The Bucs rebounding margin of +2.3 [39.3 to 37.0]so far this year is better than in some of the great years of the past like
2008-2009 (Pigram/Tiggs/Smith/Hamlin/Brown/Hubbard) +1.3;
http://www.etsubucs.com/media/stats/mbba...amcume.htm
2003-2004 (Tim Smith/Wadood/Fields/Nuckles/Rhoda) +0.1;
http://www.etsubucs.com/media/stats/mbba...amcume.htm
1991-92 (English/Talford/Dennis) -0.1;
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/scho.../1992.html
1990-1991 (English/Talford/Dennis/Jennings) -1.4;
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/scho.../1991.html
And to my surprise it is a huge improvement over last year (-3.1).
Part of this is team effort. But part of it is more effective post rebounding.
Last year Hunter Harris (5.4) and Lukas Poderis (2.4) averaged 7.8 rebounds per game in 36.3 minutes of play.
This year Ron Giplaye (7.0) and Alex Bates (3.5) have combined for an average of 10.5 rebounds per game in only 30.7 minutes of play.
Preseason I made a pretty good estimate of what a healthy Giplaye might do: “he looks like a useful contributor at 6.5 to 7.5 rebounds per 20 minutes”. That’s exactly what he’s doing at 7.0 rebounds in 18.3 minutes. His points per minute are also pretty much what he was doing in prior years. But I remained doubtful that he would in fact be back to health.
And prior stats completely failed to predict Alex Bates performance. As I noted: “In 3 years of play at Northeastern and Tennessee State Alex Bates averaged
9.2 minutes, 1.3 rebounds, 0.8 points on .529 (mostly very short range) and .400 from the free throw line with 0.4 blocks.” Instead
Alex Bates numbers on a per minute basis have doubled for rebounds (.28 rpm versus .14 rpm in the past)
and more than doubled for points (.30 ppm versus .087 in the past). His averages per game are now
12.5 minutes, 3.7 points on .643 from the field and .500 from the line with 3.5 rebounds. Just all around improvement thus far.
I am more than glad to have been wrong about Alex. Although I did note that “big men sometimes find themselves late”, I was not willing to make the leap of faith that seemed to be required absent statistical evidence in this case.
The best thing about these two is that they are only likely to improve as they get more game experience and confidence, and as the coaches learn how to use them.
I STILL would like to see more of Tommy Williams. He is smaller, but more mobile than either of the others, with a better set of offensive skills. And I like the words “junkyard dog” that keep popping up around him. He’s only gotten garbage minutes against 2 very weak teams. But he’s far outperformed either Giplaye or Bates on a per minute basis against those squads. There may well come a time when injury or fouls will have us looking for more post help. A little more floor time may help Tommy prepare for that.
Still, having too few minutes to go around is NOT the post problem that any of us expected going into this year.