‘Is it in your DNA?’ How Shockers brought the fight to improve rebounding issues
It had become clear to head coach Paul Mills that the Wichita State men’s basketball team had a fighting problem.
The Shockers weren’t losing fistfights, rather battles underneath the basket when shots went up. WSU’s physicality, or lack thereof, was exposed in the ESPN Events Invitational against high-major competition, then the issue became even more glaring when the team came back home and allowed Alcorn State to collect 21 offensive rebounds.
Mills said the message was simple entering last Saturday’s game against East Tennessee State.
“This is a game that honors toughness,” Mills said. “We don’t expect you to win every fight, but we do expect you to fight every fight.”
The message was received by the Shockers, who looked like a new team on the glass in a 96-87 win over ETSU. Outside of a three-minute lapse when ETSU grabbed five offensive rebounds early in the game, WSU retrieved 82% of possible defensive rebounds for the other 37 minutes against an opponent that ranked 13th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage.
After losing so many 50-50 balls against Minnesota, Florida and Alcorn State, WSU finally started showing urgency in winning contested scraps for loose balls this past Saturday. ETSU head coach Brooks Savage noticed the difference.
“You could tell it was a big point of emphasis for them,” Savage said. “You could really see them try to block out and they got excited when they would get first-shot rebounds. They did a really good job on the glass. Obviously we were hoping we would get a few more, but they’re tough, they’re big, they’re physical and they’re old. The Shockers have a good team this year.”
But it wasn’t just increasing the fight that led to such a drastic turnaround.
Defensive rebounding is a five-player job for WSU, and Mills felt like the team’s perimeter players had been lacking in recent performances. So he increased the level of physicality in last Friday’s practice, something he normally wouldn’t do the day before the game.
There also seemed to be a fundamental change in the way that WSU’s guards boxed out.
In the three games prior, WSU’s guards were routinely giving up offensive rebounds by not boxing out properly, whiffing or forgetting altogether. When shots would go up, WSU’s guards would turn and try to arm-bar their mark as the only form of resistance.
Too many times opponents would retrieve the rebound because WSU’s guards had their heads turned to the action.
Against ETSU, WSU guard corps of Harlond Beverly, Xavier Bell, Bijan Cortes and Justin Hill showed much better dedication at boxing out properly: hitting their mark with the arm-bar first, then turning around and sealing them with their backside.
“The last two games, we felt a little bit embarrassed (by rebounding),” WSU senior Justin Hill said. “We came back and really focused on boxing out.”
Mills was far more satisfied with the effort from WSU’s guards on the glass against ETSU than he was after the Monmouth game.
“We have physical guards and there’s no reason for us to shy away from hitting,” Mills said. “But you have to be continuous. We were turning around hitting and thinking that was going to prevent other people from being continuous. You have to maintain that box out and I didn’t think we were doing that. I thought Bijan and Xavier and Justin all did a really good job.”
It’s not a surprise when Bell, Beverly and Hill are physical. It was a pleasant surprise for Mills to see Cortes elevate his physicality to match his teammates’ toughness on the glass. Cortes won a handful of scraps for contested rebounds and finished with a season-high four defensive boards.
“He was sticking his nose in there and trying to do the right thing,” Mills said. “It’s a lot like your children. They may not always get straight A’s, but they are responsible to do the task. I thought Bijan was being responsible and doing the task and I appreciate that. Being tough is can you do the right thing when it’s hard to do the right thing. A lot of people can do it when it’s easy, but I thought he was doing it when it was difficult and that’s a credit to him.”
Not only did the improved box outs from WSU guards lead to more rebounds for them, their seals paved the way for Corey Washington to grab a career-high 13 rebounds with 11 of them coming on the defensive end. There were several times where the 6-foot-5 forward came soaring in to collect what Mills likes to call “city” rebounds — loose balls secured at or above the rim.
“Some of this is just, ‘Is it in your DNA?’” Mills said. “And it’s in his DNA. He will go get the basketball. I’m a little surprised 13 is his career high. It won’t be his career high (for long).
“When you talk to the team and you see him be receptive to the message, it’s not only about accountability, it’s adaptability. People understand where they’ve fallen short. But can you go make the adaptations necessary in order to correct where you’re falling short? He does that.”
While WSU corrected its rebounding issue for one game, the team will need to continue to rebound at that level against its upcoming schedule. The Shockers have a road game looming this Saturday at DePaul (7-2) and then host a Kansas State (6-3) team that is top 55 in offensive rebounding at Koch Arena next weekend.
Washington has vowed to do his part.
“I just made a challenge to myself, knowing we haven’t been doing that good these past few games,” said Washington, who also scored 17 points against ETSU. “It’s just reverting back to my old self. I feel like I’ve been a great rebounder, but since I’ve gotten here, it’s kind of dropped off a little bit. I wanted to get back to that.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2024 at 6:31 AM.
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