By TOM ENLUND St. Francis - Around this time last year, Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles and his staff were wondering about rebounds and where they were going to come from once the season began. At first glance, last season's team did not seem to have the makings of a strong rebounding team.
But the Bucks turned out to be surprisingly solid on the boards and their rebounding prowess evolved into one of their strengths.
The jury is still out on how well the Bucks will be able to clean the glass this season, but if their improvement during the exhibition season is any indication, they may be competitive on the boards once again.
"Last year I was really concerned about rebounding," said Skiles after the team's practice on Monday. "When (center Andrew) Bogut was playing we became a very good rebounding team. When he went out, we weren't as good. Other than the first two games (this season) we've rebounded well so far, but I'm not ready yet to say this is going to be a great rebounding team."
Said Bogut: "It's still too early to say but we have the potential to be (a good rebounding team). Kurt Thomas used to be one of the best rebounders in the league. Hakim (Warrick) is real athletic and Danny (Gadzuric) is athletic, so I think we could be a decent rebounding team. We've got a lot of length; a lot of guys at every position that are very long, so I think we've got a chance."
Last season, Bogut averaged a career-high 10.3 rebounds in the 36 games in which he played and the Bucks ranked ninth in the league in overall rebounding percentage (the amount of available rebounds the team actually gets).
In six exhibition games this season, the Bucks have been out-rebounded by an average of 42.2 to 38.7. But that statistic is skewed a bit by the fact that in the first two exhibition games, the Bucks were out-rebounded by Minnesota, 49-24; and by Detroit, 46-34.
"We just weren't getting after it (in those two games)," said Skiles. "The other team's big guys were slinging us around pretty good and then when we had position we weren't going up with two hands strong and rebounding the ball. But we've done better lately and we hope it continues."
Getting along: Team chemistry has been good so far, but as Skiles points out, it should be.
"This is the time of the year that it's easy to get along," he said. "When you lose a couple games that you should win and tensions are high, that's when that stuff is tested. But we seem to be forming a nice foundation with regard to our chemistry."
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