Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

  Who is going to rebound for the Boston Celtics this season? Thay have lost five of their top-7 board men through injury (Tatum), trades and desersions. In the 2024-25 regular season, Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Luke Kornet and Jrue Holiday accounted for 31.3 rebounds per contest. The entire team averaged 45.3 RPG . "Boston, we have a problem". Only Derrick White and Jaylen Brown remain in green from the top-7 rebounders for last season. So, where are the boards going to come from? All of this assumes that Al Horford will be on the west coast soon , but Neemias Queta averaged 9.9 RPG (per 36 minutes) last season , and he is expected to be the starter - at least for the beginning of the season. It appears that Joe Mazzulla may go big at the power forward slot to help make up for the projected lack of board men. So, who is that fifth starter at the PF position? It is too early to totally answer that question, but 6'10" Luka Garza has averaged 9...

  I see little discussion of one factor in the Celtics' hold on the top spot in win-percentage (.788, 26-7) this season. The Green have torn down the most rebounds per game (47.3 RPG) , as well as most defensive boards (36.0 DRPG) per contest. Jayson Tatum leads the pack with 8.5 caroms/game , and is trailed by seven (7) players with 3.5-or-more rebounds per game. Boston's two centers (Porzingis and Horford) hold the second-and-third spots, respectively, then comes in the s omewhat-maligned Jrue Holiday with an impressive 6.5 boards per game from his backcourt spot. Neemias Queta is next at 5.3 per contest, despite limited minutes. Jaylen Brown (5.1), Derrick White (3.9) and Sam Hauser (3.5 RPG) round out the top-8 in board work.  NBA rebounding is, in large part, hard work and dedication to the task. The Celtics are excelling at it this season - and sharing the work load. "Sharing" is the key word there. These guys work very well together! Author's Note...

 Numbers may not tell the whole story, but they don't lie. Here are four areas that may need attention by the 3-2 Boston Celtics after five games into the season: Defensive Rating: No surprise here. The Green are in 26th place in the League, giving up 117.9 points per game. Steals: Boston is ranked 24th in the NBA with only 6.2 thefts per contest. Rebounding: A rotten 28th-place for the Celtics with 39.0 caroms/game. Offensive rebounding: They are slotted in the 26th spot at 8.8 offensive boards per game. As stated, this is not the whole story, but a good start. The defense and rebounding - two chores that require hard work and dedication-to-the-task - are some of the worst in the NBA for a team that came close to a Title last season. This is fixable. The 3-0 start to the 2022-23 season was exhilarating, but the two-losses-in-a-row were disappointing. Plenty of time to right the ship.

The Boston Celtics lost three of their four top rebounders from last season this summer to trades and free agency. Al Horford (6.7 RPG in 2018-19), Kyrie Irving (5.0 RPG) and Aron Baynes (4.7 RPG) are gone. Jayson Tatum was the Celtics second-best board man with 6.0/game. Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown round out the top-5 at 4.5 and 4.2 rebounds per game last season. Boston had no players in the top-50 for rebounding, and only two in the top-100. The team finished 22nd in that category, grabbing 44.5 per game. But help is on the way. Newly-acquired Vincent Poirier is averaging 5.0 RPG in FIBA World Cup competition with only 16 MPG of floor time. Daniel Theis is averaging 6.3 RPG for Germany in only 18 Minutes/game, while Jayson Tatum is grabbing 7.5 boards/game for the USA in 24.0 MPG. Vincent Poirier ( @viinze_17P ) with two BIG dunks against Lithuania yesterday. He continies to show his incredible athleticism. pic.twitter.com/WSG66NzMVV — Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) Septe...