Pittsburgh Basketball: 2019-20 keys for home game against Florida State

LOUISVILLE, KY - JANUARY 26: Head coach Jeff Capel of the Pittsburgh Panthers reacts in the second half of the game against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC YUM! Center on January 26, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville won 66-51. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

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PITTSBURGH, PA – JANUARY 22: Javin DeLaurier #12 of the Duke Blue Devils and Jared Wilson-Frame #4 of the Pittsburgh Panthers battle for a rebound at Petersen Events Center on January 22, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Key #2: Rebounding

When Pitt played Slippery Rock, they grabbed 49 rebounds during the game. The leading rebounder for the Panthers was Abdoul Karim Coulibaly with 8 rebounds in the contest. The starters for the Panthers grabbed 21 of those rebounds, that’s 57.2% of the rebounds getting grabbed by the bench. If Pitt wants to get by the Seminoles, they are going to need to have their starters grab more than 65% of the rebounds.

You cannot have your bench out-rebounding your starters in the rebound category. Rebounds are crucial in starting fast breaks and offensive put-backs. Whether they don’t have Coulibaly in the starting lineup, they will need to have their starters executing boxouts and grabbing rebounds. Johnson, Trey McGowens, and Eric Hamilton are all going to have to step up to help the team not get out-rebounded.

The starting 4 and 5 should average around 6-7 rebounds per game. It’s important for your 4 and 5 to be able to bring down rebounds because your 1-3 are the “get back” guys so they will be running to get into transition offense. It’s crucial for your big men to bring down rebounds so you can get putbacks and get your team into transition.

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