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Agree with Kroogs about offensive rebounding being an overrated statistic but not to the extent that he does. NBA and college basketball aren’t the same animal. The NBA leader on offensive rebound percentage is Detroit at 31%. The NCAA leader is Kentucky at a whopping 42.4%. College teams miss more, and there is more talent discrepancy. Rebounding is a major factor in college hoops.
The combined record of the top 10 offensive rebounding % college basketball teams in the country this season? 231-86. Lehigh ranked 323 sandwiched between an 8-24 Longwood team and an 18-12 Arkansas State team.
On defense, Lehigh was 214 in the nation out of 351 in defensive rebounding %. Combined record of the top 10 teams in the country? A tidy 221-89. And if anyone thinks going zone would help our rebounding – the most famous zone team in the country (Syracuse) is right behind Lehigh at 215. It’s extremely hard to rebound out of a zone without match-ups to facilitate boxing out.
Like any stats, rebounding needs to be taken with a grain of salt. But I think Lehigh could improve substantially. I do agree with Kroogs that the focus for improvement should be on D though.