So far the Clippers are getting away with wins even with a very poor rebounding record. They are number 29 in defensive rebounding (31.7 rebounds/game) and last in offensive rebounding (7.2 rebounds/game). I have always thought that rebounding is vital for a contending championship team in NBA.
However, the rebounding records (ESPN stats) of the last 5 NBA champions opened my eyes me and now can see the logic of Doc’s attitude/philosophy in rebounding specially that of offensive rebounds.
So, here are the rebounding stats for the last 5 REGULAR SEASONS of the previous champions:
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|
|
Offensive |
Reb/game |
Defensive |
Reb./Game |
Year |
Team |
Rank |
Own |
Opponents |
Own |
Opponents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2013-2014 |
San Antonio |
12 |
9.3 |
10.5 |
34.0 |
31.7 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
2012-2013 |
Miami |
30 |
8.2 |
11.2 |
30.4 |
28.9 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
2011-2012 |
Miami |
21 |
10.4 |
11.0 |
31.2 |
28.7 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
2010-2011 |
Dallas |
14 |
9.5 |
10.7 |
31.9 |
30.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2009-2010 |
2 |
11.9 |
11.2 |
33.1 |
31.6 |
As compared to their POST SEASONS stats:
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|
|
Offensive |
Reb/game |
Defensive |
Reb./Game |
Year |
Team |
Rank |
Own |
Opponents |
Own |
Opponents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2013-2014 |
San Antonio |
7 |
9.4 |
9.6 |
32.6 |
30.6 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
2012-2013 |
Miami |
14 |
9.7 |
11.5 |
28.4 |
28.8 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
2011-2012 |
Miami |
11 |
10.2 |
10.7 |
30.3 |
28.7 |
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|
|
|
|
|
2010-2011 |
Dallas |
12 |
9.7 |
11.3 |
28.7 |
28.8 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
2009-2010 |
Los Angeles |
3 |
12.8 |
11.5 |
30.1 |
28.5 |
Among the 5 previous champions, only the Los Angeles Lakers were dominant in rebounding primarily because of their 2 bigs in Bynum and Gasol in 2009-2010 season. The rest were middle packers and so so rebounding teams. However in 2012-2013 season, Miami got away with their very poor rebounding stats both in the regular season and the playoff (# 30 & #14!) which could be an outlier. Miami however ranked #7 in offense and # 3 in defense during the 2012-2013 playoff.
To assist an analyst further in trying to see the whole picture, it helps to find out how these teams ranked in offense and defense during the playoff:
|
|
|
Offense |
|
Defense |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2013-2014 |
San Antonio |
4 |
106.4 |
7 |
97.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2012-2013 |
Miami |
7 |
97.1 |
3 |
90.7 |
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|
|
2011-2012 |
Miami |
3 |
97.3 |
6 |
90.3 |
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2010-2011 |
Dallas |
3 |
98.2 |
5 |
92.5 |
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|
|
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2009-2010 |
Lakers |
4 |
101.1 |
9 |
97.3 |
The Clippers right now (after 19 games) are # 5 in offense (106.4 points/game) and # 9 in defense (98.5 points/game), but # 29 in rebounding (37.1 defensive and 7.2 offensive) which is almost comparable to that of Miami, the champs of 2012-2013 season.
Our rebounding though is very slowly improving but is still far off from that of our last year’s ranking (# 14) and average rebounding (43.0 rebounds/game).
Can the Clippers be the Miami of 2012-2013 season for this year?