I thought the Wolves were going to struggle this year on the boards after replacing Love/Cunningham at PF with an historically poor rebounder and a guy coming off a terrible rookie year. But after 4 games, the Wolves are 6th in the league in rebounding, averaging 6 boards per game more than their opponents and outrebounding 3 out of 4 opponents.
What I am seeing is a team where it's everyone's responsibility to rebound, and the results have been stellar. Rubio 6.3, Martin 5.3. have been especially noteworthy, not to mention the centers grabbing almost 15 a game. Even Robbie gave us 5 rebounds in the 11 minutes he played after Thad got knocked out against the Bulls.
I don't know if this rebounding success is sustainable, but if it is, the Wolves are going to surprise a lot of experts this season.
Rebounding
Re: Rebounding
This is one of the reasons I absolutely did not want Brewer in the starting lineup -- we need rebounding skills from every position, and that ain't Brewer.
And I can't say enough how well Kevin Martin is playing, on both sides of the floor. I think his comment about "riding the coattails of other players" referred to not needing to impose his will on the game since there were others who could do it. But he has come into this season with the mindset that he needs to impose his will on the game. And we are seeing a reborn K-Mart. Now if only we can keep him and Pek healthy...
And I can't say enough how well Kevin Martin is playing, on both sides of the floor. I think his comment about "riding the coattails of other players" referred to not needing to impose his will on the game since there were others who could do it. But he has come into this season with the mindset that he needs to impose his will on the game. And we are seeing a reborn K-Mart. Now if only we can keep him and Pek healthy...
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Camden [enjin:6601484]
- Posts: 18065
- Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 12:00 am
Re: Rebounding
Yep. Them Wolves are dangerous. Much better than even I anticipated.
Re: Rebounding
Good thread its been a surprise strength and you are right on its a team thing. Is it sustainable? Idk but here are some factors to consider.
You listed Dante as a factor to replace in rebounding. I'm not wanting to rip on Dante too much here but his rebounding rate is poor. 20mpg 4.1 rebounds is basically the rate Bennett is giving us right now which isn't amazing but yeah Dante isn't gonna be hard to replace or improve on.
We knew Rubio was a good rebounder and its been magified but Martin has been the surprise hitting the glass. Wiggins is an upgrade over Brewer as a rebounder in the starting lineup as well.
Dieng is playing a good chunk of minutes every game and one thing he can do is rebound. Turiaf rebounded well last year but I think Dieng is an upgrade in rebounding at C from last year and I think at some point we will see some time when Pek and Dieng play together.
Team hustle. Nobody shows this more than maybe Bazz who is getting limited minutes but playing a lot of his mins at SG he is averaging 2.8 rebounds in less than 12 mins. That's a factor in and of itself but you have guys flying all over the place tipping balls keeping them alive etc. Its one thing for a team concept but guys are really playing hard as well which is big for rebounding. Bennett and Wiggins are really guys that seem to get their hands on balls to keep them alive.
Overall it just seems like whatever defensive schemes Flip has been using gets everyone involved and enables guys to get more involved in rebounding as well. I can't really explain why I think this but it SEEMS this way.
One last thing is other than being undersized at PF (both Bennett and Young use their quickness on Defense to their advantage though) this actually is a pretty long team everywhere else. Williams is the only short perimeter player but he is fine as a combo guard and everyone else is at least average if not above average plus 2 legit sized centers. For just one example of the team's length is Rubio at PG that helps in rebounding and in defense overall.
Wolves other than Dieng don't block shots instead they turn teams over a lot so that takes away some posessions they have to rebound.
Rebounding is something that will be interesting to follow but there are some reasons above to have hope it isn't a total fluke.
You listed Dante as a factor to replace in rebounding. I'm not wanting to rip on Dante too much here but his rebounding rate is poor. 20mpg 4.1 rebounds is basically the rate Bennett is giving us right now which isn't amazing but yeah Dante isn't gonna be hard to replace or improve on.
We knew Rubio was a good rebounder and its been magified but Martin has been the surprise hitting the glass. Wiggins is an upgrade over Brewer as a rebounder in the starting lineup as well.
Dieng is playing a good chunk of minutes every game and one thing he can do is rebound. Turiaf rebounded well last year but I think Dieng is an upgrade in rebounding at C from last year and I think at some point we will see some time when Pek and Dieng play together.
Team hustle. Nobody shows this more than maybe Bazz who is getting limited minutes but playing a lot of his mins at SG he is averaging 2.8 rebounds in less than 12 mins. That's a factor in and of itself but you have guys flying all over the place tipping balls keeping them alive etc. Its one thing for a team concept but guys are really playing hard as well which is big for rebounding. Bennett and Wiggins are really guys that seem to get their hands on balls to keep them alive.
Overall it just seems like whatever defensive schemes Flip has been using gets everyone involved and enables guys to get more involved in rebounding as well. I can't really explain why I think this but it SEEMS this way.
One last thing is other than being undersized at PF (both Bennett and Young use their quickness on Defense to their advantage though) this actually is a pretty long team everywhere else. Williams is the only short perimeter player but he is fine as a combo guard and everyone else is at least average if not above average plus 2 legit sized centers. For just one example of the team's length is Rubio at PG that helps in rebounding and in defense overall.
Wolves other than Dieng don't block shots instead they turn teams over a lot so that takes away some posessions they have to rebound.
Rebounding is something that will be interesting to follow but there are some reasons above to have hope it isn't a total fluke.
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The Rage Monster [enjin:8010341]
- Posts: 330
- Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 12:00 am
Re: Rebounding
I was never too worried about replacing Love's rebounding, so much of his rebounding was just him stuffing his stats. It was like he'd sell out defensively for rebounds because he knew rebounding was a big part of his rise as a player. He'd almost fight teammates for uncontested rebounds and he'd look upset if a teammate "stole" a rebound from him.