The Clippers Have a Rebounding Problem

I touched on this in the Thunder preview from last Thursday, but the Clippers have a rebounding problem, you guys. It's obviously waaaaay too early to be panicking with just three games gone, but we kinda saw it coming.


Last year, the Clippers ranked just 20th in the league in team rebound rate, which is an estimate of the percentage of missed shots a team rebounds in a given game. Finishing 20th out of 30 teams isn't catastrophically bad, but for a team that won 57 games, it's startlingly low. But, so far, they've been even worse in 2014. Through three games, the Clips rank dead-last in the league in rebounding rate. UH OH. They're coming in at 43.9 so far, and the next-worst team, the Hawks, are at 46.2. The Clippers aren't even really close.

It's not all that surprising, either, because the Clippers have been pretty mediocre to start the year. They've managed a 2-1 start, due mostly to the fact that they played the paralyzed Thunder and awful Lakers. Even with the easy start, those games were closer than they probably should've been, given the talent discrepancies on the floor.

DeAndre Jordan
Photo Credit - Keith Allison/Flickr

In Sunday's home loss to the Kings, the Clippers were out-rebounded 46-35. On the surface, you can easily point to the fact that the Clips missed way more shots than Sacramento did. L.A. had a whopping 20 more field goal attempts than the Kings did, but actually made five fewer. When the Clippers are bricking everything, of course they're going to get killed on the boards.

In Friday's aforementioned win over the Lakers, the Clippers were again beaten on the glass, this time by a 40-36 margin. Less egregious. Thursday against the Thunder? Clubbed once again, 49-33. Yikes.

So, what's the deal? This could be oversimplifying things, but the Clippers just don't have the manpower.

DeAndre Jordan was the best rebounder in the entire league a year ago, and has gotten off to a solid start once again, averaging nearly 11 boards a game, and 11.6 per 36 minutes. He also boasts an individual rebound rate of 19.6, which ranks 13th in the league among players that have averaged at least 20 minutes a game. BUT (you knew there was a "but" coming), last year, Jordan ranked third in the league in this area, with a 21.6 RBR. It doesn't look like a wide margin, but it is two fewer rebounds per game, and that will add-up over time.

How about Blake Griffin? We know he can rebound, right? Well...his rebounding has decreased on an annual basis, actually. As a rookie, Griffin grabbed 18.6% of all available rebounds, which was the 15th-best mark in the league. Last year? He ranked tied for 71st with Henry Sims and a rate of 14.7. Pretty insane drop. This year, it's even worse so far, as Blake is down to 11.6. Hmm. There's no debating how much Griffin has improved as an all-around player over the years, but his increasingly-effective offense appears to have contributed to his decreased rebounding.

Jordan is averaging 10.7 rebounds per game, while Griffin is second on the team with 7.3 Both are down substantially from their totals a year ago. After that? Spencer Hawes is L.A.'s third-best glass-eater thus far, with a whopping four per. For perspective, let's take a look at the current league-leader in RBR, the Kings. Sacto checks in with a rebound rate of 55.3, which is a higher number than last season's leader, OKC, had. The Kings have SEVEN players averaging at least four rebounds per game, including Darren Collison, who is their point guard. Yes, the Kings' point guard is currently grabbing almost two more boards a game than L.A.'s primary backup big man.

On the plus side, the Clippers will almost surely improve in this area as the sample sizes grow, if for no other reason than the percentages tend to even-out. Matt Barnes has averaged between four and six rebounds per game throughout the majority of his career, but he's at just 1.7 so far in 2014. Glen Davis hasn't played a minute as he's been sidelined with a groin injury, and he'll likely grab the boards that Hedo Turkoglu may be leaving on the table. Even Chris Paul and Jordan Farmar are currently below their career averages in that department.

The Clippers clearly have the talent currently on the roster to contend for one of the top spots in the Western Conference, but they definitely have a long way to go before they can be legitimately dreaming of championships. They can get away with being a mediocre rebounding team, but being dead-last in anything is, uh, not ideal. A few players shaking off some early-season rust should help bolster things, but if this problem persists for too long, L.A. may have to look for some rebounding help on the trade market.