Nov. 05--Clippers Coach Doc Rivers has repeatedly said that if the Clippers want to be a great team, they need to improve their rebounding.
After the Clippers were outrebounded in each of their eight exhibition games, Rivers spent much of the following days at practice focusing on improving in that area. Last season they were ranked 13th in the league in rebounding despite having the league's top rebounder in DeAndre Jordan.
The Clippers appear to still be struggling on the boards -- they've been outrebounded in each of their four regular-season games. But Rivers recently said that the numbers may be misleading.
"When you take 20 more attempts, do you understand that the other team is going to have more rebounds?" Rivers said after Monday's win over Utah. "You do get that?"
The Clippers have taken an average of 14.3 more shots than their opponents while being outrebounded by an average of 9.3 per game. Against Utah, the Clippers were outrebounded, 43-35, but they took 81 shot attempts while the Jazz had 77.
"Visually, I saw [that it looked] pretty good," Rivers said of the team's rebounding effort -- which really was a team effort. Chris Paul finished with a triple-double in that game, -- 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
"A 6-foot guard getting a triple-double, it's really impressive, it really is," Rivers said. "You would think he would get his with steals, not rebounds."
Added Blake Griffin: "He did a great job of coming in and stealing some of our rebounds tonight."
