Hoyas See The Need To Get On Boards
January 8, 2008
Seattle SuperSonics rookie forward Jeff Green didn't want to offer too detailed of an analysis of his former team as he sat in the visitors' locker room inside Verizon Center on Sunday afternoon. But Green, who was in town to face the Washington Wizards, did make one observation about the seventh-ranked Georgetown Hoyas.
"They can get a little bit more rebounds," said Green, who hung out on the Hilltop and played 'Guitar Hero' with some of the Hoyas on Saturday night. "That'll come through hard work."
Georgetown, which has been outrebounded in three of its past four games, needs to start showing improvement soon, with games looming against Connecticut (Jan. 12) and at Pittsburgh (Jan. 14), two of the best rebounding teams in the Big East Conference. But first, the Hoyas (11-1, 1-0) face DePaul (6-7, 2-0) tonight at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.
The Blue Demons, one of just four teams without a league loss, were the biggest surprise of the first week of conference play. They struggled during first the two months of the season, losing five straight games in December and picking up just four nonconference wins -- the fewest of any Big East team. But DePaul stunned then-No. 17 Villanova, 84-76, last Thursday and followed it up with a 70-65 victory over Providence on Saturday.
Rebounding has been a point of emphasis throughout the season for Georgetown; for a team whose defense is predicated on forcing tough, contested shots -- as opposed to relying on forcing turnovers -- rebounding those misses is paramount.
The Hoyas have size and athleticism in their front court, with starters Roy Hibbert (7 feet 2) and DaJuan Summers (6-8), and reserves Patrick Ewing Jr. (6-8) and Vernon Macklin (6-9). Summers has shown flashes of becoming a superior defensive rebounder (he averages 5.1 per game), and Jessie Sapp, a 6-3 junior, is one of the better rebounding guards in the league (4.2 per game). On the season, the Hoyas hold a rebounding margin of plus-3.2.
"Our rebounding is an issue," said Georgetown Coach John Thompson III, after the Hoyas outrebounded a much smaller American team by only two, 28-26, on Dec. 29. "We have to pursue the ball better than we have been. For us to win this year, we have to do a much better job of limiting [opponents] to one shot, and just as important with the group we have, of getting second shots."
Old Dominion outrebounded the Hoyas, 41-34, on Nov. 28, and the Monarchs grabbed 22 on the offensive end that led to 18 second-chance points. In Georgetown's 85-71 loss at No. 2 Memphis on Dec. 22, the Tigers held a 43-30 rebounding advantage. They turned 19 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. In their 58-46 win at Rutgers on Saturday, the Hoyas had a season-low four offensive rebounds. The Scarlet Knights had 43 rebounds, including 22 offensively.
Rutgers Coach Fred Hill attributed his team's rebounding advantage, in part, to its attention on defense: "Because we were trying to take away backdoor cuts, we usually had pretty good rebounding position." But he also praised his players for being active and aggressive in chasing down long rebounds. The Hoyas were not.
After the game, neither Thompson nor his players would pinpoint any one area -- whether positioning, technique or effort -- that was at the root of the problem.
But Sapp, who led the Hoyas against Rutgers with five rebounds, said: "I think the guards need to rebound a little bit more, as far as us getting the rebounds that are bouncing out, the long rebounds. It's just a little bit of positioning, and us working extra hard on defense and getting after the loose balls. . . .
"It's just something we need to work on. We've got to go in the gym and work on our boxing out, and we'll be fine."
