On Thursday night, USC suffered a 78-69 loss to the Oregon Ducks, marking the Trojans’ sixth consecutive defeat. In the aftermath of the game, USC head coach Andy Enfield expressed his disappointment and frustration regarding the team’s lack of rebounding, particularly from his big men.
Coach Enfield made it clear that he expected a significant improvement in this area moving forward. Enfield did not mince words when he spelled it out after the game:
“Rebounding, our four bigs are not very good defensive rebounders and in fact are poor, and you can’t keep playing 15-20-25 minutes a game and having zero or one defensive rebound and so that really hurts us,” he said. “Arizona hurt us on the boards, UCLA crushed us on their offensive rebounds. Even when you play great defense, 36% tonight we held them, they had 17 offensive rebounds. Our four bigs are just not that good at defensive rebounding and they have to get better.“
He went on to explain that the Trojans have been led by great big men on the boards since he arrived at Troy. Clearly outlining his expectations, he emphasized the qualities he sought in his big men: “toughness, pursuit of the ball, and you have to have a desire [to secure rebounds].” He listed both Mobley brothers, Onyeka Okongwu, Nick Rakocevic, and Chimezie Metu, but singled out Chevez Goodwin as the toughest rebounder he has ever coached.
Two days after the Oregon loss, Enfield had something different to say.
In the postgame press conference after the Trojans’ 82-54 victory over Oregon State that snapped a six-game losing skid, Enfield talked about challenging 6-6, 225-pound forward D.J. Rodman before tip-off.
“We made a goal to get double-digit rebounds, which he did,” said Enfield, “That was impressive. I thought he was extremely active, he looked athletic, he boxed out, and he made some really great plays for his teammates.”
Rodman had started the first 20 games for the Trojans, but he was held out of the starting lineup for the second game in a row. He came off the bench to post a double-double, scoring 12 points, grabbing a season-high 14 rebounds (with 5 offensive boards).
The fifth-year graduate transfer from Washington State talked about his focus and his role on the team. Rodman explained, “These past however many games in the [Pac-12], I’ve been focusing on rebounding more. I’m not a high volume scorer — as everyone knows, I take what’s given to me — but one place I could make a difference was rebounding. I feel like I’m a pretty good rebounder. I haven’t had 10 rebounds in a long time. So, that was all I was trying to do. Rebounding is one of those things where I can make an impact and hopefully impact the whole game.”
In basketball, rebounding and the name Rodman go hand in hand. D.J.’s father, NBA great Dennis Rodman, led the NBA in rebounding seven straight seasons from 1992-1998. He was known for his relentless motor and hustle. We saw a lot of his father’s game against the Beavers from D.J. — diving on the floor for a loose ball, drawing two charges, and getting five offensive rebounds — but one thing is for certain: D.J. is the much better shooter than his dad.
The Trojans face the University of California in Berkeley on Thursday night. The Bears are coming off an 81-66 win over Arizona State and they have won three of their last four games. The game tips off at 8 p.m. Pacific time on the Pac-12 Network.
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