Groundhog Day

Ok, so it was last week, but, as in the movie starring noted CAA maven  Bill Murray, in which a weatherman lives the same day every day, there's a sameness to William and Mary-ODU basketball games these days.

For we media types, there's a sameness to the press conferences as well.

"They're just better than we are. I don't know what else to say," is how Tribe coach Tony Shaver opened his post-game remarks Wednesday night, after ODU's 70-51 win.

Shaver said the basically the same thing 11 days before in Norfolk, after ODU's 68-44 win.

And, really, what else could he say? Sometimes the simplest explanation is the most accurate.

The Monarchs beat the Tribe for the ninth straight time. Instead of using a hammer this time, they wielded a scalpel, carving up the Tribe's defense to the tune of 62 percent shooting in the first half, and 51 percent for the game.

Shaver was so exasperated with his team's lackadaisical D that he pulled his starters less than five minutes in, and sent in a team of reserves. The Tribe's effort picked up, and after the chastened first-teamers returned it appeared W&M was ready to make it a game, with Quinn McDowell at the line with a chance to cut ODU's margin to 5.

McDowell missed the front end of a one-and-one, and ODU ripped off 12 straight points. If it's possible to win a game before halftime, the Monarchs had.

"This team six weeks ago did not have the ability to sustain a run like that. We would shoot ourselves in the foot. We didn’t even need another team to stop us from having a 12-0 run, we could do it ourselves," coach Blaine Taylor said.

"That was a really important spurt in the game."

Indeed it was. So was a sequence in which the Tribe's Tim Rustohoven, picked up a pair of quick fouls, heading to the bench with 11:20 left in the half. Rusthoven is the Tribe's only inside presence, and an undersized one at that.

Star of the game: ODU's Kent Bazemore, who had 10 points and nine assists, and contributed to "40 or 50" points, in Taylor's estimation.

"The pass that led to the pass, settling down the team, getting shooters moving. Post touches. He was a very dominant player in all aspects," Taylor said.

"This is more like the Kent Bazemore I’ve become accustomed to dealing with and not having holes in his game. He didn’t have any holes in his game today."

Bazemore even offered some coaching advice, after watching Nick Wright knock down a 3-pointer.

"A lot of people sleep on his outside shot. That’s a shot I would love to see him shoot like he made tonight."

Wright has made 7 of 18 on the year, not a bad percentage for a 6-8 forward. Still, it's probably best if Bazemore lets Taylor handle the Xs and Os for now.

 

 

 

 

JMU wrap

Maybe it was those recovered home uniforms, laundered with a touch of silk.

Or perhaps, as the ever-helpful Kent Bazemore suggested, it was a change in the pre-game routine. ODU took more "game shots" in warm-ups than usual, he explained.

Whatever the reason, it's not often you hear "Old Dominion" and "13 3-pointers" in the same sentence. Yet, the Monarchs dropped that lucky number, a Constant Center record, on the JMU Dukes Thursday in their 80-71 win.

Let's call the roll:

Dimitri Batten: 4 treys, including back to backers in the 2nd half that pushed the lead to 19.

Donte Hill: 3 treys, 2 in the second half.

Trian Iliadis: 3 treys, including 2 straight that answered one by Andrey Semenov and pushed a 9-point edge to 15.

Bazemore: 2 treys, both in the first half, both in the flow of the offense.

Nick Wright: 1 so-open-he-had-to-take it trey.

Add them up and it was a night like no other in the history of the Ted.

Now, it would be foolhardy to suggest that ODU, a 30 percent 3-point outfit prior to this outburst, will have another evening like this anytime soon. Yet, fans should be encouraged by the ball movement that led to so many open looks, and by 6 players scoring in double figures, led by Bazemore's 19 points.

"We try to get the ball moving. look inside, cut, pass, screen," Bazemore said.

Simple, really, except when it's not. When the ball stops, the clock winds down, and someone ends up "flacking" a desparate shot. (Flacking being a Bazemore-ism).

Ball movement has been the focus of recent practices. The results were evident Thursday.

The "other" story of the night, if a 22-rebound effort can be overshadowed, was the board work of Chris Cooper.

As colleague Bob Molinaro put it, Cooper "inhaled" rebounds. His 22 were a Ted record, and one shy of Mark West's Division I school record.

Bazemore alternately called Cooper a "Beast", marveled at the "big mitts" he uses to grab rebounds and compared him to a 30-year-old playing against kids.

