FSB 1 Rebounder

This is my favorite position to play in FSB, the rebounder! I don’t care too much for scoring points. I just prefer to play defense and help out my teammates. I think the rebounder is one of the most if not the most important position on any FSB team. This position, to me, is also the hardest to play… you have to understand the game pretty well to play this position correctly. I say this because when playing as a rebounder you will have to be responsible for: defense in the paint, helping perimeter defense, scoring, distributing the ball, setting up picks, and of course rebounding. Before I go into more details, let me repeat myself, I am not a scoring rebounder. I don’t like to score when playing this position. Since I don’t like to score I never learned how to do all those fancy back down moves that a lot of people do nowadays. My version of this position is to play support to your teammates.

SKILLS/FREESTYLES

***The first 5 skills listed are essentials if you play as a rebounder. This means if you don’t have skill slots then these are the ones you need to equip***

***I have 15 slots each for skills & freestyles on my center***

Face up: no explanation needed, this needs to be equipped no matter what position you play

Box out: you are not a rebounder until you learn how to use this skill correctly. It is very important for things like reverse rebounding and preventing the other rebounders from getting the ball.

Through pass: I will kick you out of the room if you play without this skill…

Chip out: don’t listen to what some people might tell you, there is nothing wrong with using this skill… it creates a strategic element to rebounding

Tip-in shot: this is how I get the majority of my points as a rebounder. A quick tip: don’t prematurely quit trying to tip the ball in until you see that it has actually gone through the net.

Block & catch: I had a hard time picking either this skill or tip in for the last essential skill but it’s hard to pass up points… On the other hand, if you manage to get someone with skill, then you just made them commit a turnover.

Screen: I love to screen and PROPERLY screen that is… not the illegal moving screens that I see so often.

Hook shot: since I don’t ever score, the only time I use this skill is when the clock is almost down to zero.
Tap dunk: an upgrade to the tip-in shot. Seems to miss less than tip-in.
Face up 2: this skill is really useful to get past the other team's screen.
Sky hook: like the regular hook shot, I rarely use this move.
Dream shake: useful to knock the other rebounder out of the way for you to score or gain rebounding spot
Double fake power dribble: a back down move all post players use.
Dream shake 2: don't want to use hook shot or sky hook? Use this.
Back down fade away: I think it's pretty hard to block this shot

***There are only a few freestyles that I think are needed, the rest are optional***

Stand still: for some reason I rarely see this freestyle but I guess it can be useful since it prevents you from falling to the ground.

Post resist: like stand still, could be helpful if you fall to the ground a lot

The flapper: ah... makes your blocks look so devastating! haha

Power rebound: some say this makes you rebound faster but I think it's just for looks

Two-hand power slam: dunk

Swallow slam: dunk 

Two-hand windmill slam: dunk
One-hand slam: dunk
Alley-hoop windmill dunk: dunk
One-hand tap dunk: dunk
One-hand reverse windmill dunk: dunk
Lay up dunk: dunk
Ball breaker: dunk
Flash jam: useful when you are too far behind the basket
360 lay up: cool move that is hard to block

STRATEGIES TO REBOUNDING

Ping does matter when you rebound. Even if you have perfect position and technique, the other rebounder can still get the ball over you if they are host of the game. It’s so unfair the kind of advantages you get when you are host… I have seen SG out-rebound a center because of host power!

Please don’t expect this guide to teach you how to rebound every bounces… there are wayyyy too many for me to teach you. My advice to you is, PLAY MORE! The only way you can become better is by gaining more experience. By the way… I am not, by any mean, the best rebounder so please don’t assume so… I can get destroyed on the boards just like anyone else who plays this game LOL!

OK, so when you rebound you need to stand at the best spot; right underneath the basket (preferably in the middle). I recommend you stand there in face up mode but I have seen others stand there normally without doing anything. I suggested already being in face up because your character will automatically go to box out when someone shoots the ball. This saves you time and the occasional glitch where it prevents you from executing box out. There are many “styles” you can adopt when playing as the rebounder. The best way would be to incorporate them all into your game while playing:   

Reaction: this style is what beginners usually start out with. This is where you stand under the basket in box out, wait until the ball hits the rim, see where it’s bouncing to, and then react to rebound the ball. The good thing about this style is that you will never misread the ball because you are reacting to it. The bad thing is your opponent has a chance to box you in or get in better position than you because he/she can read the bounces.

Prevent: this style is where you do everything in your power to prevent the other rebounders from getting the best spot under the basket or anywhere remotely close to where they can rebound the ball if it happens to bounce in their direction. This most likely mean you follow them around with face up to prevent movement and then boxing them out when the ball is in the air. If you use this style then you basically ignore where the ball will bounce out and just focus entirely on impeding the movement of the other rebounder. If the ball bounces out left side and the other rebounder is on the right side, you are on the right side with him/her. The good thing about this style is if the ball does bounce out on the right side, you are already there in perfect position to get it over the other rebounder. You already boxed them out and they have no way to get it over you… unless they chip (but we will talk about that later). If the other rebounder is good at reading bounces then it also benefits you because you are basically mirroring his/her movements.

