Deanna Nolan ranks 15th in lowest offensive rebound percentage, but when you have Cheryl Ford on your team, there aren�t many rebounds left for the rest of the team.
Bill Baptist (NBAE/Getty)
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Vol. 1, No. 7
Statistically Speaking: Worst Rebounders in WNBA
by John Maxwell

As a follow-up to our last article on the top rebounders in the WNBA, I thought I�d take a look at the players in the W who react to missed shots like Superman reacts to kryptonite. I figured that most of the players on the list would be point guards, and I wasn�t surprised. Still, there are probably some names on these lists that will jump out at you.

First let�s check out the �leaders� in lowest Offensive Rebound Percentage. I used the same minimums as last time � 600 minutes played.

Offensive Rebound Percentage � Bottom 20
Player Team G GS Min ORPct
Ticha Penicheiro Sacramento 34 33 927 1.1
Helen Darling Charlotte 31 11 600 1.1
Dawn Staley Charlotte 23 23 684 1.4
Doneeka Hodges Los Angeles 32 11 669 1.6
Kristi Harrower Minnesota 34 34 832 1.8
Tully Bevilaqua Indiana 31 31 873 1.8
Allison Feaster Charlotte 21 21 666 1.8
Tameka Johnson Washington 33 33 948 1.9
Katie Smith Minnesota 23 23 766 2.1
Shannon Johnson San Antonio 34 33 1104 2.2
Becky Hammon New York 34 34 1165 2.6
Diana Taurasi Phoenix 33 33 1089 2.6
Janeth Arcain Houston 34 34 1079 2.7
Sue Bird Seattle 30 30 1020 2.8
Deanna Nolan Detroit 33 33 1213 3.1
Sheryl Swoopes Houston 33 33 1225 3.2
Kelly Miller Indiana 34 34 1057 3.2
Betty Lennox Seattle 27 25 763 3.4
Alana Beard Washington 29 29 978 3.5
Iziane Castro Marques Seattle 32 31 848 3.5

Lots of point guards on the list, but also plenty of other positional star power � Allison Feaster, Katie Smith, Deanna Nolan, Sheryl Swoopes, Betty Lennox, Alana Beard. But the first thing that caught my eye was that three of the worst seven offensive rebounders last year played for the Sting. A little surprising, I suppose, when you consider that the Sting were the seventh best offensive rebounding team in the league a season ago.

Seattle also �boasts� three players on the list, and they ranked fifth in the W in offensive rebounding last year. Our own Deanna Nolan ranks 15th on the above list, but when you have Cheryl Ford on your team, there aren�t many rebounds to go around for the rest of the team.

For comparison�s sake, here is Cheryl Ford�s line from our top-20 chart.

Player Team G GS Min ORPct
Cheryl Ford Detroit 33 33 932 14.5

So Cheryl grabs more than four times the number of rebounds on the offensive end of the floor than every player on our bottom 20 list and nearly 14 times as many as Ticha Penicheiro.

Defensive Rebound Percentage � Bottom 20
PlayerTeam G GS Min DRPct
Allison Feaster Charlotte 21 21 666 6.0
Sue Bird Seattle 30 30 1020 6.2
Tan White Indiana 34 3 693 6.7
Chelsea Newton Sacramento 34 34 715 6.8
Katie Smith Minnesota 23 23 766 7.3
Doneeka Hodges Los Angeles 32 11 669 7.8
Kelly Miller Indiana 34 34 1057 8.3
Tully Bevilaqua Indiana 31 31 873 8.5
Shannon Johnson San Antonio 34 33 1104 8.8
Crystal Robinson New York 32 31 969 9.4
Tamecka Dixon Los Angeles 30 23 607 9.5
Anna DeForge Phoenix 33 33 1131 9.6
Dawn Staley Charlotte 23 23 684 9.7
Janeth Arcain Houston 34 34 1079 9.7
Nykesha Sales Connecticut 34 34 1074 9.8
Marie Ferdinand San Antonio 31 31 999 9.9
Helen Darling Charlotte 31 11 600 10.1
Katie Douglas Connecticut 32 32 998 10.2
Vickie Johnson New York 34 34 1023 10.2
Becky Hammon New York 34 34 1165 10.4

On the defensive side of the glass Indiana pulled nearly the same trick as Charlotte did on the offensive end with three players in the bottom eight. The Fever ranked fifth in the league in defensive rebounding percentage last year. The New York Liberty, who ranked ninth in defensive rebound percentage as a team last season, managed to put three players on this list as well. Oh, and the Sting are once again well represented with three players in the bottom 20. As a team Charlotte ranked last in the league in defensive rebound percentage.

Margo Dydek was the number one defensive rebounder in the league last year.

Player Team G GS Min DRPct
Margo Dydek Connecticut 31 30 671 29.9

So she basically grabs three times as many defensive rebounds as the players on the bottom 20 list.

Next up is the list of 20 lowest individual rebound percentages, which is the average of a player�s offensive and defensive rebound percentages.

Player TeamGGSMinORPctDRPctRPct
Allison Feaster Charlotte21216661.86.03.9
Sue BirdSeattle303010202.86.24.5
Katie SmithMinnesota23237662.17.34.7
Doneeka HodgesLos Angeles32116691.67.84.7
Tully BevilaquaIndiana31318731.88.55.2
Tan WhiteIndiana3436934.06.75.4
Shannon JohnsonSan Antonio343311042.28.85.5
Dawn StaleyCharlotte23236841.49.75.5
Helen DarlingCharlotte31116001.110.15.6
Kelly MillerIndiana343410573.28.35.8
Janeth ArcainHouston343410792.79.76.2
Chelsea NewtonSacramento34347155.76.86.3
Kristi HarrowerMinnesota34348321.811.06.4
Becky HammonNew York343411652.610.46.5
Anna DeForgePhoenix333311313.69.66.6
Crystal RobinsonNew York32319694.59.46.9
Sheryl SwoopesHouston333312253.210.87.0
Iziane Castro MarquesSeattle32318483.510.47.0
Nykesha SalesConnecticut343410744.39.87.1
Tamecka DixonLos Angeles30236075.29.57.4

So if you�re scoring at home, Allison Feaster (3.9%) grabs half as many rebounds as Vickie Johnson (7.8%) who grabs half as many rebounds as Kamila Vodichkova (15.6%) who is still more than a Sue Bird away from Cheryl Ford (21.7%).