Nothing was out of place as guards Ben Luber and Mike Walker shot around before practice yesterday. Just a little game of around-the-world, a little long distance practice. But a recent lack of rebounding will have them drilling a little closer to the hoop once the practice whistle blows.

Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said he stressed the importance of guard rebounding to the Nittany Lions prior to a 77-66, Feb. 8 loss to Minnesota, and again before Saturday's 82-62 loss to Wisconsin.

DeChellis said it's something they have to do. In those two games, Luber, Walker and fellow guard David Jackson hauled in a total of five rebounds. While hitting the boards may not be their primary function, the Lions can't accept that production.

"It's become a problem," Walker said. "Every time the coaches say, 'If you can get four or five, it'll really help us to win.' "

They had averaged more than six per game in Penn State's first nine Big Ten games. While not four or five per guard, the Lions' overall rebounding success helped. No conference team outrebounded the Lions by more than 10 before the Minnesota game. The margin ballooned to 14 vs. Minnesota and 22 vs. Wisconsin.

A makeover is needed, then. DeChellis said the guards ought to block out in the high post, where most teams have a player positioned. Walker and Jackson both said they head to that area, but it's also not as simple as getting there.

"We have to find anybody in our area, sometimes there's nobody," Jackson said.

Jackson said if he can't find anybody, he heads to the weak side to find somebody. Walker said his options boil down to trying to help the forwards rebound or stay where he's at.

That's when it becomes a rock and a hard place. If a guard stays at the high post, the ball could come off the rim short and suddenly it's his fault. But if he goes inside, the ball could come off the rim long and Walker said then, "it's kinda your fault too."

"Sometimes I feel like we're in a tough situation, but it's something that we gotta do," Walker said. "It's hard, but we gotta do it."

Especially since Penn State plays team defense, according to DeChellis. It sounds oxymoronic to say the Lions do so, but they run a zone defense that requires activity from all five positions to work.

In addition, DeChellis said, rebounding from his guards could open up opportunities on the offensive end through the transition game. So it's got to be a team effort.

"I don't think we have guys that are defensive spark guys that are gonna step up and do something great defensively other than maybe make a strip here or there," DeChellis said.

But in addition to complementing the rebounding efforts, they need to play better overall. Walker and Jackson both expressed displeasure with recent game play. Saturday they made less than a third of their shots for 11 points to go with a poor rebounding performance.

All three guards average about seven points a game, and Jackson leads the trio with more than three rebounds a game -- but this was a new low.

"Last game, what did Ben, David and I do? You can't hide stats," Walker said. "I don't think any of us rebounded it, I don't think any of us really hit shots. I point the finger at myself, and I'm sure they'd say the same thing to you."

For the past two games, DeChellis has pointed the figurative finger at Walker, Jackson and Luber. He said he'll continue to put an emphasis on defense, even if their numbers "don't look good offensively".

Even in a friendly game of around-the-world.

Quotable

"Someone goes ahead and pulls a shot and tries to put 10 pounds of potatoes in a five-pound sack, trying to force something."

That's DeChellis, speaking on how the Lions doom themselves with poor offensive decisions and not getting good shots. He said his team took so many bad shots right away on Saturday, it affected the defense by giving Wisconsin more opportunities.

"You're trying to tell them, slow down, take a good shot," DeChellis said. "Let's get in the half-court offense. It's one thing taking quick shots if they're good shots. We aren't where we recognize that we've been down the floor three or four times trying to score out of transition [and] we haven't scored."