true dat. Rebounding is more about positioning and strength than it is about height (see Barkley, Charles). I think Yao will be a fine rebounder in the L. As has been said above, he'll need to work on fundamentals and bulk up some more, but I think he's shown the "want to" that's needed to be a good rebounder. I like the way he goes after loose balls. Whether he'll be a great rebounder is open quesiton. He's not always going to be right under the basket to get a lot of cheapies like Rodman did, due to the fact that he has more dimensions to his game, but on the defensive end, he should be able to clean up. He'll also rack up a few on put backs as he gets roughed up inside (without a call). Honestly, I think putting up big rebounding numbers is harder than ever for big men. The three has really changed the game. The simple physics of it is that long shots have a much higher liklihood of coming off the rim hard and long. Which puts a premium on hustle and speed to get to those balls. I think this also accounts for why guys like Stevie, JKidd and Baron Davis have great rebounding numbers. They just go get the loose ball. Ming will do just fine rebounding, certainly *much* better than MoT (don't get me started on his rebounding...). I also think we shouldn't measure Ming in terms of pure stats... he's going to affect the game in quite a few ways that aren't in the boxscore. -c
I would say he is more an exception. It is a combination of positioning, strength, height, and jumping ability. Barkley was really strong and positioned himself well to compensate for his height.
I know that this might seem irrelevant, but what was his vertical again? I think that he has not learned to box out because he has never needed to, which brings me to my next point maybe Steve can help. After all Steve is our best rebounder, but it does have to do with his vertical though.
steve's rebounding is attributed more to his instincts than his vertical, imo. steve flat out beats other people to the ball...just like jason kidd does. can steve jump? hell yeah. but he simply breaks on the ball faster than any other player on the court...well at least faster than any player wearing pajamas...