Why Can't KG Rebound Anymore?

[Celtics17]

Rebounding is all about timing, desire, and determination. KG has the last two but his timing is not good since his hops are gone. Yeah, I know, he still has them on occasion but as someone else pointed out he never learned to box out because he didnt need to. His explosiveness will come back although relative to his age. Knee surgeries are weird things. Everyone thinks you should be able to do this or that but you can see that KG just can't do some things, like rebound.

[Who]

A depressing stat from Elias Sports

Pau Gasol collected nine offensive rebounds in Game 7, lifting his total to 35 during the series against Boston. That's the third-highest total of offensive rebounds in a Finals series since the NBA began recording offensive rebounds in the 1973-74 season; Moses Malone had 46 in six games in 1981 and Dennis Rodman had 41 in six games in 1996.

[wiley]

KG is not going to return to rebounding prominence.

But, KG is going to remain the glue of this team.....and if you think he's not the glue.....you're wrong (anti-climactic smack down).

The glue factor is what will allow us to continue to be an awesome defensive team, basically.  No KG, no stifling defense....

On offense his scoring may go up a tad next year but not much....mainly on offense he's going to continue to be an excellent facilitator, passer, ball mover, team player.....

The good news is that his defensive and to some extent offensive glue is something he can provide without playing big minutes.  His mere presence on the team, in practice, etc...gets a lot of it done....KG makes others better.....one day he'll be gone and I hope we can find a replacement with his unifying skills and leadership....

[snively]

----

Considering the matchups Los Angeles choose (Kobe on Rondo neutralized the threat of Rondo's rebounding), the Celtics and Lakers perimeter players were fairly even on the backboards.

Therefore, with the Lakers advantage with their big men, the Lakers should win the rebounding battle versus the Celtics.

This is one reason why I'm in favor of adding Mike Miller.  By adding such a big 2-guard, the C's would be able to punish teams for sending their 2 guard to Rondo.  Miller would have owned Fisher on the boards and had no problem shooting over and driving through him. 

As for KG vs. Pau, KG's getting old and Pau in his prime is about as good a rebounder as KG was in his prime with those long arms and really good hands.

 

[Big Ticket]

lift.... or lack thereof

[Jevi]

People simply forgot his injury was not to be completely healed til next season,he told us that. So,knowing this,give the man credit for what he provided this team. He is a winner,period.

[PosImpos]

Try rebounding with lead weights on your shoes.  Yeah, it's kinda like that.

[thedawg]

Wallace had 10 rebounds, so did Pierce.  Glen Davis had 9 rebounds in limited minutes.  KG is the tallest of those guys, yet he only had 3 rebounds and let Gasol get 18.  I don't get it.  I realize he's not as quick, but neither is Wallace and he rebounded well.  And how does the much smaller Davis, Pierce and even Rondo outrebound KG.  He's 7'1" tall for crying out loud!
I'm at a loss for words.
OK, I feel a little better now.

I find this a legit argument and I agree. KG was not half the player he has been after his injury and also start doing things I havent seen him to before (ie. hitting Howard´s hands in the Orlando series being). Perhaps frustrations because not being able to play 100% but clearly, KG should be able to rebound better any day, even in a wheelchair, than Big Baby Davis.

I for one am look forward to the situation when we can shop KG´s contract around. It could be a decisive factor in how Ainge shapes the C´s future but too soon to talk about.

[Bankshot]

Wallace had 10 rebounds, so did Pierce.  Glen Davis had 9 rebounds in limited minutes.  KG is the tallest of those guys, yet he only had 3 rebounds and let Gasol get 18.  I don't get it.  I realize he's not as quick, but neither is Wallace and he rebounded well.  And how does the much smaller Davis, Pierce and even Rondo outrebound KG.  He's 7'1" tall for crying out loud!
I'm at a loss for words.
OK, I feel a little better now.

I find this a legit argument and I agree. KG was not half the player he has been after his injury and also start doing things I havent seen him to before (ie. hitting Howard´s hands in the Orlando series being). Perhaps frustrations because not being able to play 100% but clearly, KG should be able to rebound better any day, even in a wheelchair, than Big Baby Davis.

I for one am look forward to the situation when we can shop KG´s contract around. It could be a decisive factor in how Ainge shapes the C´s future but too soon to talk about.

What really ticked me off is that KG had a conversation with Sheed where he told him he needed 10 pts and 10 rebounds from him.  Sheed gets the 10 rebounds like KG asked, but KG himself only pulls down 3.

[drza44]

Puzzling thread.  Yes, Garnett didn't board like he used to.  He couldn't, as some have pointed out, in large part because his legs weren't what they used to be.

What many seem to be missing, though, is that the other parts of his defense were stellar and play a large part in why he needs so much athleticism to rebound.  I'm seeing people in here talk about boxing out, and desire, and how KG used to be able to outjump people so he didn't develop fundamentals.  But in order to be good at boxing out, you have to turn your back on both your man and the other offensive players before the ball even goes up and start working yourself into position to catch the carom earlier.  KG doesn't do that...in most cases, he can't.

Because the way that KG plays defense, he faces up on his man and keeps his eyes on the help defensive rotations through the entire possession.  He also often hounds his own man and/or helps on defense out to the 3-point line.  This is part of what makes him such a lock-down defender and defensive anchor, but doing this leaves less time to prep for defensive boards and requires that he cover more ground to get there.  Now, in his prime this didn't matter because he was so ridiculously long and athletic that he could start late and out of position and still vacuum in the boards.  Last season without his quick-jump abilities, he couldn't do that to the same level.

