LITTLE ROCK — Montrell Thornton’s hands groped blindly behind him, his fingers acting as skin-andbone sonar for an incoming offensive player.
The UALR senior forward’s eyes traced an arcing jumper off the wing, watching clanking off the back iron. Unfortunately, his sense of touch didn’t detect forward Derrick Bails crashing inside and plucking the ball from midair.
A new year, and the same problem remains from last season: corralling rebounds to generate extra shot opportunities.
“That is a concern of ours coming into the season,” UALR Coach Steve Shields said. “You’re only as good as your defense and your rebounding is in the game of basketball.”
Last season, little went right for Shields’ club during an 8-22 year, including an 0-7 start on its way to 4-14 Sun Belt Conference record, which saw the Trojans finish at the bottom of the Western Division. But nothing was worse than the team’s rebounding.
They’ll need to overcome the prediction by Shields’ colleagues that put UALR finishing fourth in the division.
For the f irst time in Shields’ seven-year tenure, opponents outrebounded the Trojans, who were ninth in the Sun Belt after giving up two more boards than they pulled down. On the offensive glass, UALR was near the bottom of the conference, sitting at 11th, with a scant 9.9 offensive rebounds per game and generating few secondchance opportunities.
It didn’t help that forward Mike Smith, the team’s chief inside presence, tore the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee during a December loss at South Alabama. With Smith out, Courtney Jackson was thrust into duty, leading the team with 5.4 rebounds per game on nights where the 6-2 off guard sometimes played power forward.
“We’ve got to come out of this year with a positive rebound margin,” he said. “That shows how much you want the ball. If you’re hungry enough to get it, you go get it and don’t let no one get in your path.”
For Trojans assistant coach Joe Kleine, those very real defeats, including eight by five points or less, serve as unmentioned examples, underlying lessons and instructions handed down in practice.
“When you go through a tough season like that, you know the things we’re talking about and harping on now isn’t just for show,” Kleine said. “If you’re on a team that’s lost a bunch of games - whether it was to rebounding, not closing gaps, not valuing the ball - it doesn’t fall on deaf ears.”
So how is UALR doing after 11 practices?
“I ain’t going to lie, we need to get better,” Jackson said Tuesday.
On a roster with seven new players, the Trojans are banking heavily on four new interior players to mesh with senior guards in Alex Garcia-Mendoza, Matt Mouzy and leading scorer Solomon Bozeman, who averaged 14.3 points per game. Eric Kibi, a 6-6 junior transfer from Jacksonville (Texas) College, and Guy Leeper, a 6-9 freshman, are expected to pair with Thornton and Jackson.
“Derrick and Montrell are good at boxing out,” Kleine said. “They’re not always good at going outside their zone. They’re not explosive to that extent. That was a problem.”
If anything, Kibi is an antidote to that concern.
“He’s a great rebounder,” Kleine said. “From a newcomer standpoint, because he’s so physically mature, he has done a nice job going outside his zone.”
For Jackson, the remedy to the Trojans’ woes comes in the form of adopting an identity of a team taking pride in relentless pursuit of second chances. And using this season to find their own.
“I just had to find a role, establish myself,” he said. “When I came in, coaches told me to just play. If you give effort all the time, that’ll fix it and coaches are willing to forgive mistakes.”Preseason picks
The Sun Belt Conference preseason predictions and all-conference picks by the conference coaches. First-place votes are in parentheses: WEST DIVISION 1. North Texas ............................72 (12) 2. Arkansas State ......................55 3. Denver ............................................51 4. Louisiana-Lafayette ........................36 5. UALR .................................26 6. Louisiana-Monroe ..........................12 EAST DIVISION 1. Western Kentucky ..................71 (11) 2. Florida Atlantic .........................53 (1) 3. South Alabama ..............................47 4. Middle Tennessee ..........................42 5. Florida International .......................22 6. Troy ................................................17All-conference teams FIRST TEAM George Odufuwa (North Texas, Sr., F) Josh White (North Texas, Sr., G) Tim Williams (South Alabama, Sr., G) Sergio Kerusch* (W. Kentucky, Sr., F) Steffphon Pettigrew (W. Kentucky, Sr., F) SECOND TEAM Martavius Adams (Arkansas State, Jr., F/C) Donald Boone (Arkansas State, Sr., G) Greg Gantt (Florida Atlantic, So., G) Raymond Taylor (Fla. Atlantic, So., G) Tristan Thompson (North Texas, Sr., G) THIRD TEAM Solomon Bozeman (UALR, Sr., G) Brett Royster (Florida Atlantic, Sr., F) Marvin Roberts (Florida International, Sr., G/F) Randell Daigle (La.-Lafayette, Sr., G) James Washington (Middle Tennessee, Sr., G) *Preseason player of the year
Sports, Pages 22 on 10/27/2010