Anticipate: just a quick note, this style is still “under development” because I learned it from a friend and haven’t really fully grasped it yet… it’s still a hit or miss for me right now. I know most players like me have wondered how some rebounders seem to always know where the ball will bounce out even before the shooter lets the ball go. These rebounders are always in the perfect position to get the ball even before any shots are taken. At first I thought it was luck that the ball keeps bouncing to them but after many many times of getting out-rebounded I started to realize it’s not luck… they know what they are doing… Take notice, this only works with shots that are taken from the side. It won’t work with shots that are taken from the front. What you need to do is remember these two words in your head: same & opposite. Same means the ball with bounce out the same side as the shooter; opposite means it will bounce out the opposite side of the shooter. So how can you tell when it’s same or when it’s opposite? The answer is you look for things that the shooter does that will change the direction of the bounce if the shot misses. At the start of each possession if the shooter gets the ball and shoots from the side without dribbling or pump faking, the ball will most likely bounce out on the opposite side of the shooter if he/she misses. However, if the shooter does a pump fake and then shoots; the ball will bounce out on the same side as the shooter if he/she misses. This also works if the shooter does a pump, pass to rebounder, get a pass back, and then shoot. This still counts as a pump fake and therefore the ball will go the same way as the shooter. Confused yet? LOL… there’s more… At the start of each possession, if the shooter does a one side juke (using one arrow key for the dribble); the ball will bounce out on the opposite side of the shooter in a miss. However, if he/she does a two sided juke (using two arrow keys for the dribble); the ball will bounce out on the same side as the shooter in a miss. So this is what you do in this style of rebounding, you read the ball and predict where it will go if the shooter misses. Keep in mind that the “count” continues until a shot is made and then it starts over again in the next possession; if no shot is made, the count continues. This means that if a shooter misses and the ball bounces opposite, then if he/she shoots without doing anything and ends up missing again in the same possession, the ball then will bounce to the same side as the shooter. So far the only thing that I have been told to change the direction of the misses are pump fakes, two sided juke, blocked shot, and a missed shot. I don’t think anything else will change the direction of the miss… like a steal. I think you might be a little lost after reading all of that so let’s run through an example. Try to guess where the ball will end up for each miss:

Start of possession – Center passes to PG – PG does one side juke then passes to SG – SG does two sided juke then shoot – MISSED! Where does the ball go? – Same possession, Center rebounds the ball and passes back to SG – SG does two sided juke then shoot – BLOCKED! Recover by the other team’s PG – PG passes to SG – SG does one side juke then shoot – MISSED! Where does the ball go? – Same possession, Center rebounds the ball and passes pack to PG – PG shoots and makes it – End of possession.

So for those two misses, where did the ball go? Well… according to the system above, you should say: same & same.

There’s something else I want to mention. Even if you follow the above style perfectly and correctly read the ball, sometimes it can still bounce out the opposite side of where you thought it would be. This prediction method is not 100% accurate, it’s more like 7/10 shots. So please don’t yell and complain to me if occasionally it doesn’t work. 

As you can see, it can be pretty hectic when you are busy playing defense, boxing out the other rebounder, and reading the ball movement all at the same time… this is why I sometimes I get lost in my count when trying to predict same or opposite. If this happens to you… I suggest you fall back to either one of the other styles (reaction/prevent), or do what I do… just always lean towards the same side as the shooter if you lose count hahaha… in my experience, the ball has a higher chance to bounce out the same side as the shooter.    

So what is the best style to use? The correct response is a combination of all the styles. You need to know the “reaction” style because it teaches you how to rebound all the bounces. Then you add in “anticipation” in order to predict where the ball will end up. Lastly, you add in “prevent” to keep the other rebounder from gaining position and stealing your rebound.

MISC

Pass back: all rebounders must learn to do this and do it well… this is where the shooter pump fakes, passes to you (the rebounder), the shooter then runs to an open spot, you immediately pass the ball back to them for a clear shot. Please do not waste time by trying to back down in the post and do all those moves… that does nothing but waste time.

Reverse rebound: this is where you boxout then rebound the ball without using any arrow keys. This means you don’t direct your character to jump towards the ball when rebounding; just get into position and press D.

Kal rebound: at certain levels you can immediately rebound the ball when it hits the rim without having to wait for it to drop a little. The higher level you are the higher the bounces you can “kal”.

Box-in: this is where you stand next to the other rebounder and don’t move so he/she can’t get into position to get the ball if it bounces your way. This becomes less effective in the higher levels since the other rebounder no longer need to go all the way out to get bounces.
Box-in: this is where you stand next to the other rebounder (most likely on the side bounces) and don't move at all. This prevents him/her from being able to get the side bounces because you are in the way. Just stand there, wait until the ball gets into your range and steal the rebound.

***some final thoughts***

• Go out and help your teammates if they get screened. Leave the paint to help.
• Notice the court and pass to the open person after getting the rebound.
• If you want to block people in the paint, it's recommended that you go face them. Don't try to block behind the other team's rebounder... you will likely fail to block if you attempt to do so behind a pillar.
• If the other rebounder likes to chip on you, just learn their tendencies and wait for the chip. 
• After using both male and female characters, I prefer my rebounder to be male. Additionally, I highly recommend making your rebounder the tallest possible.
• It doesn't matter if you use a center or a power forward when playing as rebounder. I prefer a center because they are better for kal rebounds and defense.