Spurs must make offensive rebounding their secret weapon to crush Thunder and Knicks

The San Antonio Spurs' preseason is well underway, and they may already be unleashing their secret weapon: offensive rebounding. It's an often overlooked aspect of the game, but one that could help them dominate their rivals, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks.

The Spurs flirted with crashing the glass last season and appear to be making a concerted effort in preseason so far.

Much of that has been due to rookie Tarris Reed Jr., who's grabbed a staggering 16 offensive boards in just 72 minutes during the preseason. Not only that, but San Antonio has relied heavily on rebounding from non-bigmen.

Last season, Dylan Harper showed significant promise as an offensive rebounder and even grabbed at least three offensive boards seven times while coming off the bench. Meanwhile, Keldon Johnson grabbed at least three offensive rebounds 19 times last season.

Factor in other good rebounding wings such as Stephon Castle and Julian Champagnie, and the Spurs are well positioned to crash the glass this season.

The Spurs can dominate Thunder and Knicks by beating them on the glass

The Spurs focusing on dominating the offensive glass could be a winning strategy against their rivals, the Knicks and Thunder. San Antonio's offense ground to a halt against New York in the NBA Finals and certainly could have used an extra boost.

The Knicks previously beat the Spurs in the NBA Cup Finals by dominating the offensive glass. San Antonio could have counteracted that by having Harper and Wembanyama do the same.

Harper in particular has shown a knack for swooping in for extra chance points when defenses aren't laser-focused on him. As for the Thunder, San Antonio used that strategy to perfection in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

Victor Wembanyama countered being guarded by Alex Caruso by attacking the glass on offense and racking up nine second-chance boards. That changed the outlook of the series with the Thunder moving away from having a guard defend Wembanyama.

Now, if other teams try to defend him with a guard, he should actively attempt to punish them on the glass. Not only would it give Antonio additional possessions, but it would also keep opponents from scoring easy points in transition, with them having to send two or three players to box him out.

Spurs must make offensive rebounding their secret weapon

San Antonio already boasted a fourth-ranked offense last season, but they could be even better with internal development as well as more focus on rebounding. Second-chance opportunities would help the Spurs win the possession battle and give them an added edge.

Last season, they ranked just 15th in offensive rebounding but were within 0.5 rebounds per game of being in the top 10. It's not a stretch to say that the Spurs could and should be a top 10 offensive rebounding team. In doing so, they could take a page out of their rivals, the Houston Rockets', playbook.

Houston couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, but they dominated the offensive glass, helping to negate their questionable shooting. San Antonio has more spacing and a better overall offense, but making good use of their size and wing rebounding to grab extra possessions seems like a great strategy.

All told, with the addition of Reed Jr. to go along with Wembanyama and Luke Kornet and several strong wing rebounders, the Spurs could make a concerted effort to dominate the offensive glass. In doing so, they could slow down even the best teams by generating second-chance points, as well as keeping them out of transition, thus improving their defense and championship chances.

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