UConn rebounding margin on the rise

[DobbsRover2]

There have been occasional complaints this year about the Huskies' lack of dominance on the boards from either coaches or fans this year. The good news is that the boarder patrol is getting much better, as it has zoomed from a 11.3 rebounding margin and 12th place nationally to now 12.5 and a 5th spot in the country.

The stats in previous years have been:

2013-14: 9.4 (11th)
2012-13: 11.1 (4th)
2011-12: 10.3 (7th)
2010-11: 12.6 (3rd)
2009-10: 12.7 (2nd)

So overall, not so bad.

 

[EricLA]

There have been occasional complaints this year about the Huskies' lack of dominance on the boards from either coaches or fans this year. The good news is that the boarder patrol is getting much better, as it has zoomed from a 11.3 rebounding margin and 12th place nationally to now 12.5 and a 5th spot in the country.

The stats in previous years have been:

2013-14: 9.4 (11th)
2012-13: 11.1 (4th)
2011-12: 10.3 (7th)
2010-11: 12.6 (3rd)
2009-10: 12.7 (2nd)

So overall, not so bad.

True BUT (and I hate to say this), you need to look at the level of competition. UCONN was actually outrebounded by 3 when they played SC and outrebounded Duke by only 6. Those are 2 of the biggest teams we will face all year. ND on the other hand - we outrebounded them by 18. My point is if you look at the teams we've played since SC (Tulane X2, Houston, Tulsa and Memphis), all of those teams are very undersized compared to UCONN - and I recall the announcers saying that one of those teams doesn't even start a kid over 6'.

 

[rugbymate]

The other issue to look at is how the bench pads the rebounding margin. We all knew Kiah was going to be a rebounding machine but probably no one saw the impact Gabby would have on the boards. I'm not suggesting that rebounding is a problem but it would be interesting to see what our rebounding edge is when the starting 5 is in . having said that, since the starting 5 played most of the game against SC, IMO only being out rebounded by 3 was a victory and basically implies, given the MOV, that our speed/quickness was a much bigger factor than size.

 

[DobbsRover2]

The AAC has generally moved up in quality this year from last year. The two quality teams that went elsewhere were outrebounded by UConn by an average of 10 in Louisville's case and 12 in Rutgers case last season, so no, can't really use poor conference slate against UConn's increased rebounding margin this year. It' simply better, and of course with the team shooting a very high FT%, the chances for offensive rebounds is down significantly from last year. And to say that UConn is upping its rebounding margin by playing the reserves so much is, um, just odd. For any other team, giving the second unit a big amount of minutes would be an excuse for why the margin is down.

I know it's the last thing that Geno wants to hear, but the rebounding margin is just up -- from last year and from earlier in this season.