Brooklyn Nets: Explaining team’s poor defensive rebounding
Other potential explanations
So far, there isn’t a clear explanation for the team’s poor defensive rebounding, although Jordan’s decline in defensive rebounding rate thus far seems to provide part of the answer.
One of the team’s top three defensive rebounders — Jordan, Allen and Durant — have been on the floor for all but 15 minutes (Durant has played 32 minutes without Jordan or Allen). Pbpstats.com provides insight into how Brooklyn has rebounded as a team with each of these players on and off the floor.
Kevin Durant: On floor – 71.9 percent defensive rebounding percentage, Off floor – 65.0 percent
Jarrett Allen: On floor – 65.5 percent, Off floor – 72.7 percent
DeAndre Jordan: On floor – 75.0 percent, Off floor 65.4 percent
What jumps out here? With Durant on the floor, the Nets have rebounded at a rate that would rank 22nd in the NBA. With Jordan, the team has rebounded at a 12th-best rate. With Allen, Brooklyn has posted a rate even worse than the dead last 67.4 percent the team is currently at. This would seem to suggest that Allen is largely to blame for Brooklyn’s rebounding issues — a theory that is contradicted by the fact that as discussed, Allen’s defensive rebounding percentage has actually improved versus last season.
More from Brooklyn Nets
- Why the new-look Brooklyn Nets are guaranteed to surprise
- NBA Trades: This Mavs-Nets deal may lead to Dallas adding a third star
- 5 NBA players everyone should be keeping a close eye on in 2023-24
- 5 NBA players facing do-or-die 2023–2024 seasons
- Is Mikal Bridges the Brooklyn Nets next star?
It’s possible that when it comes to this statistic, Allen is at a disadvantage due to his teammates — something that has weighed down the team’s defensive rebounding with him on the floor. For example, 74.5 percent of Durant’s minutes have come with one of Allen or Jordan, while 69.4 percent of Jordan’s minutes have come with Durant or Allen. Allen, however, has only had a “fellow rebounder” on the floor with him 50.0 percent of the time. This surely was a notable reason for the ugly 65.5 percent rate with him on the floor.
Given that Durant has played with Allen or Jordan for 74.5 percent of his minutes, one would think the Nets would have rebounded fairly well with him on the floor. The fact Brooklyn has only rebounded at a 22nd-best rate suggests Durant should receive some of the blame. Even if his current defensive rebounding percentage (15.1 percent) is comparable to his last season with Golden State, this doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be faring better in this metric. Durant might be a perimeter player in many ways, but at 6-10, should he be a better rebounder? Perhaps. For reference, he’s averaged 7.1 per game over his career.
Overall, the answer to Brooklyn’s “defensive rebounding mystery” remains a bit unclear. Some metrics suggest Allen is to blame, while others suggest otherwise. As discussed, it’s possible Durant needs to step up more as a rebounder. Lastly, Jordan’s defensive rebounding has fallen off a bit this season, which could explain some of Brooklyn’s struggles on the glass. Still, the numbers argue that that the 32-year-old is still the team’s best rebounder, so it’s difficult to place too much of the blame on him.
In the end, a lot of a team’s success (or lack thereof) on the defensive glass comes down to effort. It’s not only Jordan, Allen or Durant that might need to commit a bit more to rebounding, however. This effort is needed from all five players on the floor, and it’s possible it’s the players not named Jordan, Allen or Durant that need to step up. Even though Allen is the lone big on the floor, there’s no excuse for the Brooklyn Nets only grabbing 65.5 percent of available rebounds.
Perhaps Brooklyn’s poor defensive rebounding won’t carry over the remainder of the season (small sample size). Perhaps it’s just been a fluke due to its opponents, some unlucky bounces, etc. Perhaps the Nets (5th in pace) are strategically not sending many players to the defensive glass as part of an effort to get out and run. Time will tell.
Next. NBA Power Rankings Week 2: The rise of the Hawks. dark
(Credit to NBA.com and pbpstats.com for statistics – up to date as of January 4th)