ODU Monarchs dive into busy CAA week

NORFOLK

On a sunny and unseasonably warm New Year's afternoon, Old Dominion embarked on its latest fresh start.

The Monarchs boarded a bus headed to James Madison and the real beginning of Colonial Athletic Association conference play. It's the latest phase of an eventful season that has had several phases already.

ODU (6-7) began the season short-handed, picked up forward Nick Wright after three games, got Kent Bazemore fully healthy after about a month and added Richard Ross and Donte Hill at the semester break.

The Monarchs have had the entire crew together for four games, two of them on the road and a third against a top 10 foe, the Missouri Tigers. They've dropped three of four and head into CAA play with a losing record for just the second time in the last 10 seasons.

"Our nonconference, we knew going in was going to be a mixed experience, and that's exactly what it was," coach Blaine Taylor said.

ODU continues to strive for consistency and an identity, with Taylor tweaking rotations in search of the right mix. A 75-68 loss to No. 8 Missouri provided some positive signs. The Monarchs kept their turnovers to a manageable 15 against a pressure team, controlled the backboards, and had a chance to win with a minute left.

Had they held on, Taylor said others' perceptions of his team would have changed, but his own wouldn't have.

"We still have some smoothing out to do," he said. "From the first practice, we've been saying our season is probably going to be more interesting and exciting when we get to the conference race."

The Monarchs, who beat Northeastern in the early conference game in December, play three CAA games in six days, beginning this afternoon at JMU. The Dukes (7-4, 1-0) have not matched up well with ODU in recent years. ODU has won six straight in the series.

JMU is perimeter-oriented, and is led by guards A.J. Davis and Humpty Hitchens, who average 16.6 and 16.2 points respectively, and are among the CAA's top 3-point shooters.

The Dukes are one of a handful of teams that appear capable of having a say in the conference race. In a season marked by inconsistency across the board, Virginia Commonwealth (10-3) and George Mason (9-4) are off to the fastest starts.

Preseason pick Drexel (8-4) has begun playing well after a slow start. Taylor counts ODU, JMU and Delaware as dark-horse contenders.

The CAA, which got a record three teams in the NCAA tournament a year ago, is looking very much like a single-bid league, lacking any signature non-conference wins and ranking 20th among 32 conferences in RPI.

Taylor's take on the league's drop-off is that many teams are like his, and have added key players along the way. Drexel's Chris Fouch missed five games with injury, George Mason's Andre Cornelius served a 10-game suspension and JMU's Devon Moore missed the first semester due to academics

"We don't have any juggernauts," he said. "There are a number of schools that are full of optimism."

Ed Miller, 757-446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com