Boxing out is an absolute necessity if you won't play above the rim. Ralph won't.
However, Trevor will, and he gets away without boxing out a lot. Much like some of the more dominating rebounders ever. Rodman never boxed out. Ben Wallace rarely boxed out. They were willing and able to go get the ball as it was coming off the rim (above the rim). It is a special skill. Mbakwe has it. He rebounds out of his area better than any player we've had in a long time. Like Rodman and Barkley and other great rebounders, they simply just go get the ball. Forget about boxing out. And, they usually get it. Occasionally, as was the case on the FT yesterday, they whiff. But, not much.
Ralph doesn't rebound out of his area. He plays flat footed. Urgo, he MUST box out in a physical manner to gather the board. He doesn't do it very well.
To remotely suggest that Ralph is our most consistent player when his counterpart at forward is averaging a double-double is ludicrous. Add in the fact that Hoffarber is actually scoring MORE points as a PG than he was as a SG and the fact that he outscored AND OUTREBOUNDED Sampson yesterday - well that makes the suggestion even further off the mark, IMO.
No one is suggesting Ralph isn't a good player. He is. I simply feel he could be better. He has the size and skill to take it up another notch and someday maybe he will. His offensive game is getting better. He needs tremendous improvement in some other areas (as do many others on the team). It is frustrating for some in that there are times where he seems so disinterested in the game that it perpetuates a belief that he doesn't "want it" enough. I'm not suggesting that is reality, but I think it creates the higher frustration level for him from some of the fans. I know I feel that way at times and maybe it is unwarranted. By most accounts, he works hard outside of the normal practice times, etc.
