Mark wants to know:
Isn’t the reason for the low rebounds for the Celtics a longstanding problem that only recently has been partly improved by the addition of Shaq? If they have high FG% they still have low rebounds for the 100% rebounds that could have been made?
The bottom line is the Celtics were small in comparison to the Lakers team they faced in the 2010 NBA Finals and came up short in Game 7 as a result. The loss of starting center Kendrick Perkins to a knee injury in Game 6 cost the C’s rebounds and ultimately the championship.
Boston recognized that they were deficient in the RPG column prior to the loss of their best rebounder. So this summer they went out and got three 7-footers to crash the glass: Shaquille O’Neal, Jermaine O’Neal and Semih Erden from Turkey. If they’d had Perkins or one of these other super-sized guys to pull down just a couple more rebounds in Game 7, they probably would’ve won the title.
The Celtics have improved on the boards, but they’re still waiting for all their bigs to get healthy. Jermaine went out with knee problems in early November; Perkins won’t play until February, and Erden has a labral tear in his shoulder that will likely require surgery in the off-season. KG is just now getting back to 100% after his right knee surgery in ’09. He’s much stronger and is jumping higher and rebounding better than last season. The Celts have made attacking the boards a priority this year. When all Boston’s bigs return to the court at full strength, their rebounds should go way up.
everybody says chris paul is a top point guard but how does he make his teammates better and how does he score at such a a small size