As Michael Oguine was quickly becoming a fan favorite last winter with his fearless approach, he would every now and then encroach upon the territory of the Grizzlies’ most productive rebounder.
It wasn’t all that uncommon to see Oguine, at the time a springy 6-foot-2 freshman, flying through the lane to grab a rebound most guards wouldn’t be able to gather. Most of those were high above the rim, the space normally occupied by then senior Martin Breunig.
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“The thing about him too is he would get mad at me because I would steal his rebounds,” Oguine joked earlier this week. “He told me, he’s like, ‘You gotta stop stealing my rebounds, I’m a senior, I deserve them.’”
With Breunig graduated and playing professionally in Germany, that directive has been replaced with a new one — and it’s producing a result many doubted to be possible. The Grizzlies, with just three players taller than 6-foot-6 on the active roster, are somehow a competitive force on the glass.
While they have been out-rebounded by 12 boards through eight games, what amounts to a -1.5 margin per game, Montana has only been involved in one game where it was beaten badly on the glass. In the second round of the Paradise Jam, Washington State out-rebounded Montana by 14, resulting in a 24-point defeat, the Grizzlies’ worst loss of the season.
But outside of that contest, Montana has held a positive edge in three games, and navigated a deficit four times.
“Based on the teams that we’ve played I’m very happy with it because we’ve been the smaller team in almost every game we’ve played,” DeCuire said as Montana prepares for Wednesday night’s game against San Jose State. “Our guards are doing a good job of getting involved and Fab (Fabijan Krslovic) is holding up his end of the bargain. I’m excited about it.”
During Montana’s 75-69 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Saturday, Krslovic grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, leading the Griz to a narrow 30-29 margin over the Panthers. In Breunig’s absence, Krslovic has improved his average by more than four boards per game and is currently second in the league at 8.5 per game.
When Breunig graduated, many feared the Grizzlies would struggle to find a way to replace his nearly 19-point-per-game average. Within the program, however, the biggest concern was how Montana would find the nine rebounds Breunig pulled down every night. The Griz would be guard oriented and thin and largely inexperienced in the paint. Krslovic, with a more athletic build, has been able to fill that void. But it isn’t the improvement in his conditioning that has led to the uptick in his average as it is a new mindset.
“It’s just kind of a change in mentality a bit for me,” said Krslovic, who has three double-digit rebounding games this season. “Every time a shot goes up I’m thinking I have to get the rebound where the previous couple years I’m just thinking keep my guy off the board and Martin will go up and get it or somebody will go up and get it.”
Last season, that somebody was Oguine as often as it was anybody else. Despite his position as guard, a spot not often associated with rebounding prowess, Oguine entered his sophomore season as Montana’s leading returning rebounding at 4.4 per game. After sitting out Montana’s first six games with a broken bone in his right hand, Oguine has resumed his role as a highly productive rebounder. In just 14 minutes in a loss at South Dakota, he pulled down four. He then followed that up with six more in 21 minutes against the Panthers.
“My high school coach they kind of pushed me to rebound all the time,” Oguine said. “The main thing they said was with my athleticism you have to be able to show it on all plays, not just dunks and blocked shots. Rebounding is a great way to show your athleticism.
“Trav (DeCuire) always makes a point that (the bigs are) doing the dirty work so us guards can come flying in and get the board so we have to always appreciate that.”
With their considerable size deficiency, it has become even more important for the the Grizzlies’ four other guards to aid the effort on the glass. Before every game, DeCuire has challenged his backcourt to come away with at least 15 rebounds. Thus far, the quintet is averaging nearly 17 a game.
“I feel like when I go into a game I should never get outworked so as long as I’m out working the man that’s in front of me, it’s good, it’s a key,” said freshman Sayeed Pridgett, who holds a 3.8 rebounds per game average.
Part of the reason Montana has been able to overcome its size disadvantage is the structure of its defense. A practicer of the Pack Line, Montana emphasizes cutting off penetration to the lane. If they adhere to their rules defensively, DeCuire said, it should then be that the Grizzlies have inside position, which is advantageous in gathering loose balls. And despite a drop in defensive rebounding percentage from 75 percent last season to 71 percent this season, a difference of about 10 total rebounds, DeCuire said he had no issues with Montana’s output on the glass.
“He just wants to make sure you’re tougher than the person you’re in front of,” Pridgett said of DeCuire. “Whoever is tougher that’s who he is putting in the game so we can get the rebound.”
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