Still Something Missing
Dwight Howard’s 24 rebounds against the Hawks Wednesday night, March the 24th, is the strongest example of why Atlanta still has a piece missing in order for them to go on their pursuit for a championship. God bless Al Horford. He is a great player, a warrior but every time he faces a stud Center, it gets evident that he’s undersized. At 6’10, Horford isn’t as tall as most of the Centers on the NBA and that’s a factor on defense.
Atlanta ranks 20th on the NBA in rebound rate, even worst, 24th on the league in defensive rebound rate. Statement of the year: Rebounds are important. By definition, rebound is the act of successfully gaining possession of the basketball after a missed FG or FT. Rebounds in basketball are a routine part of the game, as all possessions change after a shot is successfully made. Basically, rebound is a crucial part of the game because it enables the team to get an extra possession or avoid that the opposing team to do so.
The Hawks are a playoff team. They are clearly making improvements step by step, season by season. Atlanta has a near complete roster. Jammal Crawford & Joe Johnson are closers, Mike Bibby & Mo Evans are shooters, Marvin Williams & Al Horford are stretch 4s, Joe Smith & Zaza Pachulia are bench contributors and Josh Smith is a wildcard. The one thing they have missing is the low post presence that can crash the boards.
What happened Wednesday night wasn’t a fluke, a one game thing. On the season series against Hawks (4 games), Howard grabbed 17, 7, 19 and 24 rebounds. That means that Howard owns the paint against the Hawks. That doesn’t diminish the season Atlanta is having, just means they are not tile contenders. No big deal, Cleveland also didn’t have that someone last season and they end up not being title contenders.
The Hawks have improved step by step, season by season on the Mike Woodson Era and the next summer will be crucial for that to continue happening with the contract negotiations of Johnson and Woodson. If that is taken care of, that low post presence is the ultimate piece for them to become a legit title contender but this impression that some people have that the Hawks can make a run on the Eastern Conference right now is inaccurate.
Great observation. That they are so poor in rebounding comes as a surprise to me, as I considered Horford and Smith to be solid rebounders. But excellent point, you just cannot win too deep into the playoffs if you are getting out rebounded. Giving up too many extra possessions to another team that is close to you in talent level simply leaves too small a margin of error for you to operate with. Not grabbing boards will doom a team. It does seem that this fault could be the Hawks’ Achilles heel.
dahammer1 said this on March 25, 2010 at 03:15 |