Lack Of Rebounding Hurting Sixers

At 10-8, the Sixers have had an up-and-down start to their season.

They’ve had some nice moments, including an early season victory over the Boston Celtics. They’ve seen some positives from their young roster, including Jrue Holiday, who is beginning to assert himself as one of the top point guards in the Eastern Conference. They’re also one of only four teams in the East to reach 10 wins over the first month of the season, and they’ve done it all without the services of All-Star center Andrew Bynum.

However they’ve also had their share of down moments. They’ve struggled to defeat superior competition, losing a couple of tightly contested games to the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder. They’ve suffered an embarrassing loss to the Detroit Pistons (who entered their match against the Sixers with an 0-8 record), and were run out of their own building last night by the Minnesota Timberwolves on a night where Kevin Love failed to record a double-double for the first time all season.

The most glaring issue that has come to hurt this team repeatedly this season is the lack of production that they’re receiving from the center position. LaVoy Allen, Spencer Hawes, and Kwame Brown have collectively struggled to pick up the slack at the position. None of these guys seem to want to seize the opportunity for playing time presented to them by Bynum’s absence.

During last night’s loss to the Timberwolves, the Sixers were outrebounded 40 to 27. Allen, Hawes, and Brown combined for just 11 rebounds while Minnesota’s Josh Howard (a shooting guard) come up with 10 boards on his own.

This has been a recurring theme throughout the season. The current Sixer centers have shown that they’re an inconsistent, soft bunch that allows opposing bigs to have their way on the glass while offering little to no resistance

Of the guys that they have right now, LaVoy Allen probably has the best chance to step up and develop into a passable option at the position. Allen showed a little potential during last year’s playoff run where he forced himself into the rotation with his excellent play against the Celtics. He has a decent offensive game, but he can’t sustain a high level of play for very long.

Spencer Hawes is a frustrating player to watch. On any given night, he could provide the team with a double-double, but more often than not he’ll give the Sixers a mediocre effort complete with poor shot selection and soft defense. Hawes doesn’t like to get physical in the paint, and would rather be a three-point shooter. With guys like Jason Richardson, Dorell Wright, and Nick Young on the roster, the Sixers have plenty of sharpshooters, they need Hawes to understand that he’s most valuable playing near the basket and Doug Collins has got to force him to do just that.

Kwame Brown is a decent defensive presence, but gives you next to nothing on the offensive end.

The team’s only other legitimate option would be rookie Arnett Moultrie, but the first-round pick seems to be a long way from earning the trust of the coaching staff.

Unless the Sixers can get their rebounding woes under control, they’re going to continue to have problems. The best solution to this issue would be to have Andrew Bynum get onto the court, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon.