Obi gets a lot of shit for his rebounding numbers. Could they be better? Sure. But everyone fails to recognize that he is essentially utilized like a deep ball wide receiver where he leaks out on the break the majority of the time rather than going for boards. This works out great when the Pacers grab the rebound but not so great when they fail to. He averaged 7.5 reb in college so the potential is there to grab more and would like to see him be a bit more strategic with leaking out vs boxing out.
I would argue that if he’s being used as a wide receiver type player that he’s being used poorly. Losing a rebounder is a much bigger issue than losing a deep ball threat. He should not be the first one down the Court but instead should be the trailer. It’s not him being first down the lane but him being faster than his defender in getting back. If he was a guard I would understand but his position, the defender is going in for the rebound and likewise so should he.