Insider Special: Power Outage

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NBA Power Outage: Lakers getting fewer second chances

By Terry Brown

Wednesday, December 18 Updated 12:54 PM EST

My kingdom for an offensive rebound.

Maybe two or three, four would be really nice.

During his second season with the Orlando Magic, Shaquille O'Neal averaged 4.7 of them a game. During his MVP season with the Los Angeles Lakers, he averaged 4.3 and 13.6 overall. And now that the three-time defending champion Lakers are staggering with a 10-16 record, the one-time dominant center is at a career-low 3.4 offensive rebounds a game and near career-low 10.8 total rebounds per contest.

In the meantime, undersized, so to speak, power forward Elton Brand has taken to leading the league at 4.6 offensive boards a game. Undersized, there it goes again, center Ben Wallace is second in line at 3.7.

When was the last time you read a headline involving Dale Davis or Donyell Marshall. They're tied for sixth on the list. Jamaal Magloire and Alan Henderson are tied at 10th.

They play for the Blazers, Bulls, Hornets and Hawks, respectively, but you wouldn't know that if all you were keeping track of was the 27 points per game O'Neal has been averaging since his return from toe surgery.

In fact, since O'Neal hasn't played enough games to qualify, there isn't a Laker on the list until, of all people, Robert Horry pops up at No. 16, tied at 2.8 offensive boards a game.

Neither is Shaq fighting for the position near the basket that was once his turf nor re-posting for better looks once he tosses the ball back out nor keeping opposing centers from claiming his territory on the other end while playing, shall we stretch the definition . . . defense.

In Laker wins, they average 13.5 offensive boards a game and 48.6 total. In loses, they're at 12.7 and 42.4. That's a 6.3 overall rebounding difference.

It is incremental on the offensive end, fractions of a full number, perhaps only a bead of sweat on the brow, but isn't that all offensive rebounding is in the first place. One outstretched hand, a dive here and there, an ice bag after, a bruise for the week. A primordial scream when one just gets away.

Tuesday night, the Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves by 16 points but it didn't have as much to do with their opponent's shooting 51 percent from the field as much as it did their opponent's grabbing eight offensive boards.

Going into Tuesday night's game, the Lakers had grabbed 328 offensive boards of their 1,207 missed shots, meaning that they retrieved 27.1 percent of them. That is neither good nor bad nor enough for a fourth consecutive title. It is better than the Sonics at 26.3 percent but worse than the Blazers at 28.5 percent for a team that shot 46 percent from the field last year and only 42 percent this as its leader, the one with the toe problem, has gone from 57.9 percent from the field to 55.5 percent in the same time.

Which, as it is turning out, is enough to make the 11th place team in the Western Conference content. Not even a peep.

Here's how a few other teams are doing on the offensive glass . . .

MOST AGGRESSIVE OFFENSIVE REBOUNDERS

1. Golden State Warriors

Difference: 33.8% (386 off. rebs of 1142 misses)

Comment: If rebounds really equated rings, then the Warriors would be the three-time defending champs. Over this season and the last two, they have amassed a monster plus 7.0 offensive rebounding advantage over their opponents. They crash the glass with impunity. Starting center Erick Dampier averages 3.5 O boards a game, No. 4 in the league. Starting power forward Troy Murphy is at an even three. Backup center Adonal Foyle, playing only 19 minutes a game, gets 2.2. Small forward Antawn Jamison gets 2.5. Think about this for a second. If the Warriors shoot the ball three times, they are going to get it back at least once. Forty-two percent shooting from the field . . . who cares? Thirty-three percent from long range . . . big deal. Seventeen turnovers a game . . . we'll get it back. Or didn't you ever wonder how a team with only eight wins in 24 games could have almost six players averaging double-digits.

2. Utah Jazz

Difference: 32.9% (307 off. rebs of 933 misses)

Comment: The amazing thing is that they already shoot 46 percent from the field to their opponents' 42. As a team, they shoot 37 percent from long range and 75 percent from the line. When do they even have time to miss any shots must less rebound them? No team in the entire league has fewer missed shots, yet, in comparison, they have one more offensive board than the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have 185 more missed shots than the Jazz. And, surprise-surprise, it's Matt Harpring, their three-point specialist and part-time starter at small forward, who is leading them with a career-high 2.9 O boards a game, which is the same amount as Kevin Garnett.

