REPORTER: How does Yale out-rebound Baylor?
PRINCE: Um, you go up and grab the ball off the rim when it comes off, and then you grab it with two hands, and you come down with it. And that's considered a rebound. So they got more of those than we did.
It's easy to see why Prince was a little miffed at the question. For one thing, he had already had an emotionally trying day after
getting into a shoving match with teammate
Rico Gathers early in the second half. Plus, Prince was also far and away Baylor's best performer on the day, scoring a team-high 28 points on 12-of-24 shooting with three assists and, yes, four rebounds. It must be difficult to end your college career under such circumstances.
For that matter, Baylor wasn't even that bad on the boards. They grabbed 14 offensive rebounds compared to 27 defensive rebounds for Yale, a fairly good ratio. They were only out-rebounded by the less athletic side because of the large difference in field goal percentage — 44.1 percent for Baylor vs. 53.1 percent for Yale.
Whatever the case, at least basketball fans now have a readymade explanation for the art of rebounding.
Although some coaches may have wished Prince put a line in there about the importance of
boxing out. Fundamentals of the game.