Rebound Like A Champion

Among the various problems with small ball is the complete inability of a small lineup to compete on the glass. While the Pistons typically only use a small ball lineup for a fraction of the games in which such a lineup starts, those few minutes are enough to put the team at a substantial disadvantage in the rebounding battle. This is bad news for the Pistons since each of the past 13 NBA Champions have been strong rebounding teams. The last team below average rebounding team to win the Championship was the 1995 Rockets, who tied for the 10th best regular season record before turning it on in the playoffs.


Here are the rebound rates for the top-three title contenders in 2009.


Here is a breakdown of the rebound rates for the Pistons in games they start a small ball lineup compared to games in which they start a traditionally-sized lineup.



*RR is rebound rate, the percentage of missed shots that a team rebounds. 50% is average.