Washington Wizards are bad in a lot of things, but are particularly awful in rebounding
By Cem Yolbulan
The Washington Wizards are awful. An argument doesn’t need to be made there. They are tied for the worst record in the NBA, have the second-worst point differential, and are the worst defense in the league by a significant margin, allowing 123.9 points per 100 possessions. Despite minimal expectations before the start of the season, the number of ugly losses and deflating blowouts have still been hugely disappointing. There are plenty of factors contributing to this desultory start to the season, but one obvious one has been the team’s miserable rebounding rate.
The Wizards are a small team. They have a Lilliputian backcourt with Jordan Poole and Tyus Jones. Their regular center rotation consists of Daniel Gafford and Danilo Gallinari. There isn’t a single seven-footer on the roster. So, it’s understandable that they might struggle with rebounding the ball. However, their performance on the boards so far has been seen below the already-low expectations.
Washington has a 69.5% defensive rebounding rate, meaning they grab the rebound from an opponent’s missed shot less than seven out of ten times. This is the lowest rate in the entire league. The Wizards already have a porous defense, allowing the highest opponent field goal percentage in the league, with 50.3%. On the rare occasion that the Wizards’ defense manages to force a miss, they can’t end the possession by grabbing the rebound. Instead, the opponent gets a second or a third chance to score. That is a brutal combination that no team can overcome.
The rebounding problem isn’t any better on the offensive end. The Washington Wizards are the worst offensive-rebounding team in the league, only grabbing 18.9% of their own misses. Giving up 30.5% of potential defensive rebounds to the opponent, while only getting an extra 18.9% on the other end creates a challenging math problem in terms of possessions. You are not going to win too many games if you can’t stop anyone and also allow them more offensive possessions.
This combination obviously makes the Wizards the worst rebounding team in the NBA, as they only grab 37.9 rebounds per 100 possessions. Only one other team grabs less than 40 per 100 possessions; the Indiana Pacers.
Even though the rebounding burden is mostly carried by the frontcourt players, it is a team effort. Everyone needs to box out, play bigger than their size, and fight on the boards. It requires effort and discipline, two things the Wizards have consistently lacked through the first 16 games of the season. If the coaching staff and the front office want to have any chance of being competitive this season, they need to address the rebounding issue, either by changing the rotation or bringing in new faces. Otherwise, this team will continue to be the worst defensive team in basketball.
