Copyright Augusta Free Press
Tony Bennett preferred the closed scrimmage approach to getting his UVA Basketball teams ready for the start of the season. I like what Ryan Odom is doing – scheduling exhibition games with name opponents in front of live crowds. “Obviously a great game for both teams to be able to perform in front of fans like that, and put, you know, for both teams to be in pressure situations. That’s invaluable experience, something that you can’t recreate in a closed scrimmage,” Odom said after his team’s 75-72 exhibition win over Villanova on Friday night. It felt like a regular-season game – ‘Nova coach Kevin Willard played three of his starters 34+ minutes, and Odom subbed in and out with a 10-man rotation that Virginia fans will have to start to get accustomed to seeing. (Bennett went with a short bench, with a rotation at eight or nine early in the season, often skimmed down to seven in the heart of ACC play and into March.) “It’s nerve-racking for the coaches probably to be on display this early, but it’s great for the fans, and certainly in this particular year, with so many new faces on this on our roster here at the University of Virginia,” Odom told reporters after the game. Most important to Odom and his staff: “There are things that we need to improve upon, and we’re looking forward to getting ready to attack those.” The offense Virginia shot 45.3 percent for the game, and scored 1.119 points per possession, with 18 turnovers on its 67 possessions – an absurd 26.9 percent turnover rate. “It’s maybe some tentativeness on our part, not getting the floor spaced, you know, properly. But then also, you know, when they’re switching and then they’re also pressuring, that that can cause problems, and certainly we’re going to see that throughout the year, and something that we’ve got to improve upon,” Odom said. The ‘Hoos seemed more free-flowing on the offensive end in the first half, with the counting numbers at 53.6 percent shooting, 8-of-16 from three, 13 fast-break points, still a lot of turnovers (9), 1.212 points per possession. The game slowed a bit in the second half as both teams upped their defensive pressure. Virginia shot 36.0 percent from the floor, was just 2-of-10 from three, just four fast-break points, nine turnovers, 1.061 points per possession. “Our ball got a little bit stagnant there, middle of the first half, certainly in the second half, and a lot of that was due to the fact that Villanova was pressuring us, and so they were pressuring our guards out front. So, our starts to our offense were very slow, and we’ve got to be better there, and so certainly something that we’ve got to work on,” Odom said. Points of emphasis in Odom Ball: guards attack the lane, no midrange shots, everybody attacks the offensive glass. The results here: mixed. Virginia was 10-of-18 on shots at the rim, which is, you know, better than what we saw out of Bennett Ball, but look over at Villanova – 24 shots at the rim, 15 makes. That’s the goal. Odom’s 2024-2025 VCU team averaged just 3.9 midrange shots per game; against ‘Nova, UVA attempted nine in the midrange, and made four. Obviously, way too many. The offensive rebounding was what Odom would want to see: the 37.9 percent offensive-rebound rate. His 2024-2025 VCU team ranked 12th nationally with an offensive-rebound rate of 36.5 percent. Defense Better in the second half, certainly. Odom’s full-court man-to-man has the name “24 defense,” by the way; I had to look that up. I’m still learning here; 16 years of the nuances of the Pack Line is now in the rear-view. “I thought the guys much better than the last game,” Odom said, referencing the exhibition opener at Vanderbilt, for which no stats were made publicly available, but we know that the ‘Hoos lost the four-12-minute-quarter game by a 95-87 final score. “Certainly, more intensity, more willingness to play, you know, deeper into the clock, and then also, we got into our 24 defense a little bit better in this game than we did in the previous one,” Odom said. “I thought the help was there for the most part, even though they had, you know, some open looks, you know, there that didn’t go down for him. But certainly, clearly, things that we’ve got to get better at. You know, our switching defense left a lot to be desired. You know, several guys at the end of the game were wide open, so we’ve got to work on it.” For reference on how it all is supposed to work, Odom’s 2024-2025 VCU team playing full-court was better on the defensive end than the 2024-2025 UVA team playing the Pack Line. VCU, last season, allowed 62.9 points per game, ranking ninth nationally, and 0.965 points per possession to opponents, ranking 27th nationally. The last UVA team of the Bennett Ball era allowed 66.8 points per game (39th) and 1.055 points per possession (144th). Depth As I mentioned earlier, Odom used a 10-man rotation, and seemed to want to go to 11 – redshirt freshman Martin Carrere got one minute in the first half, and hit a quick-release three before picking up two fouls, getting pulled back to the bench, and not getting back on the floor in the second half. The other 10 guys each got double-digit minutes, with Malik Thomas (16 points, 5-of-10 FG, 3-of-4 3FG) logging the most, at 29. “We certainly want to play, you know, more guys. Based on our style, you can only play but so many minutes when you’re pressing full court on every possession,” Odom said. “I played that style as a college player, and, you know, I felt it, you know, it was hard to get past 27 minutes, you know, in a game, pressing at that pace, and so it requires having a deeper team. And we feel right now, you know, that we have that, but, you know, that remains to be seen as we chug along in the season, you know. We’ll see how it plays out.” I liked the perspective offered by freshman Johann Grunloh, the seven-footer who got 25 minutes, scored 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, and had eight rebounds. A reporter asked Grunloh if it’s hard to establish a rhythm with guys shuffling on and off the court as much as they do in the Odom system. “I think that that’s how we want to play,” Grunloh said. “When we get on the court for three, four minutes, we want to leave everything out, and then coach subs us out quick, get out, get out on the bench. Three minutes, we come back in. I think that’s how we want to play – high, energetic. And I think that’s, like, nothing to throw us out of the rhythm. I think it keeps it going, because everybody’s come back and refreshed and full.”
