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5 days ago

Painful Reminders (Part I): The Celtics Drafted JaJuan Johnson Instead of Jimmy Butler

On June 23rd, 2011, Brian Robb and I stood around a high top bar table in Tommy Doyle’s in Kendall Square.  Before us lay one of the biggest mounds of buffalo chicken wings I had ever endeavor to make disappear.  These 25 cent flappers- one of the few indulgences afforded to the participants of our [...]

16
6 days ago

Chris Wilcox: 2012-13 Final Grade

There are a number of contextually-appropriate ways to craft this post. One would be to forgo words entirely, and represent Chris Wilcox’s entire season with a series of videos. That would involve one part of this: For every eight parts of this: Note the headline on that second clip. Someone was so amused/enraged by Wilcox’s [...]

12
7 days ago

Rajon Rondo’s 2012-13 Final Grade

Here’s a sweeping general statement involving super specific statistics that may or may not mean anything: In the 1423 minutes Rajon Rondo played this season, the Boston Celtics were outscored by 1.3 points per 100 possessions. When he sat (including all contests after he tore his ACL), Boston was better than their opponents by 1.8 [...]

92
8 days ago

Avery Bradley Elected to NBA All-Defense Second Team

Avery Bradley has been a standout defender for the past couple seasons…in the regular season anyway. Now he has a trophy to prove it. The NBA announced this afternoon that the third-year guard has been elected by coaches around the league to the second-team all-NBA defensive team for the first time in his career. Bradley [...]

13
11 days ago

Paul Pierce’s Contract: Dispelling The Myths and Stating The Facts

The first domino to fall this offseason is Paul Pierce’s contract. Until Danny Ainge figures out what he’s doing there, little else matters. As we wait for this decision, we also must face the rest of the offseason, which means it is also rumor season. With that time of year, comes plenty of information floating [...]

42
11 days ago

Final Grade: Avery Bradley (C+)

In his third year in the league, in which promising players often make brash leaps from benchwarmer to starter, from starter to star, Avery Bradley took a big step back. But his regression might be deceptive. When he returned to the Celtics’ lineup on January the 2nd after two in-season months recovering from offseason shoulder [...]

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About Those Rebounding Problems


It’s an article of faith that the Celtics are a terrible rebounding team. Everyone knows the Celtics eschew offensive rebounds and everyone regularly seizes upon the chance to excoriate the Celtics for their inability to clean the glass after missed shots.

The problem with that line of thinking is that the Celtics are an excellent defensive rebounding team.

Again, for emphasis: in the single area of rebounding that draws their attention (defensive) the Celtics are one of the most proficient teams in the league. As of this morning, the Celtics are tied for 7th in the league with a 74.0 DRR. That puts them ahead of Miami, the Lakers, OKC, Chicago and the Clippers.

These numbers are built on the backs of Kevin Garnett (24.5 DRR) Jared Sullinger (21.9) and Paul Pierce (17.9, his best number in the Big Three era).

So, that’s the good news.

The bad news is that Sullinger is a foul prone rookie averaging only 17.7 minutes a night and when Doc Rivers extends Garnett’s minutes beyond his standard 30, his efficiency craters. That leaves only Pierce, he of the small forward position and 35 years of age, as the Celtics lone “full-time” player. That’s why Brandon Bass, whose shooting and rotations have been mediocre-to-awful on any given night, continues to log heavy court time. He’s fourth in line with a 16.1 DRR.

The takeaway: the Celtics take care of their own glass when some combination of KG, Sully and Pierce are on the floor together. That’s where we default back to the common wisdom. Given the limitations with each of those three players and the weak rebounders behind them (particularly Jason Collins and Jeff Green), the Celtics probably do remain shy a legitimate rebounder if they still harbor hopes of making a deep playoff run in the spring.

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