Guards on glass will be key for UD

Flyers’ committee approach tries to keep all players involved in grabbing rebounds.

Graphic by Ted Pitts Puerto Rico Tip-Off Bracket

By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer Updated 4:04 PM Wednesday, November 18, 2009

In size, the 18th-ranked University of Dayton men’s basketball team can hang with many BCS conference teams, as the Flyers boast four players who are 6-foot-9 or taller.

A telling statistic in games such as Thursday’s Nov. 19 matchup with No. 21 Georgia Tech, instead, is the number of rebounds by the smaller guys.

“Our guards have to do a tremendous job on the glass,” said Dayton coach Brian Gregory of the 11:30 a.m. matchup in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan. “Sometimes our bigs’ sole job in rebounding is to make sure their guy doesn’t get there, and that’s when the athletic wings and guards are supposed to be flying in there and coming up with those balls.”

Last season, the Flyers’ top rebounding guard was Marcus Johnson, who collected 3.1 per game. UD also got more than two boards per game from London Warren (2.8) and Rob Lowery (2.7).

With Lowery still sidelined by injury, Gregory will look for Johnson and Warren to be active in rebounding while the big men attempt to fight off 6-10 Derrick Favors and 6-9 Gani Lawal. Lawal, a junior, had 12 rebounds in Georgia Tech’s 100-59 season-opening win against Florida A&M, and Favors, a freshman, added eight.

Gregory also stressed that rebounding responsibilities won’t fall to just one player. Last season, no Flyer averaged more than 6.6 rebounds (Chris Wright), and eight players averaged at least two per game.

“We’re a gang rebounding team,” Gregory said. “Maybe Chris Wright and Chris Johnson have begun to separate themselves, but we’ve been a pretty good rebounding team without everybody averaging nine, 10 rebounds a game, because we kind of rebound by committee.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.