After Timberwolves 'punk'd' Memphis Grizzlies, Taylor Jenkins demands better rebounding

Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins made his point clear. When it comes to rebounding, there isn't a magic strategy that fixes the issues. Most of it comes down to will and effort.

The Minnesota Timberwolves played with more effort than the Grizzlies on Friday night at FedExForum. They were outrebounded by 26 in the 127-103 loss to the Timberwolves.

Grizzlies center Xavier Tillman Sr. agreed with Jenkins' thoughts on the effort. That is a large part of it, but he said they need more players committed to helping out on the glass.

When Tillman or another Grizzlies big is boxing out the opposing center, it's usually helpful if a teammate can get a body on another player crashing the glass, or assist in keeping the center off the boards. That's an area they didn't succeed in against Minnesota.

None of the Grizzlies starters recorded more than three rebounds.

"We're awful right now at team rebounding," Tillman said. "We put it all on one guy to do it all."

On a smaller scale, the Grizzlies (6-15) played one of the NBA's largest and most talented frontcourts. Rudy Gobert had 20 rebounds, with a season-high nine of them coming on the offensive glass. Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves (17-4) with 24 points.

"It was a challenge all night, no matter who we put on (Gobert)," Jenkins said. "We've got to be extremely better. They came in and punk'd us two games in a row now."

Steven Adams was one of the NBA's best at snagging them when he was healthy, but he's no longer an option this season. The Grizzlies signed Bismack Biyombo after their first five games of the season, and he had four double-digit rebounding games in his first four starts. Since then, however, he has topped 10 rebounds just once. He finished with two points and three rebounds against the Timberwolves.

Biyombo started the game guarding Towns. That matched Jaren Jackson Jr. up with Gobert, who was a major problem because of his length and positioning.

"They use their size to their advantage," Jackson said. "They seal a lot, they open the floor for each other and set crazy screens sometimes."

The Grizzlies entered Friday ranked 18th in offensive rebounding, 23rd in defensive rebounding and 15th in total rebounding. In the past four seasons, they have finished in the top seven in rebounding.

Santi Aldama, coming off the bench, had 10 rebounds. And Ja Morant, Luke Kennard and Marcus Smart will help the Grizzlies get better when they return in the coming weeks. None is expected to consistently battle the likes of Gobert for rebounds, so the team will need internal improvement.

“Just kind of having an edge on defense, physically," said David Roddy, who had three rebounds and 13 points. "Just making it tough, whether it's someone backdoor cutting or someone coming off a screen. Sometimes there's no resistance. We have to have that physicality. It's physical through pick-and-roll screens, forcing some weak screens and things of that nature. It dropped today, but we're definitely going to improve on it.”

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This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Grizzlies rebounding struggles stand out vs Timberwolves