Allison Grant
When a basketball player misses a shot, every person in the paint is supposed to attack the boards in a fight for the ball, correct?
That theory, which MSU women’s basketball head coach Suzy Merchant has described as being far from “rocket science,” has been ignored by her team more often than not.
It feels like I’ve written about MSU’s rebounding issues the whole season.
The most recent, and worst example yet, of the Spartans’ demise at the boards was Sunday’s game against Purdue, when they collected 14 offensive and 10 defensive rebounds. Purdue ended up with more offensive rebounds, at 18, than MSU did defensively — a feat which Merchant said was embarrassing for her team. Merchant also said that against Purdue the team returned to a place they don’t want to be.
Ten is the lowest number of defensive rebounds so far this season for MSU. The next lowest total on the defensive end was 15 on Jan. 10 against Iowa.
In the 29 times MSU has taken the court this season, it has averaged 36.7 rebounds a game and outrebounded its opponents in 18 games. Of those 18 rebounding victories, MSU also came away with the game win 12 times.
The winner of the rebound race in all MSU’s games so far also has won the game about 60 percent of the time.
When the Spartans have a strong showing at the boards, on both ends, they have strong results. In the six games that MSU has outrebounded its opponents but lost, it has racked up at least 13 turnovers, capping out at more than 20 three times.
For awhile I thought the women finally bought into what Merchant was trying to teach them — they were coming together right when it counted. The passing was crisp, the communication on the court was evident and I could finally tell the team just wanted it more than before — they knew what was on the line.
The Spartans threw together four straight Big Ten wins in a conference where win streaks have been as rare as MSU’s football team winning the Rose Bowl — putting the first thoughts of any kind of NCAA Tournament appearance in my mind.
The Spartans need to go into their last game before the Big Ten Tournament and take care of the ball. If they keep turnovers to a minimum and rebounds to a maximum, the confidence gained would be vital in making a good Big Ten Tournament showing.
Besides, if MSU doesn’t put all the pieces together by oh, the end of the week, they can kiss the hopes of a seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament bid goodbye.
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