The Boston Celtics are using a collective effort to fix their rebounding
The Boston Celtics are still far from a top rebounding team this season, but they have also been far from the utter disaster that was last season. It has not been a clear liability in any game this season, and they are not bailing teams out by giving them unlimited second chance opportunities.
The Celtics knew that their rebounding had to be fixed this offseason, but they did not go out and get any stud rebounder. The majority of their bigs are undersized, and Aron Baynes does not have big enough of a role to separate himself as a top rebounder.
The Celtics still do not have that one stud, and they still play a lot of small ball. But, they have a positive rebounding differential this season, and they have accomplished that with everyone on the court.
The Celtics still play small and have a lot of undersized bigs, but the size of their entire units are bigger. The Celtics get their extra size by having a point guard that is not undersized in every matchup, and someone with Jaylen Brown‘s size at the two is another advantage.
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Baynes gives the Celtics someone who can actually box out properly, and Jayson Tatum has been the biggest surprise, averaging nine rebounds per game so far. The Celtics were awfully undersized when Tatum was the second starting big, but he is not rebounding like an undersized player.
The Celtics did not get a massive boost from one player, but every position appears to be a capable rebounder this season, and no one is having to sacrifice other aspects of their game for better rebounding, like Avery Bradley did last season.
The 76ers game is a great example. They out rebounded a team that has a lot of great size, and they did not have a single player break double digit rebounding. What they did get was at least six rebounds from six different players, and at least eight from each starter other than Kyrie Irving.
The Celtics are collectively fixing these rebounding problems, and they are proving that they can do it as an undersized team. The Celtics did start Baynes against the 76ers, which brings additional size, but there were four other players that had as much of an impact as him on the boards, and that is the difference.
The Celtics do not have the size or personnel to be a top rebounding team in the league, but when everyone on the court can contribute in a positive way on the boards, it is no longer going to be the reason they lose any games.
The Celtics have done a great job of finding non bigs who can rebound well. Terry Rozier has been a remarkable rebounder going back to his rookie season. Marcus Smart was the one player who could properly box out last season, and now Tatum is looking like a player who could legitimately average double digit rebounding this season.
Instead of getting that one big to fix all their problems, the Celtics looked to their wings and ball handlers to make up that difference. The Celtics know that Al Horford will not be a game changing rebounder, and they also know he is far too important to limit his minutes because of it.
Now the Celtics have a collection of rebounders that will make Horford’s one weakness a non issue for the team, and they should not be throwing away any more games with poor rebounding.
The exciting part is that the Celtics are balancing good rebounding with small ball. In today’s NBA, small ball is going to be inevitable. If rebounding is a weakness every time they go small, the Celtics are limiting their lineup options and other teams will force them to adjust.
If the Celtics can be confident that teams will not kill them on the boards when they go small, then they will not be the ones who have to adjust. If the Celtics hold up the rebounding when they are small, then their opponents will have no choice other than to adjust, and if the opponent is taking more size off the court, then the Celtics could even get an advantage on the boards.
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The Celtics have a lot of issues to work through this season, and not having to worry about rebounding like last season is going to make it a lot easier.