[NU Sports] rebounding disaster

[Tom Maycock]

> I realize the Princeton offense means rebounding can be a weakness

It may limit offensive rebounds, but I don't think it has anything inherently to do with defensive rebounding. And that was the big problem yesterday (and has been in many games). 

The 1-3-1 defense certainly doesn't lend itself to strong rebounding. It's just one of the compromises you accept when you play that defense--you're going to give up a few gimmes, and you hope that the turnovers and general mayhem you cause with the 1-3-1 more than offset that. The Cats did play man D for a while in the second half, which I think helped, but then as I recall they had issues staying on 3-point shooters. 


Also, the small lineup isn't conducive to strong rebounding either. (Well, at least theoretically--I think the Cats have actually rebounded better overall with their small lineup than with their "big" lineup). But strong rebounding from a small lineup requires extra-big doses of "want". 

To be fair, especially in the first half Purdue was really putting up some awful shots that lead to really long rebounds, so there was just some bad luck there. However, rebounding is mostly about thinking ahead, being physical, and working your ass off. The Cats flat out didn't do a great job at those things for large portions of the game. 

Too bad, as it was another winnable game, in which the Cats played fairly well, but not great. As the announcers noted, the Cats failed to take advantage of Purdue's cold streak early, which left them no cushion when the Boilers got hot down the stretch. 

Mostly, it just makes the loss at home against Purdue all the more painful. The Cats *could* have won on Sunday, but they *should* have won that game at home. The 0-2 mark against Purdue may haunt them at selection time. Maybe they'll get a rematch in the Big Ten tourney?

Tom