worked to make sure that he maintains his reputation.
“There’s a lot of film work,” Vanderbilt said. “Not only do I watch our players shoot, I’m watching the other team shoot and also playing the percentages. Nine times out of 10 if it’s shot from the left corner, it’s going to go over to the right corner … knowing if they generally shoot short, stuff like that. A lot of that is just timing, most of it is instincts.”
With help from the video coordinators, analytics department and coaching staff, Vanderbilt has made rebounding the foundation of his game and prides himself on it.
But even when Vanderbilt doesn’t secure a rebound, his efforts still have an impact on the game.
His strength in boxing players out, having a good angle on a rebound, or causing chaos around the rim helps to generate rebounds for his teammates. Sometimes when he fails to grab a board on the defensive end, he at least causes enough of a stir, that it slows the other team down, stalling a transition run and forcing the opposing team to face a set Jazz defense.
“One of the secondary pieces of offensive rebounding is you put pressure on the other team to get the defensive rebound, and so they’re not as focused on running on you,” Hardy said. “We’ve talked a ton about Jarred this season and his activity and what that does for our group. And there are moments in the game where we would like some of the other guys to participate a little bit more on the offensive glass, but Jarred definitely sets an example in that area.”
When he does rebound the ball, there’s no singular way that he goes about it. Vanderbilt and his 7-foot-1 wingspan are everywhere and he’s a threat to get his hands on a rebound even if he’s not anywhere in the vicinity when the ball goes up.
“I wish that I could teach what Jarred does,” Hardy said. “His understanding of angles, his understanding of timing … sometimes he doesn’t sprint immediately on the release, he waits a second for his guy to turn and watch the ball. He’s taken some different routes sometimes, he goes behind the backboard, sometimes he really curls towards the middle. He’s a special, special talent rebounding the ball. He just has the eye for it and knows how to track it.”
The effort that Vanderbilt shows when rebounding the ball extends to the rest of his game. He’s an impressive defender who gets into passing lanes and blocks shots and his speed and strength make him versatile and switchy.
“Oh man, you can just tell how hard he plays,” Collin Sexton said of his teammate. “You can feel his energy and how bad we wants it.”
That energy is infectious and is without a doubt what has made the Jazz’s impressive start to the season so successful, especially on the defensive end. It would be difficult for any player to share the court with Vanderbilt and see how much effort he’s putting into trying to create extra possessions and not increase their own efforts.
The way Vanderbilt sees things, if everything else is going wrong, he knows that he can at least make an impact on the glass, and while there are others that could see that as a low-percentage difference-making play, Vanderbilt believes he has the advantage because he wants it more than anyone else.
“The will, just wanting to go rebound and go and get it,” he said. “Being physical, timing. Essentially a rebound is a 50-50 ball. But I like to see it as 80-20. In my opinion, it’s the will to want to go get it.”
