Thomas, Hoosiers make rebounding a key to success

Rebounding. \nIt’s a basketball fundamental nearly as simple and key to success as putting the ball through the net. \nWhen junior forward Whitney Thomas won the Big Ten Player of the Week award on Jan. 21, she became the first Hoosier since Cyndi Valentin to win the honor. \nShe won that award, at least in part, for her skill on the glass – averaging 15.7 rebounds in the three games the Hoosiers played that week. She also averaged 11.3 rebounds per conference game coming into this week, putting her atop the Big Ten.\nBut ask her about the conference award – as well as everything else that has helped the Hoosiers to a 5-3 Big Ten record – and she’ll deflect attention to her teammates dishing out the credit.\n“It was definitely something that our team deserved – at least somebody to get it – and it just happened to be me that week,” Thomas said. \nRebounding statistics would seem to support that claim. The Hoosiers have five players averaging more than four rebounds per game, and only two of them operate primarily in the post. \nIn addition, only two other teams besides IU have three players among the top 20 in rebounding in conference games, and only Purdue and IU have three players in the top 20 in the Big Ten in overall rebounding. \nIU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said after practice Wednesday that her team works on “going to look for players, and not going after the ball,” and that their toughness makes a difference. \n“That seems to be a better situation for us, because we’re so much smaller than everybody,” Legette-Jack said. \nLegette-Jack also pointed out that anyone on the Hoosiers can rebound, not just post players. \n“It’s an anybody kind of thing,” Legette-Jack said. “It just depends on the kind of heart you have going toward the ball.”\nSenior guard Nikki Smith said the whole team works on rebounding, not just the players who primarily play in the paint. She said Legette-Jack emphasizes boxing out at every position.\n“Every single person has to box out,” Smith said. “I know that I’m not going to get any rebounds, but if I can stop someone else from going in there and tipping the ball ... then that’s what the (guards) have to do so our post players can rebound, and they do a great job with that.”\nIt shows. \nThe IU women’s basketball team currently ranks fourth in the conference in rebounding margin and second in rebounding offense in conference games. The Hoosiers also boast the Big Ten’s leading offensive rebounder in Thomas, at 3.55 offensive boards per game.\nWhat is perhaps most surprising about the Hoosiers’ rebounding is that IU is often outsized in the post. Seven of the other 10 teams in the Big Ten have at least one player listed at 6-foot-4 – the height of the Hoosiers’ tallest player – who contributes significant minutes. \nJunior forward Amber Jackson said the Hoosiers recognize that their height disadvantage means they have to outwork the opposition. She said staying disciplined and boxing out are skills Legette-Jack has preached all season. \n“Early in the season, coach Jack would say ‘Box out until the ball hits the ground,’” Jackson said.\nSmith agreed with Jackson, adding that the Hoosiers simply have to be “smarter” and more focused than their opponents on the glass. \nPreaching post play comes naturally for Legette-Jack, who left Syracuse as her alma mater’s all-time leading rebounder, with 927 rebounds during her college career. \n“That’s a position that I have a lot of passion for,” Legette-Jack said. “That’s all that is, passion. If you’re not going to get it done, you’re going to get subbed.”