We've been out rebounded by 4 on the season while having 14 more defensive rebounding opportunities than our opponents. Teams normally rebound far better on defense than offense. So while Lopez had a great game yesterday I remain very concerned about this teams rebounding. I'm sure there is a bit of truth in what you say, a teammate doing a good job of boxing out can help others on the team rebound. But conceptually I still think if a player is not getting the rebound than it is available to 9 other players on the court and much of the time his teammate will not be the one to secure the ball.
Yeah that attitude drives me nuts. Nate said in his original post this was a 3 game sample size, every poster in the thread is aware of that. But there is always some smart ass sticking their head in the middle of every discussion saying we will know more in the future. Duh we all are aware of that.
Not if he is boxing his player out of the play then you have to at least subtract that player. Which eliminates their main rebounder on most teams. If that is what we plan then we'll have players to corral the rebounds which is exactly what we did with Duckworth when we led the league in rebounds.
Putting everything else aside my FAVORITE thing about Lopez, and it was my favorite thing about Joel, is that he isn't afraid to knock your ass on the ground with a little added zest.
[video=youtube;d1s-YEOs85I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1s-YEOs85I[/video] While searching for that I found this by Lopez [video=youtube;fUILpQCfSBU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUILpQCfSBU[/video] I just love watching videos of Blake getting blocked to the floor then crying like a little girl
Its the league now adays, you can't touch their money makers with anything like a hard foul without getting ejected and every slight bump sends them to the line. Just look at the NYK vs The Wolves tonight, Love shot more FT's then the entire Knicks team and half the time he went to the line I couldn't even see a foul.
I get your point, but do you see anyone on this roster who was as relentless on the boards as Buck, Mercy, or even Clyde?
LaMarcus can't rebound like Buck Williams and Wesley can't rebound like Clyde Drexler. Lopezs role on the team is not a scorer and he is not an elite defender so he needs to do more on the boards than playing for a draw. Rebounding isn't that important when you are shooting lights out as we were these last two games but when we shoot close to the same percentage as other teams they will get many more opportunities at defensive rebounds. I'm sadly expecting our rebounding to then be a more visible weakness.
Really? A "smart ass?" I don't think this phrase means what you think it means FYI: That was being a "smart ass"
Who thought Jordan would be a better defender than Lopez? http://stats.nba.com/playerTrackingDefense.html?pageNo=1&rowsPerPage=25 Lopez is making a better "defensive impact" than Jordan. In fact, Lopez 16th in the entire league for "defensive impact"; better than Howard, Jordan, Asik and Sanders.
{Small sample size alert} It appears to me, so far, that although Lopez is very good at boxing out, he is not so good at grabbing rebounds, and often has them snatched away. No lift. So, it's good that he boxes out and his teammates are aware enough to crash the boards for the rebound.
