Dunno if this is really a problem yet. Most of the bigs he listed just did what they average for the most part.

Hopefully Randolph being back helps as long as he understands that if his shot isn't falling and all he does is rebound the ball and guard the rim, he's being useful.

1) Y'all think this is really an issue or it's too early to tell? I know Tommy Dee mentioned rebounding being a huge concern going into the season.

2) If it is an issue, can it be solved internally with progress from randolph/moz/amare/turiaf/etc?

3) If not, what cheap options are there right now or in the offseason to help give us more rebounding/interior D?

Post from Knicks vision:

Do The Knicks Have A Bigs Problem?
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I think it was when I realized that Taj Gibson had just dropped 18 points on us the other night that I began to put it all together. The book on Amar’e Stoudemire is that he is an offensive force, but defensively, he is fairly lazy (although he has the ability to be an above average defender, when he puts his mind to it). But we acquired Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, and Timofey Mozgov with the public intention of strengthening our low-post defense (and the private intention of finding a way to hide Amar’e on defense). Well, how’s that going so far? Not well my friends, not well indeed. We’ve won our past two games despite allowing our opponents’ big men to get too many opportunities. Let’s look at the respective lines of our five opponents low post starters:

Toronto

Andrea Bargnani: 22 points and 6 rebounds
Reggie Evans: 0 points and 16 rebounds
Boston

Kevin Garnett: 24 points and 10 rebounds
Shaq: 10 points and 7 rebounds
(Bonus) Glen Davis: 16 points and 6 rebounds
Portland

LaMarcus Aldridge: 20 points and 10 rebounds
Marcus Camby: 2 points and 5 rebounds
Chicago

Taj Gibson: 18 points and 10 rebounds
Joakim Noah: 12 points and 13 rebounds
Washington

Andray Blatche: 22 points and 6 rebounds (and one ridiculously spelled first name)
Javale Mcgee: 8 points and 8 rebounds
So, what can we make of this? Well, I’d say that the most alarming statistic is the number of rebounds we’re allowing these guys to get. The Knicks as a team have the 18th best rebounding rate in the league at 49.8%. For this of you who don’t have a passion for advanced basketball statistics (read: are not basketball nerds with constantly frustrated and ignored girlfriends), this simply means that of the total number of rebound opportunities that the Knicks have had, they have succeeded in pulling down the board 49.8% of the time. How important is rebounding rate? Well, the top 11 teams last season in terms of rebounding rate were:

Cleveland (52.4%)
Memphis (52.3%)
San Antonio (52%)
Orlando (51.9%)
Utah (51.9%)
Oklahoma City (51.7%)
Portland (51.3%)
Los Angeles Lakers (51.2%)
Chicago (51%)
Charlotte (50.7%)
Miami (50.7%)
As you can see, 10 of those 11 teams made the playoffs last season. The Knicks finished last season with a rate of 47.4%, good for the 27th worst rate (tied with Indiana). So, to answer the question, rebounding rate is very important. In fact, since the 2002 season (the first year this data was kept), no team has won the Finals with a rebounding rate of less than 51% during the regular season. Naturally, if we are unable to rebound as well as the other team, they will be able to score more points down low.

Obviously the NBA has evolved to a place where big men play like guards half the time, but still, the memory of Javale Mcgee slamming home an offensive put-back still haunts me. We are allowing too many second chance points by big men, and it’s becoming a problem. If we want to see how this is hurting the Knicks, consider that according to Hoopdata.com, the Knicks have allowed the second most shots at the rim (which are categorized as lay-ups, dunks, and tip-ins) with 28.2 per game. 44.9% of these opportunities have come unassisted, which means a good number of them have come from offensive rebounds and second chance opportunities. The biggest problem that I have with this is that we haven’t really played any elite offensive big men thus far (KG: old; Bargs: more of a perimeter threat; Aldridge: I’ll slap you if you say he’s an elite offensive player). Thanks to asbestos at the Garden (which, for the record, would be a kick ass name of a band), we avoided facing Dwight Howard thus far. But I have a hard time believing that if Taj Gibson can put up 18/10, then players such as Pau, Dwight, Bosh, Boozer, and Jefferson (to name a few, let’s not debate these guys, they’re all fantastic low post players) should have a field day.

As with any problem I will present you, the reader, with, I have a solution. As those of you who listened to my season preview Knicks Vision Radio segment, you will know that I think our team is comprised of quantity shot blockers, rather than quality shot blockers (and for those of you who didn’t listen, I could be making that up. But the only way you’ll find out is if you listen. So, get on that). By this, I mean that many of our players make athletic plays in which they lunge at their man in an attempt to block the shot, only to miss the block, leaving them out of position and their man with an open lane to the hoop. This has happened far too many times this season. Plain and simple, a team that is leading the league in blocked shots per game (Yup, the Knicks are leading the league in blocks per game with 8.4. I’ll give you a minute to change your underwear) should NEVER allow 15.6 shots at the rim to be made per game. The five teams that have allowed the fewest shots at the rim per game all have elite low post defenders: Orlando (Howard); New Jersey (Brook Lopez); Miami (Bo… screw it, they’re the Heat, they’re allowing like 50 points per game); Charlotte (Gerald Wallace); and San Antonio (Tim Duncan). The five teams that have allowed the most? Well, let’s just say I wouldn’t want to go into battle with their best low post defender leading the way. Those teams are: Oklahoma City (Jeff Green or Serge Ibaka); Washington (Javale Mcgee); Philadelphia (Elton Brand); Toronto (Bargnani I guess); and the Knicks.

Look, if I thought we were headed for the eight seed, I wouldn’t make a big deal about this. But our team is starting to show that it can be a heck of a lot better than that, minus this glaring thorn in our foot. But in order for the Knicks to truly be able to stand tall and talented with the other elite teams in the league, we need to figure out a way to teach Anthony Randolph, Timofey Mozgov, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Ronny Turiaf how to anticipate and time their blocks more effectively. Can this happen? Sure it can. Mozgov and Randolph are basically playing solely on instinct now, so they can be coached. And if Amar’e can see that this is what separates us from truly being “back,” then I think he’ll step up as well. As for Ronny? Hell, he can just keep doing what he’s doing, as long as he doesn’t shave his beard.

Note: Just saying, if the Knicks hadn’t unceremoniously shipped Ewing off toward the end of his career, and effectively burned a bridge in the process, we could have Pat on our bench as our big man coach, imbuing our younger guys with his elite defensive sensibility. But, that’s another rant for another day

Yes, the Knicks have a severe bigs problem.

His name is Eddy Curry.