How Gregg Marshall has returned WSU to its defensive rebounding roots

The importance of defensive rebounding wasn’t sinking into Wichita State’s newcomers in the frontcourt, so Gregg Marshall had to come up with a visual to get his point across in practices leading up to the Charleston Classic.

“Coach told us that the paint is the kitchen, so don’t let anybody come in there and hurt your grandma,” WSU junior center Jaime Echenique said. “It’s a funny thing, but I’ve been taking that really personally.”

The motivation has worked this week in Charleston, as the Shockers have looked more like the Marshall teams of the past that were among the best in the country in defensive rebounding. WSU outrebounded both Davidson and Appalachian State because it boarded so well on the defensive end.

But WSU’s biggest test on the glass awaits in Sunday’s 12:30 p.m. game on ESPNU against a long and athletic Alabama (3-1) team for fifth-place in the tournament. It is the sixth time WSU will play Alabama since 2011.

“The more mistakes you make, the more he gets on you,” WSU freshman center Morris Udeze said. “That’s why he’s so good at coaching rebounding. That constant pressure sinks into your mind. You’re always thinking about checking out and knowing where the ball is. He just emphasizes it a lot in practice, so you have to be good at rebounding.”

“He has so much passion,” Echenique said. “That’s why I picked him as my coach. I want that type of coach to coach me. He has so much passion that you can feel it too and it makes you want to (rebound) in the game.”

WSU’s diligence checking out against Davidson would have made any of Marshall’s past teams proud. The Shockers grabbed 29 of 33 defensive rebounds, an 88-percent mark that has only been bettered 13 times by WSU teams in the past five seasons.

The 6-foot-11 Echenique has been gobbling up rebounds at one of the best rates in the country, but it’s actually 6-4 freshman guard Erik Stevenson who leads the team with 22 defensive rebounds.

Stevenson has a knack for finding the ball, but Marshall cautioned against giving all of the credit to him. McDuffie and Udeze only average two defensive rebounds per game, but their work checking out is just as important because it allows guards like Stevenson to swoop in for the easy rebound.

“I remember in college when I played, I was no skywalker, so I’m checking out every time and then I’ve got a buddy over there getting all of the rebounds,” Marshall said. “He looks like a great rebounder, but we’re doing the grunt work. So I don’t get caught up on who gets the rebound, I want to see how our team rebounds.”

What Marshall saw in WSU’s first two games, when the team allowed a combined 27 offensive rebounds, was a lack of attention to detail. The Shocker bigs were turning their heads when shots went up, instead of putting a body on a defender to check out.

Louisiana Tech and Providence both had athletic players, and given the freedom to run and jump without resistance, they were able to tip out several offensive rebounds.

“The key is to hit first,” Echenique said. “You hit first, then you go hit the glass.”

It’s a new concept for almost all of WSU’s frontcourt players. Markis McDuffie is playing exclusively at power forward and has never been asked to rebound as much as this. Echenique and Udeze are both first-year WSU players and Asbjorn Midtgaard has very little experience.

But this week it has clicked and WSU has been at its best when the two post players have their defenders walled off when the shot hits the rim and WSU’s guards can swoop in from the perimeter to grab the rebound. That’s why WSU guards have come up with 30 of 47 (64 percent) of defensive rebounds this week in Charleston.

In less than 10 days, Marshall has been able to return WSU to its dominant rebounding roots.

“Coach Marshall puts an emphasis on it every day that everybody has to check out and rebound,” said WSU guard Samajae Haynes-Jones, who has five rebounds the last two games. “We know the bigs are going to have a hard assignment every game, so we can help them out by grabbing a couple.”

The danger of that is sometimes the guards are too quick to jet in from the perimeter and fail to check out their assignment. While Stevenson grabbed eight defensive rebounds against Appalachian State, Marshall recalled the offensive rebound he gave up with less than a minute remaining that could have sealed the victory even sooner.

“Sometimes he doesn’t check out and everyone else is checking and he just goes and gets the ball,” Marshall said. “He’s a good defensive rebounder, but I need him to make sure he’s checking out every time. I’m more focused on the one that he missed late.”

Marshall demands that kind of attention to detail from all five players on the court. It’s a team concept that he preaches constantly in practice and a reason why the Shockers have been near the top in the country in defensive rebounding for the past 11 seasons under Marshall.

“It’s like when you drop back to pass, you’ve got to have great protection,” Marshall said. “You have to have great routes and you have to have a great quarterback. The guy who is making all of the throws looks like a great passer, but he doesn’t get that without great protection. Maybe the back picks up the blitz or it’s that tight end chipping the defensive end coming around the corner.”