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April 16, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets center Samuel Dalembert (21) blocks Denver Nuggets shooting guard Arron Afflalo (6) during the first quarter at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell-US PRESSWIRE

When an avid NBA fan thinks about Samuel Dalembert, chances are that their mental image is one of him fouling things up for the opposition with his preternaturally long arms.  He blocks shots, he alters shots. Standing 6-feet-11, with a knack for defense and a wingspan of 7-feet-7 inches, Dalembert will give the Bucks an interior presence in the starting lineup to match the one coming off their bench in the form of Larry Sanders and Ekpe Udoh.

For a franchise traumatized by Andrew Bogut’s injuries, the surprise factor most often mentioned following the trade for Samuel was his durability:  he has played 473 of 476 possible games over the past six seasons.  Or perhaps the other surprise was his free-throw shooting ability, a skill that has improved greatly over the course of his career.

However, Samuel Dalembert is not a good rebounder.  Dalembert is an excellent-to-elite rebounder â€" and I think that may be what is most surprising about the Bucks’ new center.

Samuel isn’t a superstar-caliber, 35-minutes-per-game player.  He played 24 minutes per game for Sacramento in 2010, and 22 for Houston last season.  Looking at his rebounds on a per-game basis won’t do his skill any justice; he’s not on the court as much as some other players.  Instead, look at his rebounding as a percentage of shots taken when he is on the court:  offensive/defensive/total rebounding percentages.

Dalembert’s rebounding percentages are both impressive and balanced. Last season, Samuel reeled in 12.5% of available offensive rebounds â€" the 13th-best mark in the league among qualified players.  On defense, he collected 24.1% the shots his opponents missed when he was on the court â€" good enough for 15th best in the NBA.

Here is a list of the league’s best overall rebounders from 1 to Ersan, based upon total rebounding percentage.  (The list includes only players who met the minimum qualifications for the league leaders, which in the lockout-shortened season was 1207 minutes played.)  With the dual advantage of crashing the boards well from both sides, Dalembert finished with the sixth-best overall percentage in the NBA.

Rk	Player	Age	Tm	G	MP	ORB	DRB	TRB	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS	FG%	FT%	TRB%
1	Marcus Camby	37	TOT	59	1352	157	373	530	85	57	126	287	.446	.453	22.8
2	Dwight Howard	26	ORL	54	2070	200	585	785	116	175	159	1113	.573	.491	21.9
3	DeMarcus Cousins	21	SAC	64	1950	265	438	703	75	170	257	1160	.448	.702	19.8
4	Kevin Love	23	MIN	55	2145	226	508	734	28	128	152	1432	.448	.824	19.0
5	Andrew Bynum	24	LAL	60	2112	192	517	709	116	152	104	1123	.558	.692	18.7
6	Samuel Dalembert	30	HOU	65	1446	158	298	456	111	82	162	490	.506	.796	18.3
7	Tim Duncan	35	SAS	58	1634	110	410	520	88	97	98	895	.492	.695	18.3
8	Kris Humphries	26	NJN	62	2162	233	448	681	74	119	173	855	.481	.752	18.3
9	Greg Monroe	21	DET	66	2082	239	398	637	46	161	180	1015	.521	.739	18.3
10	DeAndre Jordan	23	LAC	66	1798	202	344	546	135	74	189	486	.632	.525	18.1
11	Joakim Noah	26	CHI	64	1945	242	387	629	92	92	162	652	.508	.748	18.0
12	Blake Griffin	22	LAC	66	2392	218	499	717	48	150	216	1368	.549	.521	17.8
13	Derrick Favors	20	UTA	65	1376	158	267	425	65	103	145	570	.499	.649	17.7
14	Udonis Haslem	31	MIA	64	1589	117	353	470	24	60	142	385	.423	.814	17.7
15	JaVale McGee	24	TOT	61	1535	163	314	477	132	87	166	691	.556	.461	17.7
16	Marcin Gortat	27	PHO	66	2114	185	474	659	99	90	142	1017	.555	.649	17.6
17	Ersan Ilyasova	24	MIL	60	1655	196	333	529	44	76	133	782	.492	.781	17.6

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/7/2012.

As a point of emphasis, it should be noted that this list includes some of the league’s worst free-throw shooters.  Dalembert was just a tick below 80% for the season.

For the record, Dalembert has finished in the top ten in total rebounding percentage for the last five seasons: 10th, 5th, 3rd, 7th, and 6th. By way of comparison, Andrew Bogut’s three career-best finishes (as a full-season qualifier) were 11th, 12th, and 26th. And Dalembert has done it with three teams in three cities, so you know that his results are not a product of any one system, player-personnel combination, or any other type of fluke happenstance.

The only real concern is that his productivity could taper off with age, but that is unlikely, as rebounding is usually one of the last skills to erode; in recent seasons, players like Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and Marcus Camby have been terrific rebounders well into their mid-30s.

There are few things that bother me as an NBA fan more than an average power forward taking up tons of playing time, putting in some points and grabbing 10 rebounds per game, and then parlaying that job into a massive contract. (This notion isn’t a knock at Ersan â€" who is reportedly very close to a 5-year, $45 million deal with the Bucks. His deal, both pro and con, is a separate matter as a stretch-4 power forward.)  Defense matters, even more than rebounding, for an interior player.  But Samuel’s reputation as a defender precedes him, to the extent that his skilled rebounding has often gone without notice.

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