UConn’s Rebounding Problem

[jibsey]

UConn is getting beat on the glass or barely holding their own against mostly unranked teams which is what we play in the BE. This translates to second chance points for our opponents and is a key reason why all of our games are nail biters. I’m sure someone out there will trot out statistics showing why this is not an issue but I believe we have a major problem.
Obviously when McNeeley comes back things will even somewhat but the question of whether playing Reed a lot more minutes now would be advisable comes to mind.
St. John’s is a multiplayer rebounding machine and things could get ugly playing them.
I like that Johnson has improved and the team does well on offense with him but 2 or 3 rebounds a game just isn’t acceptable?

And I checked the stats. Uconn’s rebounding is last in the BE.

 

[metsfan2323]

We obviously lost a lot from last year's team, but by far what we miss the most is the defense and rebounding from Clingan. A huge late season improvement from Reed is our only hope (he has shown flashes), Johnson won't ever be that guy.

 

[husky429]

We just have worse individual rebounders. Last years vs this years at the spots we turned over:

Newton 6.6 --> Hass 3.3
Spencer 4.9 --> Solo 2.4
Castle 4.7 --> stewart 2.4, ross 2.2, liam 5.8
Clingan 7.4 --> Samson 2.9

One of the big losses with Liam out is that rebounding.

Solo, Samson, Ross and Stewart are all severe weakspots in particular on the boards. I don't think any of them lack the heart to rebound. They just aren't very good at reading the ball and lack instinct.

 

[Hurleyman216]

UConn is getting beat on the glass or barely holding their own against mostly unranked teams which is what we play in the BE. This translates to second chance points for our opponents and is a key reason why all of our games are nail biters. I’m sure someone out there will trot out statistics showing why this is not an issue but I believe we have a major problem.
Obviously when McNeeley comes back things will even somewhat but the question of whether playing Reed a lot more minutes now would be advisable comes to mind.
St. John’s is a multiplayer rebounding machine and things could get ugly playing them.
I like that Johnson has improved and the team does well on offense with him but 2 or 3 rebounds a game just isn’t acceptable?

And I checked the stats. Uconn’s rebounding is last in the BE.

It’s hard to get a lot of rebounds when your opponents take like 30 free throws a game…that right there gives up the possibility of 10-15 rebounds per game

 

[dennismenace]

We obviously lost a lot from last year's team, but by far what we miss the most is the defense and rebounding from Clingan. A huge late season improvement from Reed is our only hope (he has shown flashes), Johnson won't ever be that guy.

Agreed. I am very concerned that DH continues to bet on Samson for the majority of minutes vs Tarris Reed. We are heading into some real headwinds and we need production from Reed very badly, especially with Liam still out.

 

[REB1094]

I don't think it has to go much deeper than replacing DONOVAN CLINGAN with SAMSON JOHNSON

But if we have to go deeper..

1. Newton was 6'5. Diarra is 6'2
2. Cam was 23 years old and extremely smart at positioning. Solo Ball is a sophomore that gets lost on defense pretty often

 

[FreeKlaiber]

UConn is getting beat on the glass or barely holding their own against mostly unranked teams which is what we play in the BE. This translates to second chance points for our opponents and is a key reason why all of our games are nail biters. I’m sure someone out there will trot out statistics showing why this is not an issue but I believe we have a major problem.
Obviously when McNeeley comes back things will even somewhat but the question of whether playing Reed a lot more minutes now would be advisable comes to mind.
St. John’s is a multiplayer rebounding machine and things could get ugly playing them.
I like that Johnson has improved and the team does well on offense with him but 2 or 3 rebounds a game just isn’t acceptable?

And I checked the stats. Uconn’s rebounding is last in the BE.

when I posted same question during off-season, I was told Tom Moore 3 times. Problem is, even on paper we dont have a good rebounding roster. And that is assuming Samson and Solo being great athletes, are also great rebounders, which is false. It's roster construction.

 

[HHusky]

I think we need to improve our quickness and athleticism in next years new guys.

 

[HailUConn]

This team should watch Cam Spencer (6'4'') highlights in National Champion game vs Purdue, the dude is fearless and ripped the rebounds off Zack Edey, and out-rebounded Gillis (2 inches + taller and load heavier)

 

[jibsey]

I think we need to improve our quickness and athleticism in next years new guys.

Yes, but getting a large quick guard who can be a shut down defender is essential whether it be portal or elsewhere. I realize that Nowell has not had a chance but he is barely 6’ tall?

 

[upstater]

I'd really like to see more stats on this.

The BE stats page is useless for some reason:

2024-2025 Men's Basketball - Overall Statistics - Big East Conference

The official 2024-2025 Men's Basketball cumulative statistics for Big East Conference

www.bigeast.com

But in all games UConn is not at the bottom, and it does well in terms of not giving up offensive rebounds:

2024-25 Men's College Basketball Team Differential Stat Leaders - ESPN

ESPN is the place for NCAAM stats! Find a list of the Differential team stat leaders for the 2024-25 NCAAM Regular Season.

www.espn.com

 

[Umami Zen]

As in previous years-5 guys have to hit the Boards. Team rebounding leads to possessions.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

That we went from 65% Sanogo 35% Clingan to 70% Clingan 30% Johnson to 52% Johnson 48% Reed at the five spot accounts for a very large part of why our rebounding this season isn't close to what it had been in the two national title seasons.