3. Phoenix Suns

Difference: 29.5% (348 off. rebs of 1179 misses)

Comment: You could unplug rookie Amare Stoudemire an hour before the game and he'd still have enough juice in his batteries to grab his three offensive boards a game, which still wouldn't be enough to catch team leader Shawn Marion, who is at 3.2 per contest and one of the very few players to average the elite 20 and 10 on the year. And it doesn't hurt that there are six other Suns who average more than an O board a game. Ask yourself one question. If the playoffs started today, do you know who would be the third seed in the West?

4. Denver Nuggets

Difference: 28.8% (351 off. rebs of 1217 misses)

Comment: Double rookie Nene Hilario's minutes and he'd rule the world. Well, maybe not all of the continents, but at least the offensive glass where, in 23.3 minutes per game, he is grabbing 2.5 boards a game at the ripe old age of 18. By the end of the year, he may even pass team leader Juwan Howard, who is at 2.7 since, after all, we are talking about the Denver Nuggets. And only the Magic (1,233) and Cavs (1,243) have missed more shots than them. Heck, even free throws are an adventure at 68 percent as a team.

5. Houston Rockets

Difference: 28.7% (292 off. rebs of 1017 misses)

Comment: These guys attack en masse. From 6-foot-3 point guard Stevie Francis at two offensive boards a game (for his next trick . . . the solution to global warming) to 7-foot-6 center Yao Ming at 2.7 per game. From the offensive-minded Kenny Thomas at 2.3 a game to the defensive-centered Kelvin Cato, also at 2.3. Right on down to Jason Collier, who has played in only six games at no more than 10 minutes per spot and he's still grabbing 1.5 an outing.

MOST PASSIVE OFFENSIVE REBOUNDERS

25. Detroit Pistons

Difference: 24.3% (234 off. rebs of 960 misses)

Comment: If Ben Wallace ever called in sick, this team would have to shoot perfect from the field just to push the game into overtime. No other Piston averages half of his offensive boards (3.7) or a third of his overall rebounding totals (15.1). And that player, Corliss Williamson, comes off the bench.

26. Sacramento Kings

Difference: 24% (277 off. rebs of 1154 misses)

Comment: Things may be going well now for the team with league's second-best record, but even last year, when the Kings finished with the league's very best record, they outrebounded their opponents 45.3 to 44.9. This year, they're at a 42.5 to 43.8 overall rebounding deficit and 10.7 to 12.6 offensive rebounding deficit. And to think that during Chris Webber's rookie season, he averaged four offensive boards a game all by himself while during his first year with Sacramento, some four seasons ago, he lead the entire league in rebounding at 13 a game. Don't bother to look at his current numbers if you've eaten recently.

27. Dallas Mavericks

Difference: 23.7% (249 off. rebs of 1049 misses)

Comment: Hit 87 more field goals than your opponent and 36 more three-pointers and 70 more free throws while compiling a league-best 21-3 record and you won't have to go chasing after your misses, either. The league will do that for you and call them regular season games.

28. New York Knicks

Difference: 23.6% (226 off. rebs of 957 misses)

Comment: No team in the league grabs fewer offensive boards than the Knicks. Even if we were to add Antonio McDyess' career average of 2.8 to the pot and not touching his replacement's numbers (Kurt Thomas at 2.5), they'd still be one behind the Toronto Raptors, who have been missing their starting center, Antonio Daniels, for a third of their season so far. But, then again, these are the same guys who can't seem to get enough of sluggish 6-foot-7 power forwards to play center.

29. Boston Celtics

Difference: 23% (263 off. rebs of 1141 misses)

Comment: Absolutely hard to believe that in all those long rebounds from long-range shots, 656 in 24 games to be exact or 27 per game, that these guys can't grab more than 11 offensive boards a night. Just as hard to believe that, of all people, Vin Baker is almost leading them in the category at 2.2 a game in only 18.6 minutes. Imagine if he played the whole game. Imagine if he deserved to play the whole game.