via celticshub.com

As everyone probably already knows, oh being at the bottom of the league might give us a hint, rebounding has been a problem this year, and has contributed to why the Celtics are losing so many games.  I didn't realize how big of an issue it was until I looked a little closer.  I decided to break down the numbers a little to see if it was the main reason, which I think it is, and it's not getting better, it's getting increasingly worse.  We all know defense wins titles, and while there offense seams stagnet at times, being out rebounded can make it worse and lead to several issues, like fast break and second chance points.  Below are the rebounding numbers for the Celtics, and there opponents, for the 22 losses they have this season.  I have broken them down in 3, 6 game increments, and then the last 4.  I will explain why later.

Celtics    Opp. (first 6)   Celtics    Opp. (next 6)        Celtics      Opp. (third 6)     Celtics     Opp. (last 4)

42             39                 44                43                   32               47                  40              43     

29             47                 36                39                   35               39                  41              35

29             28                 35                30                   39               36                  34              41

43             42                 39                50                   40               38                  29              48

46             45                 32                35                   37               47

37             33                 35                45                   37               41

---------------------------          ----------------------------            -----------------------------           -------------------------------

226         234    (-8)         221          242    (-21)         220        248    (-28)            144     167   (-23)

-1.33 p/game difference   -3.5 p/game difference        -4.66 p/game difference       -5.75 p/game difference

Anyone see a pattern here!?!?!  I would bet money that we get out rebounded by about a total of 12 the next two loses.

Now the reason I did it in 6 game increments is this.  The first 6 loses were before KG got hurt.  Ok, not bad.  We only got out rebounded in one game, which was a huge one, and that's why the difference was -8.  The next 6 losses were way worse, but that's probably because KG was out, and Rasheed's lazy (sorry, he's terrible), so the diffrence was -21.  But, the glaring one is the third 6, and the last 4, where KG has been playing.  It's gotten even worse with a -28 and -23 difference.

Is it because he doesn't want to mix it up down low, get tangled up, and hurt his knee again?  Is it because he doesn't have that bounce anymore?  Is it because he and Perk aren't inticipating where each other is going to be after a shot.  Or is it because he just doesn't have anything left in the tank?