The part of Otto Porter’s game that has surprised Draymond Green
Porter has been one factor in the Warriors' rebounding resurgence that
leads the NBA in defensive boards
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 15: The Golden State Warriors’
Otto Porter Jr. enjoys playing the Portland Trailblazers during the
fourth quarter of the preseason finale, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at Chase
Center in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 15: The Golden State Warriors’
Otto Porter Jr. enjoys playing the Portland Trailblazers during the
fourth quarter of the preseason finale, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at Chase
Center in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
By EVAN WEBECK | ewebeck@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 5, 2021 at 5:10 p.m. | UPDATED: November 5, 2021 at
5:41 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/11/05/the-part-of-otto-porters-game-that-has-surprised-draymond-green/

SAN FRANCISCO — One thing Draymond Green has learned about new teammate
Otto Porter Jr.: the guy knows how to clean glass. It may not look like
it in the stat sheet, but Porter has been an unheralded part of Golden
State’s unexpected rebounding resurgence.

The Warriors are leading the NBA with 40.7 defensive boards per game, a
16.1% improvement from last year. The 4.0 per game from Porter show up
in bigger ways than the stat sheet, according to Green.

“I’m not sure how many rebounds he’s averaging, but I do know when I’m
watching a game, Otto Porter comes up with big rebounds. He comes up
with rebounds in traffic,” Green said. “That’s something I didn’t know
he had to his game.”

Porter, according to Basketball Reference, is playing the most minutes
of his career at the 5 spot, almost half his time on the court this
season. Coming off two seasons marred by injury, Porter has also taken
on a more refined role, averaging the fewest minutes of his career (17.1
per game) since his rookie season.

It wasn’t Green or Andre Iguodala or Gary Payton II who was crowned the
defensive player of the month for the first portion of the season.
Porter Jr. took home the prize, an in-house honor created by assistant
coach Mike Brown.

“I get no love from Mike Brown,” Green joked.

The success on the boards is a team effort, led by veterans such as
Porter and Green and Iguodala. It doesn’t hurt when point guard Stephen
Curry occasionally grabs double-digit rebounds, too.

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Green is leading the way with 8.9 per game, followed by Curry’s
career-best 7.6, but five other players are contributing at least 4.0
per game. Altogether, Golden State has gone from a middle-of-the-road
rebounding team to one of the NBA’s best.

“To me it’s just having a lot of veteran players who understand the
value of boxing out,” coach Steve Kerr said. “You get four guys boxing
out and one guy going for the ball, you’re going to get your share. We
haven’t had some of the leaks … letting guys run in there and get a free
run at the hoop … because we’ve got veteran guys who are locked in and
taking care of their man, boxing out every time.”

It starts on the defensive end, where the Warriors are the top-rated
team in the league through seven games.

“If you’re in good defensive position, that’s the first step to
rebounding, being in the right position,” Green said. “I think when you
look around, we have a scrappy team. We have a good defensive team that
tries to stay in the right position, and that helps with our rebounding.”

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Evan Webeck | Reporter
Evan Webeck covers high-school sports on the field and beyond — and a
little bit of everything else — for the Bay Area News Group. A Pacific
Northwest native and graduate of Arizona State, Evan has previously
worked for The Seattle Times, MLB.com and Sports Illustrated.