Paul Mills watched in disbelief—perhaps in horror or anger—as the Wichita State men’s basketball coach saw his team allow four consecutive offensive rebounds, culminating in an easy put-back by Alcorn State, a team that had yet to win a game and is considered one of the weakest in the nation. Just three days before Wednesday’s matchup at Koch Arena, Mills had made his players watch every minute of their 37-point loss to Florida, highlighting the 20 offensive rebounds they surrendered. After such a humiliating defeat, Mills expected his team to come out fired up and demonstrate improved physicality and rebounding. Instead, the problems on the boards continued, and more alarmingly, the players didn’t seem motivated to address it.
While a 78-54 victory to improve to 7-1 looks promising at first glance, Mills knows there’s a deeper issue that needs urgent attention. “There’s nothing more frustrating than playing 25 seconds of solid defense only to give the opponent an extended possession,” he said. “We’re just trying to stand in front of people instead of moving them. We need to do better at that.”
The troubling possession occurred in the game’s first four minutes with the starting lineup on the court. WSU managed to force a contested miss on a mid-range jumper, a good defensive result. However, wing Harlond Beverly failed to establish inside position during a cross-switch, allowing an offensive rebound. Shortly after, Alcorn State took another long shot that missed, and once again, Beverly could not box out effectively, resulting in a foul. Then Corey Washington also surrendered an offensive rebound, followed by Quincy Ballard chasing a block, leaving his man unguarded for an easy bucket from Alcorn State’s 6-foot-7 center, Djahi Binet. In frustration, Mills called a timeout before the initial media break. Unfortunately, even after addressing the lack of boxing out, WSU went on to give up offensive rebounds on their next five defensive possessions.
“We’re definitely missing Ronnie DeGray,” Mills noted, referring to the injured senior forward who will be out for at least three more weeks. “Harlond and Corey can contribute in other ways, but they lack the physical presence we need. We were pushing more than hitting, and we need to be making contact rather than just shoving.”
After a rough start, WSU improved to an acceptable 72% defensive rebound rate over the last 31 minutes of the game. They also limited Alcorn State to just 24% shooting (14 of 58) on first attempts during possessions. However, the early lapses revealed a concerning lack of urgency and focus in an area that had been heavily emphasized leading up to the game. After grabbing over 75% of opponents’ misses during a perfect start, WSU’s defensive rebounding percentage plummeted to 62% in their last three contests. Some of this decline can be attributed to tougher competition, such as Florida and Minnesota, but allowing a season-high 21 offensive rebounds to a 6-foot-8-and-under team like Alcorn State indicates a significant issue.
“It’s a bit discouraging,” Washington admitted. “We knew rebounding was what we needed to improve on coming into this game, and we still have work to do in that area. But there’s no panic. We know we’ll get better.”
While a poor performance on the boards might not have dire consequences against a team like Alcorn State, the Shockers must improve quickly, with a December schedule featuring three top-100 offensive rebounding teams: East Tennessee State (No. 13 nationally), DePaul (No. 87), and Kansas State (No. 26). Mills summarized the situation bluntly: “From a physicality standpoint, we were a ‘D.’ Not good.”
Leave a Reply