SilkyJ and I have been having a conversation about Marques's value (or lack thereof) on the defensive boards. He mentioned to me his idea that Marques is a bad defensive rebounder. After reviewing the historical data, my view is (at least so far this season) it's even worse than that. So far this season, Marques Bolden has been a historically poor defensive rebounder for a Duke center.
Below is a listing of every Duke player who played 300 or more minutes, primarily at center (I apologize if I missed someone or listed someone who was primarily a PF -- I did the best I could). Marques's current defensive rebounding percentage of 10.79% is the 2nd-worst in Duke history (or at least since 1987, when they started keeping the defensive rebound stat), ahead of only 2001 Casey Sanders. (Caution: you have to scroll down quite a ways to see this.)
Code:
Year Name min OR% DR% Blk% OR DR Blk
2012 Mason Plumlee 964 12.03% 26.53% 5.16% 99 213 55
2013 Mason Plumlee 1248 9.75% 25.06% 4.01% 99 260 52
2012 Miles Plumlee 697 16.63% 24.63% 4.15% 99 143 32
2010 Brian Zoubek 746 21.74% 24.40% 4.04% 143 166 31
2011 Mason Plumlee 949 11.16% 23.84% 5.79% 91 218 62
2006 Shelden Williams 1198 12.44% 23.49% 9.48% 117 267 137
2018 Wendell Carter 997 12.77% 23.15% 7.61% 109 226 76
2010 Miles Plumlee 654 11.27% 22.13% 3.87% 65 132 26
2005 Shelden Williams 1109 13.10% 22.05% 9.19% 127 242 122
2017 Amile Jefferson 1039 9.68% 22.05% 5.86% 84 209 65
2004 Shelden Williams 963 14.79% 22.01% 10.64% 119 195 111
1995 Cherokee Parks 1092 7.37% 21.96% 4.38% 68 221 55
1991 Christian Laettner 1178 11.05% 21.84% 2.98% 105 235 44
1990 Christian Laettner 1135 12.97% 21.71% 2.66% 129 235 41
2017 Harry Giles 300 16.36% 21.56% 5.31% 41 59 17
2014 Amile Jefferson 796 14.98% 21.26% 2.50% 101 139 20
1997 Greg Newton 688 9.59% 20.56% 4.32% 57 127 32
2019 Javin DeLaurier 86 13.02% 20.55% 4.20% 11 19 4
1999 Elton Brand 1141 14.33% 20.48% 6.36% 139 243 86
1987 Marty Nessley 376 11.42% 20.42% 5.51% 35 62 24
2003 Shelden Williams 633 14.83% 19.92% 7.72% 84 111 52
1992 Christian Laettner 1128 9.67% 19.53% 2.33% 82 193 32
2002 Carlos Boozer 993 13.55% 19.49% 1.91% 119 184 21
2007 Josh McRoberts 1164 7.60% 19.42% 6.86% 69 191 82
1989 Christian Laettner 608 11.89% 19.35% 3.77% 58 112 28
2009 Brian Zoubek 427 16.71% 18.96% 6.53% 63 70 29
2016 Marshall Plumlee 1099 12.15% 18.81% 4.93% 119 189 59
2018 Javin DeLaurier 419 15.05% 18.77% 4.53% 54 77 19
1996 Greg Newton 918 13.03% 18.66% 5.04% 106 149 48
2001 Carlos Boozer 820 7.88% 18.64% 2.86% 60 148 28
1994 Cherokee Parks 1038 11.73% 18.45% 6.12% 100 184 76
2003 Casey Sanders 589 14.80% 18.32% 8.62% 78 95 54
2015 Jahlil Okafor 1143 14.80% 18.20% 4.50% 134 188 54
1993 Cherokee Parks 899 8.59% 18.10% 5.57% 65 155 64
2018 Marques Bolden 373 11.90% 18.07% 7.49% 38 66 28
1995 Eric Meek 889 14.65% 17.82% 3.81% 110 146 39
1990 Alaa Abdelnaby 947 10.96% 17.82% 3.73% 91 161 48
1998 Elton Brand 493 16.49% 17.46% 5.15% 76 78 27
2011 Miles Plumlee 628 14.27% 17.19% 2.40% 77 104 17
2009 Kyle Singler 1193 10.63% 16.67% 3.06% 112 172 38
2000 Carlos Boozer 807 11.57% 16.51% 2.34% 81 132 23
1993 Eric Meek 371 10.89% 16.41% 2.11% 34 58 10
1994 Eric Meek 474 17.47% 16.24% 3.35% 68 74 19
1989 Alaa Abdelnaby 531 10.57% 15.82% 2.47% 45 80 16
1999 Chris Burgess 608 10.64% 15.66% 4.86% 55 99 35
2015 Marshall Plumlee 375 13.13% 15.64% 5.59% 39 53 22
1998 Chris Burgess 453 12.04% 15.35% 4.77% 51 63 23
2010 Mason Plumlee 480 9.21% 15.08% 6.08% 39 66 30
1996 Taymon Domzalski 635 12.97% 14.85% 3.49% 73 82 23
2008 Kyle Singler 972 7.83% 14.37% 2.31% 70 128 25
1988 John Smith 534 8.70% 14.24% 0.63% 40 67 4
2004 Shavlik Randolph 709 13.17% 13.80% 7.94% 78 90 61
1988 Alaa Abdelnaby 320 10.53% 13.48% 0.79% 29 38 3
1992 Cherokee Parks 435 9.17% 13.39% 6.62% 30 51 35
1991 Crawford Palmer 407 8.84% 12.91% 3.72% 29 48 19
1987 John Smith 720 7.50% 10.84% 0.96% 44 63 8
2019 Marques Bolden 138 11.81% 10.79% 10.47% 16 16 16
2001 Casey Sanders 373 9.82% 8.03% 7.18% 34 29 32
Now, it must also be said that if Marques keeps his current blocked shot pace, he'll be the 2nd-
best shotblocker (from a blocks% basis) in Duke history (again, since 1987). And it is an axiom that great shotblockers often sacrifice defensive rebounds when they go for blocks. But I don't think that's a good enough explanation, since Shelden Williams's at-least-for-now blocks% record was accompanied by a DR% more than
twice as high as Marques's current DR%.
And it's also true that Marques wasn't nearly as bad at defensive rebounding in 2017-18, though he wasn't good either (35th on the Duke centers list, out of 58). Finally, clearly it's only a 7-game sample -- though even with that, the only Duke players who've played 5 or more mpg this season with a worse DR% than Marques are our two PGs (Tre and Jordan G).
So I tried but I couldn't think of any explanation other than Marques Bolden has been a really bad defensive rebounder so far this season. Hopefully that will improve, and I'm sure it will, at least a little. But if you're looking for a major improvement in this area, I wouldn't hold my breath.