Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Basketball Beat Reporter
The case of SJSU men’s basketball and its newfound success is a peculiar one.
They’ve surpassed their conference win total from six of the last 10 seasons through just five games, but have the worst turnover margin in the country out of the nation’s 352 teams. The peculiarity thickens as SJSU (12-6, 3-2 MW) averages the second-least amount of points per game in the Mountain West at 68.1.
And yet they’re on pace for just their second .500 season of the 21st century and possibly winning their first postseason game in program history.
So where do they break even?
Rebounding. An art rooted in effort and drive rather than skill and talent.
Heading into Tuesday’s clash in Albuquerque against New Mexico (16-2, 3-2 MW), the Spartans rank third nationwide in rebound margin at 9.2. In large part due to transferees; fifty-year Sage Tolbert from Temple, fourth-year Ibrahima Diallo from Ohio State and second-year Robert Vaihola from Fresno State.
Tolbert, a grad transfer who’s double-majoring in levitation and freakish athleticism, has hauled down 7.9 rebounds per game which is the fourth-most in the conference.
Growing up he always suspected he had bounce other guys didn’t, but the answer didn’t him in the face until it did — literally.
During a pick up game in high school Tolbert went for what he thought to be an uncontested dunk on a fast break dunk.
Six stitches later, Tolbert thought wrong.
“I dunked it and I hit my head [on the backboard] and I was bleeding everywhere,” recalled Tolbert. “It’s a scar I’ll have for the rest of my life.”
Miles wasn’t aware of the craggy, diagonal slice between his eyebrows, but “wasn’t surprised” when he was told the story. He recruited Tolbert because he knew the New Orleans native could play above the rim whether it’s rebounding or the occasional slam.
But it takes more than just Tolbert for SJSU to transition from last or second to last in rebound margin in seven of its 10 seasons in the Mountain West, to now ranking first and third nationwide.
Diallo, a seven-footer from Senegal, Africa is the only returner of the three, but was sidelined for 14 of SJSU’s 17 conference losses last year due to a knee injury.
No night sunk his spirits from the bench quite like SJSU’s 25-point loss at home to UNLV as they were outrebounded 40-27.
“It was so hard to watch. I almost walked out because I was like, ‘Bro this is too much I need to do something,’” said Diallo, who has yet to miss a game this season.
Throughout various points last season, Miles tried to plug undersized forwards like Trey Anderson and Shon Robinson (now attending Austin Peay) to play center.
But to compete with Mountain West goliaths like Wyoming’s Graham Ike, who amassed 18 rebounds against SJSU in a 74-52 loss last year, that’s like using silly putty to plug a crater-sized hole in the Hoover Dam.
“Having them makes my job easier,” said a relieved Diallo, who’s hauled down 5.6 boards a night. “I make a joke to Sage every night … I be like ‘Bro you have 10 [rebounds], you’re taking all of my mine.'”
Each third of the three-headed monster utilize different skills to form a congruent symphony.
If Tolbert’s a saxophone – flashy and attention-grabbing, while Diallo’s a trombone – long and one-dimensional – then Vaihola completes the brass section by being a ground-rumbling tuba.
“My dad played football and raised me to have that toughness in me,” said Vaihola, whose cousin is Devin Asiasi of the Cincinnati Bengals. “I honestly always thought I was going to play football, too.”
Vaihola’s linebacker-minded physicality helps him eat up space down low to snatch the third-most offensive rebounds per game in the conference. No better example than his game-winning putback against Ball State in the Baha Mar Hoops tournament.
The added possessions on offense is where SJSU evens out their inability to hit from three, which is third-worst in the conference at 34% while they’ve also shot 65% from the line — worst in the conference and 315th nationwide.
“There was a certain game where I think we only had 24 points at halftime and 12 or 14 of them were second chance points,” said Miles, in reference to SJSU’s victory over CSU Bakersfield.
“Our best offense was second shots,” said Miles. “Shooting it, missing it and getting it. I think what’s really important to understand is that some nights those shots can carry you for a time.”
SJSU’s 11 offensive rebounds and nine second chance points were critical to topping Colorado State for the first time in program history. Same concept applies, when SJSU ended an 11-game skid to Fresno State with 15 second chance points on nine offensive rebounds.
And without rebounding, the Spartans of now, share symptoms of the Spartans of old. Like the ones who’ve finished with a win percentage above .222 in the Mountain West just once.
In its recent blowout loss to Nevada, SJSU was out rebounded 42-31 overall, 14-5 on the offensive end and was outscored 11-3 on second chance points.
With its current roster, SJSU doesn’t have the talent to give up extra possessions and still win in the Mountain West.
“There’s times when a team does a really good job defensively on our guards and our guards aren’t downhill so we are not getting the rolls to the big guys,” said Miles. “We are not getting the kick out threes. Your offensive rebounds have to give you those second chance opportunities to score.”
It’s how SJSU can pull out conference wins without nuclear scoring nights from leading scorer Omari Moore. In wins over UNLV and Fresno State he scored 15 both nights on a combined 42% shooting from the field.
But when the rebounding and tenacity is there, SJSU can hang something in Provident Credit Union Event Center that invokes pride for fans and a reminder for opponents that these are not your same old Spartans.
“We’re way better than what we think and we could accomplish something really special here,” said Diallo.