Originally Posted by
feldspar
I dunno. I see flashes of Miles "getting it" on the offensive boards, especially. He knows where the ball is going to go. He just doesn't always do a good job putting himself in legal position to either grab the rebound or tip it out. I could see him turning into an offensive rebounding weapon. Let's not forget that one of the 2010 championship team's strengths down low was offensive rebounding, but Zoubs wasn't necessarily out of this world in terms of grabbing them. Down the stretch (February and March) he averaged about 3.7 offensive rebounds a game. I really don't think, if he can start playing smarter and get more minutes, doing something comparable is completely out of reach.
Also don't forget that Zoubek didn't "figure it out" until mid- to late-February when we played Maryland at home and took over the starting position. Even after that, he had some rough games, like when he pulled down only 5 rebounds in 29 minutes against Miami in mid-Feburary. But he was consistent on the glass on both ends of the floor and created a few second-chance opportunities per game for us. That's what this team needs to, and I think Miles, along with Mason and Ryan, can still contribute that. In fact, I like our prospects even more this year for pounding the offensive glass than in 2010, because we have Kelly as our third rebounder, and he is probably the smartest rebounder we have.
One correction here: Zoubek WAS out of this world in terms of grabbing offensive rebounds. This was one of the greatest advantages that team had. Zoubek had the best Offensive Rebounding % in the country and one of the better %s of the past few years. That team didn't have a great turnover margin (though it didn't turn the ball over much, thanks Jon), or a great effective FG%, but it did have a ton of second chance opportunities. As has been posted elsewhere, Zoubek was playing well before February, but just wasn't able to stay on the floor consistently due mostly to foul trouble. I hope Miles continues to rebound well, especially offensively, but I don't expect the team to do that particular skill as well as the team did in 2010.
“Those two kids, they’re champions,” Krzyzewski said of his senior leaders. “They’re trying to teach the other kids how to become that, and it’s a long road to become that.”