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May 8, 2009
With all due respect to Dwight Howard (13.8), Tim Duncan (10.7), Emeka Okafor (10.1) and Yao Ming (9.9), it’s my belief that the NBA rebound is one of the most overrated stats in basketball.
The thought occurred to me the other night when I was watching a second-round playoff game between Houston and Los Angeles. On back-to-back-to-back possessions, I saw Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher sky, scrap and scrum for a defensive rebound in the first half. I was shocked.
In many ways, I think the three consecutive possessions demonstrate perfectly what playoff basketball in the NBA is all about. Like the hard foul, the loud crowd or the intensity and drama of a Game 7, things are amplified in the playoffs. And rebounding is no different.
Guys value every possession of the playoffs. Be it Game 1 of the first round or Game 7 of the Finals, postseason possessions mean something. This is where legends are made and rings are won. It’s no wonder guys go to the boards with a little more passion this time of the season.
That’s not the case in the regular season, though, and that’s why I don’t put much stock into rebounding numbers.
After every missed shot during the regular season, it seems like there are three or four defenders waiting for the rebound. Usually, two or three of them will go up together and one of them easily will grab the missed shot without much fight from the offense.
Not exactly what comes to mind when I think world-class effort.
I’d say the aforementioned scenario still happens at least 50 percent of the time in the playoffs, but there is noticeable improvement.
I get it that these guys have far more strength and are far more athletic than your average ballplayer, but maybe that’s why I’m not impressed. I’ll admit that this might be like the “NBA players don’t play defense” debate we had in this blog last week; when things come so easily for such superior athletes, it tends to look less than spectacular to those of us watching at home.
But come on. When you’re the only one who even goes for the rebound, is it that hard to grab it?
Think about it. An assist gets a teammate a bucket. A steal gets your team an extra possession. A turnover costs your team a possession. A block prevents points. And points, of course — enough of them, anyway — win ballgames.
At times, rebounds can be incredibly important — particularly offensive rebounds. But outside of a few crucial, back-to-the-wall possessions in the playoffs, we just don’t see rebounding in the pros the way we do at other levels.
There are a number of reasons for it, not the least of which is the 24-second shot clock and the speed of NBA offenses.
When a shot goes up, each NBA offensive player has to make a decision: crash the boards or get back on D. More times than not the right decision is to get back. That increases the odds on defense, therein prolonging one’s stay on the court.
Outside of speed and shot clock, there are other factors at play here. Unlike the relentless worker in the Friday morning pick-up game at the Rec Center — we’ll call him Jesse Newell — NBA guards and forwards don’t stand much of a chance of outworking the towers that hang out in the paint for a rebound. I’m not saying that’s a good reason to stay off the boards, but I understand.
Here’s the deal, I respect and admire the heck out of the select few who hung around this game at its highest level and perfected the art of rebounding. The list of names of guys who practiced the craft instead of relying on athleticism and a lucky bounce is short and that’s just one of the reasons that rebounding statistics should not be regarded as highly as other categories.
Comments
jnewell (Jesse Newell) says...
I can honestly say that while reading, I never expected my name to pop up in a blog about NBA rebounding.
May 8, 2009 at 9:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
plotku (anonymous) says...
I can honestly say I zoned out after the first couple lines of this article. I mean this article is actually about the NBA and wether or not they rebound during the regular season. If someone could point out to me at all how this applies to KU sports, please feel free. Go write an article about NBA rebounding, on a NBA chat.
May 8, 2009 at 11:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
longhawk (anonymous) says...
Rebounding effort in the NBA begins and ends with Wilt and Russell. 22.9 and 22.5 per game for their careers, respectively. You have to go down more than 6 boards per game before you get to the #3 guy. With Wilt and Bill, you had a case of two guys that just flat out wanted the rebound more than anyone else. And more than that, they detested the thought that the other guy was going to get more than he was.
I'm sure there have been other guys that have put out reasonable amounts of "effort." But in the history of the NBA, there have been precisely 12 seasons where it took 20 or more boards per game to win the rebounding title, and every one of them have either Wilt or Bill as the winner.
May 8, 2009 at 12:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
matt_tait (Matt Tait) says...
Your point is well taken, plotku, but when we first started this blog, we divulged that there would be times when it would be about the NBA in general and less about KU.
This was one of those times. With only 2 former Jayhawks still playing in the NBA playoffs, and one of them being Pierce, who we blogged about last week, it's not all that easy to tie in KU players right now.
With that in mind, here's a look at the 2008-09 regular season rebounding numbers for the 11 former Jayhawks in the NBA.
Name ---- rpg ---- rp40min
Drew Gooden, SA ----- 7.1 ----- 13.7
Nick Collison, OKC ---- 6.9 ---- 12.8
Paul Pierce, BOS ---- 5.6 ----- 7.2
Darrell Arthur, MEM ---- 4.6 ----- 11.3
Brandon Rush, IND ---- 3.1 ----- 6.2
Julian Wright, NO ---- 2.8 ---- 9.5
Mario Chalmers, MIA ---- 2.8 ---- 4.2
Kirk Hinrich, CHI ---- 2.4 ----- 4.4
Darnell Jackson, CLE ---- 1.7 ----- 9.7
Jacque Vaughn, SA ---- 0.7 ----- 3.6
Raef LaFrentz, POR ---- 0.0 ---- 0.0 (did not play one minute during 2008-09 season)
Plenty of good 40-minute totals there, but not all of these guys are getting the kind of minutes to put up those kinds of numbers. In due time, I guess.
Quick question..... Other than Wilt, which former Jayhawk was the best NBA rebounder?
May 8, 2009 at 2:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
longhawk (anonymous) says...
Matt,
The second-best Jayhawk in the category of NBA rebounding is Bill Bridges. Bill was maybe a smidge over 6'5", but averaged 11.94 per game for his career, 17th-best all-time in the league. His total rebounds were 11,054, good for 26th all-time.
May 8, 2009 at 5:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
100 (anonymous) says...
Jaybate,
A bit off topic but I just noticed Kentucky has Patterson staying. They've essentially promised 16 scholarships to 13 players. From what I gather certain guys now don't even know if they're on the team, including Orton, who is now third in line behind Patterson & Cousins.
Interesting to see after all the shots you took that your vision of Self snagging Orton late could come true afterall.
May 11, 2009 at 6:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hometownhawk (anonymous) says...
per 48 minutes might have been more applicable to the NBA
May 12, 2009 at 1:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )