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Kelly Dwyer should write more top 10 lists. He/She clearly doesn't write enough of them now.
The top 10 rebounders of the last decade
By Kelly Dwyer
Ball Don't Lie
Rebounding. It's not just made of screams and funny faces. Kevin Love'll learn that, as he moves along.
And it's not just about raw rebound totals, either, or the per-game type. We're interested in rebound rate, which measures the percentage of available rebounds a particular player pulls in while he's on the floor. Seems simple enough, right? 20 percent, and you'll likely lead the league. 12 percent, and you're Eddy Curry. 23 percent, and you're Dennis Rodman. My man retired with the highest rebound rate in NBA history.
What follows is a list of the 10 best rebounders of the last decade.
10. Zach Randolph
He may be a bit doughy, he may not like to pass much or even pretend to defend, but Randolph sure can board. Over eight a game on his career, in just 30 minutes a contest, with a definite emphasis on the defensive glass. That way, he can call his own number before handing the point guard the ball.
9. Erick Dampier
Mock the man's contract if you must, but Dampier has been amongst the league leaders in rebound rate for years. He led the league in that category in 2003-04, and Damp is a surprisingly spry offensive rebounder for his rather robust frame.
8. Shaquille O'Neal
His interest seems to wane — Shaq's rebounding, like his body mass index, seems to fluctuate based on what former team he's ticked off at that particular year — but O'Neal has been a consistent force on the glass all decade. That said, you don't see many of these guys on this list with career highs in rebounds per game (13.9) and rebound rate (20.8) in their rookie year. Take it for what it's worth.
7. Kevin Garnett
You'd think that, with his quick hops and sinewy frame, KG would be at his best tipping his way toward offensive rebounds. His and Dampier's status have to keep our perceptions in check, however, because Garnett has actually led the NBA in defensive rebound rate four times this decade, while leading the league in overall rebounding rate in 2004-05 — his supposed, "step back" year.
6. Marcus Camby
Has to take a seat behind Tim Duncan based on the sheer amount of games that he's missed this decade. 235 contests, in fact. With that in place, Camby has a career rebound rate over 18, and he shows no signs of letting up any time soon, posting a sterling (and nearly a career-high) 20.7 last year with the Clippers. All that time off must have done him some good.
5. Tim Duncan
It feels a bit odd to rank Duncan this low, because he's constantly amongst the league leaders in rebounds per game (11.7 per contest for his career), and this post's particular set of images could be led, "Tim Duncan Nearly Gets the Rebound." But he will have to fall short of the rebounding specialists, whilst having to stay happy with his defensive a en, his scoring potency, and all those rings.
4. Jeff Foster
His rebounding fell off a bit in 2008-09, but Foster has been a consistent force on the glass since the start of the decade, working blue on both ends of the floor as both an undersized center and (if we're honest) undersized power forward. He's never averaged double figure rebounds per game, but he pulls in a greater percentage of caroms than the players listed below him.
3. Reggie Evans
Another pure rebounding specialist, Evans can be nearly as bad a defensive liability as he is an offensive liability, but the journeyman big forward can clean glass like few others. A 20.8 career rebound rate for the goofy Iowa product.
2. Dwight Howard
It's safe to say that we have a clear clubhouse leader should we strike this list back up again in 10 years — because if Howard retired today, he'd take to Florida's senior communities as the owner of the third highest rebound rate in league history. Pretty solid work for a player who has yet to turn 24 years old. For comparison's sake, Dennis Rodman was 25 and a half years-old when he grabbed his first NBA carom.
1. Ben Wallace
His career rebound rate may have fallen a bit over the last few years, but in terms of absolute, consistent glass-side dominance, Ben Wallace is your best rebounder of the decade.
Ben's at 10.3 rebounds per game on his career, despite averaging just under 31 minutes per game, while looking to strike up some of the Piston-powered magic again in Detroit for 2009-10. It was the site of his finest turn, when he pulled in over 23 percent of available rebounds in 2003, while averaging 15.4 rebounds per game.
Kelly Dwyer should write more top 10 lists. He/She clearly doesn't write enough of them now.
I'll take Brand over Randolph...
David Robinson had a career rebounding Average of 10.60RPG at 34.7MPG
Why isn't Fabs on that list? Jees, the dude was an offensive tip out machine ...
no kobe on the list
obviously a bias reporter
Jeff Foster Haha
And I don't think dwight howard has been dominant enough this decade to be number 2 on the list
Not that good of a list.
o
Elton Brand not on this list sounds wrong.
Garnett ranked too low.
And this coming from a Spurs fan.
dennis rodman was a man who was better than other men at being the first one to grab the orange ball after it had bounced off the board or rim. he was only 6-8 and not heavy bodied at all. science cannot undestand this
i gotta say ben wallace has been vastly overrated lately, being considered the best defender AND best rebounder, he had like 2 maybe 3 seasons where he was a dominant rebounder and solid post defender. TWO MAYBE THREE. guys like duncan, shaq, garnett have been doing double-digit rebounds for like 15 years straight. of course Shaq is 7-1 350 so its expected.
other guys dont get much credit either. there have been lots of guards, little small perimeter players, that have got like 6-8 rb per game for a season and THAT is impressive.
for examply Wade got nearly 8 rb a game last year as a 6-4 guard. A SIX-FOUR GUARD. and how many times has Kidd (also a 6-4 guard) grabbed double digit rebounds; countless times! it is VASTLY more difficult and more impressive IMO for 6-4, 200lb Perimeter players to get 8rb a game than it is for a 7-foot 260+lb post guy to get 10-11 a game.
im sure there are some spurfans around who think tony parker deserves to be on this list, because if he was 7ft and kept his quickness, he would be greater than tim tebow
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