UGA Basketball: Dogs need to crash the boards

Athens — Albert Jackson, Georgia’s 6-foot-11 starting center, cringed when he reviewed his statistics from the Bulldogs’ most recent game: no rebounds in 14 minutes of action.

“When I looked at the line, I was very disappointed in myself,” Jackson said. “I figure, whether I play 10 minutes or the maximum number, I should never have less than five rebounds.”

Jackson’s zero rebounds in Saturday’s home loss to Tennessee underscore what has become a glaring problem for Georgia’s men’s basketball team, which will enter Wednesday’s game at Vanderbilt on a three-game losing streak.

“Rebounding hasn’t been what I wanted it to be at any point in time this year,” Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. “We’ve had some dominant games, but it hasn’t been consistent. What it has been is a consistent inconsistency.”

Georgia has been out-rebounded 101-75 in the past two games, come-from-ahead losses to Georgia Tech and Tennessee. The Yellow Jackets converted 23 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points, and the Vols converted 19 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points.

And while Georgia (9-7, 0-1 SEC) also must address other issues — Felton cites defensive toughness and late-game composure — rebounding is front and center at the moment.

On the four walls surrounding the team’s practice court, about 100 signs have been posted, all exactly the same.

In big red letters, they command:

“Blockout!

“Rebound!”

Felton said the signs went up after the loss to Tech.

“I don’t want to say ‘ashamed,’” freshman forward Trey Thompkins said of Georgia’s recent rebounding results, “but we have expectations set for ourselves as a team. Rebounding and taking care of the ball are the two backbones of our program. We are a rebound-based team and take pride in it.”

And the problem is … ?

“It’s just us getting all five guys on the court to defensive rebound,” Jackson said. “The best teams in the country have five guys to the ball, and a lot of times you watch us and we’ll have one, two, maybe three.”

Said Felton: “So much of rebounding is just work — work ethic and toughness. And we’re certainly not a weak team physically, so we can do better. And we will.”

For his part, Jackson said he became frustrated in the Tennessee game and let the frustration affect his performance.

“I took a look at myself after the game and said, ‘You can’t let that happen again,’” he said. “I can’t let my team down like that. I’ll come out with all-out aggression the rest of the way.”

The next game — tonight’s against Vanderbilt — can’t come soon enough for Jackson, whose strong postseason performance helped push Georgia to the SEC Tournament championship last year.

“I’m definitely looking forward to getting on the court and, I guess, redeeming myself for the last game,” Jackson said, “especially against a team the caliber of Vanderbilt and a post player like A.J. [Ogilvy].”

Ogilvy — a 6-foot-11 sophomore who is Vanderbilt’s leading scorer (16.5 points per game) and rebounder (7.2 per game) — has battled a right heel injury the past few weeks and didn’t play in last weekend’s loss at Kentucky.

“A big key for us [against Georgia] is to get A.J. back in the lineup, which we are uncertain about,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said.

Either way, the Bulldogs need to heed the signs.