As Reb1094 pointed out, the ability of our guards to rebound has also dropped massively from the prior two seasons.

Whatever success we achieve this season will need to be accomplished in a far different manner than the prior two seasons.

 

[ctchamps]

We just have worse individual rebounders. Last years vs this years at the spots we turned over:

Newton 6.6 --> Hass 3.3
Spencer 4.9 --> Solo 2.4
Castle 4.7 --> stewart 2.4, ross 2.2, liam 5.8
Clingan 7.4 --> Samson 2.9

One of the big losses with Liam out is that rebounding.

Solo, Samson, Ross and Stewart are all severe weakspots in particular on the boards. I don't think any of them lack the heart to rebound. They just aren't very good at reading the ball and lack instinct.

Shouldn't you be doing per 40 minutes?

Reed 14.4
McNeeley 7.6
Johnson 6.2
Ross 6.1
Karaban 5.6
Stewart 5.4
Diarra 4.6
Ball 3.5
Mahaney 2.3

Clingan 13.1
Newton 7.9
Castle 6.9
Johnson 6.9
Karaban 6.4
Diarra 6.1
Spencer 5.9
Stewart 5.5
Ball 3.5

Weakness is with Ball and Mahaney. Ross and Stewart are decent although Ross who is the fourth best rebounder on this years team would be tied with Diarra for sixth on last years team statistics wise.

 

[REB1094]

Shouldn't you be doing per 40 minutes?

Reed 14.4
McNeeley 7.6
Johnson 6.2
Ross 6.1
Karaban 5.6
Stewart 5.4
Diarra 4.6
Ball 3.5
Mahaney 2.3

Clingan 13.1
Newton 7.9
Castle 6.9
Johnson 6.9
Karaban 6.4
Diarra 6.1
Spencer 5.9
Stewart 5.5
Ball 3.5

per 40 for Tarris and Samson are not good indicators since they both have 5+ fouls per 40

 

[ctchamps]

per 40 for Tarris and Samson are not good indicators since they both have 5+ fouls per 40

I think it is a good indicator as to why it's imperative they avoid fouling. Reed is very good during the minutes he's on the court. Johnson isn't bad.

 

[Huskybass]

The starting Center needs to average far more than 3 rebounds per game. At 6' 10", 5 or 6 rebounds per game should be the bare minimum. That's 2 or 3 extra possessions per game, especially critical with McNeeley out. Samson needs to rebound or sit. Period.

 

[ctchamps]

The starting Center needs to average far more than 3 rebounds per game. At 6' 10", 5 or 6 rebounds per game should be the bare minimum. That's 2 or 3 extra possessions per game, especially critical with McNeeley out. Samson needs to rebound or sit. Period.

As I've pointed out in per 40 he's averaging 6.2 rebounds which fits your criteria.

 

[husky429]

Shouldn't you be doing per 40 minutes?

Reed 14.4
McNeeley 7.6
Johnson 6.2
Ross 6.1
Karaban 5.6
Stewart 5.4
Diarra 4.6
Ball 3.5
Mahaney 2.3

Clingan 13.1
Newton 7.9
Castle 6.9
Johnson 6.9
Karaban 6.4
Diarra 6.1
Spencer 5.9
Stewart 5.5
Ball 3.5

Weakness is with Ball and Mahaney. Ross and Stewart are decent although Ross who is the fourth best rebounder on this years team would be tied with Diarra for sixth on last years team statistics wise.

Minutes for DC laat year and Samson/Reed this year are abou the same. 20 vs 22 minutes. So I'd agree in a sense that isn't the bigges tchamge since Reed is a great rebounder getting as many minutes-ish as DC did. However, we'd be a hell of a lot better team if Samson could grab the ball.

And yeah, Solo's rebounding is an absolute mess. And Ross/Stewart are not picking up McNeeley's slack--that much is pretty obvious IMO.

 

[husky429]

As I've pointed out in per 40 he's averaging 6.2 rebounds which fits your criteria.

6.2 per 40 sucks for a big. I'm guessing he said PER GAME for a reason. Samson at 5-6 per game (playing his 20 mins) would be just fine. He isn't. His rebounding blows chunks

 

[jibsey]

As I've pointed out in per 40 he's averaging 6.2 rebounds which fits your criteria.

6.2 is not good for a center for 40 because none of them play 40. Samson needs 6 boards a game for the 25 he plays

 

[ctchamps]

6.2 per 40 sucks for a big. I'm guessing he said PER GAME for a reason. Samson at 5-6 per game (playing his 20 mins) would be just fine. He isn't. His rebounding blows chunks

In isolating data there is no argument about Johnson's rebounding and making a case he should sit on the bench. When looking at the weakness of this team, which is keeping perimeter players from driving into the lane uncontested unless we foul them, Johnson plays a significant role in defense.

Reed is not good at pivoting to contest these easy lay ups. Johnson's weak side help is far better. Even without blocking it has positive impacts. It forces players to rush their shot increasing the probability of missing.

Our center rotation is not the major problem in Liam's absence. Although I hope Reed can get out of whatever funk he's in.