But the weird part of this thread is that so many seem to be blaming KG for the lack of boards without crediting him for the defense.  The Celtics defense was lock-down in '08, struggled in '09, and was lock-down again in '10.  Not coincidentally, the lock-down years all corresponded to KG's presence. 

Likewise, through 3 full rounds and 5 Finals games (harder to calculate for the last 2 games with different rotations) KG's individual assignments (Beasley, Jamison, Lewis and Gasol) were averaging a combined 9 points/36 minutes on 36% FG in 523 minutes when KG guarded them and a combined 21 points/36 minutes on 53% FG in 234 minutes against the Celtics when KG wasn't guarding them. I think it's safe to say that KG's defensive effort went beyond good into absurd in the postseason.

Yes, the ideal would be for KG to lock up his man, play the best help defense in the NBA, then clean the glass.  He could do that in his prime.  He could do it in '08.  Who knows, if his knee really was still healing maybe he'll be able to do it again in '11.  In '10 he was only able to consistently do 2 of those 3 things, but he still did them at historic levels and was quite probably the best defensive player in the NBA at any position in the postseason.  I mean, I'd like more, but really...I think he did his job.  With his physical limitations, he gave up some on the boards in exchange for the defense...I can't really say that was a bad exchange.

[Jevi]

Pour it on,let's all act like the c's should've been to the Finals last year without KG. Then let's act like he wasn't injured at all,& told the following year he'd be 100%. Oh I know,let's forget that he was part of why they were up by 13 in the first place. Baby getting 9 rebounds means nothing if the offense totally collapses and can't score enough while he's on the court.

[GreenFaith1819]

TP to drza44.

Sure - I've noticed KG's rebounding performance like the next man, but there is no one in the NBA right now that I would trade him for.

Mark it down.

As our Defensive Anchor, he means too much to us.

Ask Chris Bosh a year from now what (or who) kept him and MIA from going further in the playoffs.

Gasol had 19 pts in that Game 7, but he shot like 5 for 15. He did most of his board work early on, in the 1st and 2nd periods. KG had two denials on him as well.

I had a poster remind me just a couple of days ago (Change, I believe), when we had a conversation about Marquis Daniels and his worth to us.

The point was - Marquis, while being a good player for us, he did not impact us on the Defensive End as much as TA did. It took me a while to see the argument, but I agreed with Change.

Well, KG impacts us Defensively, just like drza44 stated. To me, that will be the difference as this season. I believe his rebounding will be better, as well. He will be a year removed from the knee injury.

[Boris Badenov]

Wallace had 10 rebounds, so did Pierce.  Glen Davis had 9 rebounds in limited minutes.  KG is the tallest of those guys, yet he only had 3 rebounds and let Gasol get 18.  I don't get it.  I realize he's not as quick, but neither is Wallace and he rebounded well.  And how does the much smaller Davis, Pierce and even Rondo outrebound KG.  He's 7'1" tall for crying out loud!
I'm at a loss for words.
OK, I feel a little better now.

I find this a legit argument and I agree. KG was not half the player he has been after his injury and also start doing things I havent seen him to before (ie. hitting Howard´s hands in the Orlando series being). Perhaps frustrations because not being able to play 100% but clearly, KG should be able to rebound better any day, even in a wheelchair, than Big Baby Davis.

I for one am look forward to the situation when we can shop KG´s contract around. It could be a decisive factor in how Ainge shapes the C´s future but too soon to talk about.

What really ticked me off is that KG had a conversation with Sheed where he told him he needed 10 pts and 10 rebounds from him.  Sheed gets the 10 rebounds like KG asked, but KG himself only pulls down 3.

Perhaps in that same conversation, Sheed told KG that he only needed 3.

[WeMadeIt17]

I think KG will have a better year this year. Remeber after his surgery the said it really would take a whole year to get better so if he looked 75% I will take that. With people like KG I know its him giving his all, all the time. Now if say LeBron did like he did against Boston then I would say it seems like he doesn't care. But if you look in KG's eyes you know he cares. I love KG and he will have a better year because he will be healthy. Mark my words.

[Bankshot]

Wallace had 10 rebounds, so did Pierce.  Glen Davis had 9 rebounds in limited minutes.  KG is the tallest of those guys, yet he only had 3 rebounds and let Gasol get 18.  I don't get it.  I realize he's not as quick, but neither is Wallace and he rebounded well.  And how does the much smaller Davis, Pierce and even Rondo outrebound KG.  He's 7'1" tall for crying out loud!
I'm at a loss for words.
OK, I feel a little better now.

I find this a legit argument and I agree. KG was not half the player he has been after his injury and also start doing things I havent seen him to before (ie. hitting Howard´s hands in the Orlando series being). Perhaps frustrations because not being able to play 100% but clearly, KG should be able to rebound better any day, even in a wheelchair, than Big Baby Davis.

I for one am look forward to the situation when we can shop KG´s contract around. It could be a decisive factor in how Ainge shapes the C´s future but too soon to talk about.

What really ticked me off is that KG had a conversation with Sheed where he told him he needed 10 pts and 10 rebounds from him.  Sheed gets the 10 rebounds like KG asked, but KG himself only pulls down 3.

Perhaps in that same conversation, Sheed told KG that he only needed 3.

LOL.

Guys, this was a knee jerk thread I started right after the loss.  I was soooo mad!  Still not happy with KG's rebounding, but I'm over it now.