What did K Love have over KG in terms of rebounding?

[dygaction]

Love's stats were very impressive in terms of rebounding compared to KG peak for peak, career for career, rpg, rebounds per 100, TRB%... He is shorter and less athletic. What were the main reasons for his success? Strong legs, good positioning, or inflated numbers on weak team?

[Owly]

Not sure about the KG comp.
Nor am I convinced shorter and less athletic (at least and especially in terms of conventional, easily visible forms of athleticism - quick, more than high, leaping can be valuable) are huge barriers: Unseld, Nater, Rodman, Barkley, Fortson, Evans ... to be a dominant rebounder doesn't require playing above the rim.

But at his rebounding peak/prime (without looking closely) I would think he has many of the typical characteristics of those rebounders going somewhat clearly and and repeatedly past 20% trb%:

- good instincts, timing
- allowed to focus on it (not required to be a rim protector or offensive engine (once his usage goes up he doesn't have a full season above the teens), early on when an offensive rebounder mostly not required to space the floor
- fairly broad (solid base and takes up space around the hoop) - this one less of a requisite but common.

At first glance and without much of a baseline I think evidence supports a significant impact at team level rebounds so not (at least not exclusively/primarily) a case of cannibalizing team rebounds, but I'm not super familiar with these numbers.

[tsherkin]

Love's stats were very impressive in terms of rebounding compared to KG peak for peak, career for career, rpg, rebounds per 100, TRB%... He is shorter and less athletic. What were the main reasons for his success? Strong legs, good positioning, or inflated numbers on weak team?

Initially, offensive rebounding. He had good power and positioning when he was with the Wolves and he was the best offensive rebounder in the league for a couple seasons. Tailed off as he started to spend more time outside, and certainly by the time he was in Cleveland. Still a better rebounder than KG even then, but yeah. Positioning/anticipation/timing, that was a lot of Love's game on the glass. It's been known for a long time that a lot of rebounds, most of them, are taken below rim level, so vertical leap is a lot less important to most than positioning. Rodman was exceptional at getting in position, but he and Love were also pretty good to great at tipping the ball to give themselves a chance to get it even when they couldn't get a firm grip on it initially.

Garnett was a good rebounder but a lot of his volume was minutes-driven and he was considerably lesser as an offensive rebounder because he spent so much of his time 15 to 20 feet from the rim, among other things. Still a good rebounder, mind; we're talking like 1 REB100 difference from Garnett's career to Love in Cleveland, so it's not like this is some dramatic difference.

[HeartBreakKid]

Love had better positioning, isn't that all that matters? Garnett also played further from the rim more often than Love did.

As for Garnett - he lead the league in rebounding so he wasn't chop liver. Garnett's entire career also coincided during a time when rebounds were probably more contested. Albeit Love's best rebounding numbers come during a time when rebounds mattered a bit more from an individual stat perspective as well.

[SHAQ32]

KG was too busy setting screens

[tsherkin]

KG was too busy setting screens

Nah, Love set tons of screens, that wasn't it.

[yoyoboy]

Love’s instincts for where the ball is going to go are just really good. He knows how to use his body to take up space and he has fantastic hands that seem to never fail to secure the ball if it touches them.

Even now, Love’s athleticism is completely nonexistent. And yet he still manages to average 11.6 rebounds per 36 minutes because of those traits.

[70sFan]

That's simple - people overrate athleticism to death for rebounding ability. Not the first time I see that either. Positioning is far more important than height or jumping ability.

Another thing is role a player has. Garnett was mostly a midrange shooter and high post player, so he had few opportunities to grab offensive rebounds. Defensive rebounds are even more connected with roles, especially in recent years.

[Colbinii]

Are we asking why a player who shot nearly 40% of his shots from 0-3 feet rebounded more offensively than a player who shot 18%-27% of his shots from 0-3 feet.

Whats next, why do we not float into the air? Gravity.

[Laimbeer]

Maybe body type is a factor? KG was longer and thinner. Love is a bit thicker, has a lower center of gravity and more able to get position, I would think.

[NO-KG-AI]

Love was a better player when he had that big ol booty to bump guys off their spots for post position and while boxing out. Chubby love>Skinny love.

I think he was more aggressive on the offensive glass in general, and that's probably where the majority of the difference was, but he was definitely heavier, stronger, and with a lower center of gravity, which seems to favor offensive rebounders more so than defensive rebounders.

KG was one of the best in transition defense though, and it's probably better if he's not sacrificing that for offensive rebounds.