As for his own 5 boards, all offensive, Bazemore said:

"When you've got three or four guys boxing out Coop it's pretty easy to get a rebound."

Cooper's rebounding was a sight to behold, and it was contagious. Early in the second half, three, shall we say, "seasoned" reporters marveled at the way ODU attacked the glass in one furious stretch.

Think of your favorite wild kingdom "pack" metaphor. Wolves after a lamb chop. Lions vs. Wildebeest. Black Friday shoppers chasing the last discounted flat panel. That's how ODU pursued offensive boards in the first few possessions. JMU's players risked windburn, so quickly did the Monarchs blow by them.

Speaking of packs, ODU took its place in the crowd at the top of the CAA standings.

"This is a good time for us," Bazemore said. "This is typical Old Dominion basketball, climbing the charts this time of year."

Coach Blaine Taylor spoke of steady improvement, better cohesion, everything fitting together.

There were lapses defensively, but nothing that couldn't be overcome. The artful Semenov dropped in 6 3-pointers and A.J. Davis scored 23 points. JMU got in transition a bit too often for Taylor's tastes, but after the win, he was hardly in the mood to nit pick.

"I think we’re on a path of improvement,. To sit in first place with a chance going down the stretch, that's a pretty good feeling, but it's a fleeting feeling, and we've got to make the most of the opportunity."

More on Saturday's showdown at George Mason later. Meanwhile, a final word on the unsung hero of the evening, guard Marquel De Lancey, who checked Humpty Hitchens in ODU's most effective D of the night, the man to man. Hitchens, logging another 40 minute night, shot just 4 of 15, including 0 of 9 from 3-point range and had 6 turnovers.

De Lancey also had 6 assists, and just 1 turnover.

 

 

 

Missouri State

Blaine Taylor was hoping to draw a quality opponent. That was a given.

He was hoping to get a TV game. That was no slam dunk.

But Old Dominion's "street cred" among non-BCS conference schools, coupled with a string of 7 wins in 8 games, apparently convinced the folks making the "BracketBusters" matchups to include the Monarchs in the package of 13 TV games.

"What we've done over the past month earned our way into the TV package and gave our kids a little pat on the back," Taylor said.

As well as a challenge.

What should you know about Missouri State?

The Bears 13 wins include victories over Tulsa, Creighton, and ODU nemesis Northern Iowa. They lost in OT to West Virginia.

They are led up front by beefy forward Kyle Weems and center Caleb Patterson. Weems was the 2011 MVC player of the year.

The Bears take care of the ball, ranking 5th in the nation in fewest turnovers per game, and 16th in assist to turnover ratio. PG Michael Bizoukas is third in the nation in A/TO ratio.

They are a good free throw shooting team (72.7 percent) and average 7,124 fans at home.

ODU will have its work cut out, but it should make for compelling TV.

"The two premier conferences in BracketBusters over the years have been the CAA and the Missouri Valley," Taylor said.

 

 

The Dub

WILMINGTON, NC.

Fresher legs, bigger bodies, earlier birth certificates, more games under their belts.

Old Dominion had all those things going for it, in a 53-48 win at UNC-Wilmington Wednesday night.

For the game story, click here.

Hard-won experience carried the day for the Monarchs, veritable road warriors who improved to 5-1 away from the Ted in CAA play.

ODU needed plays down the stretch and got them from Chris Cooper, Kent Bazemore and Nick Wright. A Seahawk squad that is slight of build and reliant on freshman was not able to match players who - to steal a phrase from Blaine Taylor, who lifted it from John Wooden, I believe - "were at their best when their best was needed."

Taylor's take is that a tough road stretch earlier in the season that included losses at Fairfield and Central Florida is paying dividends now.

"We've learned lessons the hard way," he said. "Our theme this year has been to turn every negative into a positive."

Even a first half that called out for a shot doc, or maybe a shaman. The apparently accursed rims at Trask Coliseum would not yield for either team. The Seahawks missed 10 of their first 11, ODU 9 of its first 12. The halftime score, 18-17, told the tale.

Fans, or at least a few sitting behind me,  were hooting at all the bricks, the hardwood turned into a hard hat area.

'Twasn't pretty. ODU is comfortable in such a milieu, and got down to grinding, turning pressure D to transition baskets to awaken its offense.

UNCW couldn't keep pace. Freshman Adam Smith had his moments, and showed while he'll be one of the CAA's best in time; and Keith Rendleman grabbed 17 rebounds, but ODU's longer bench and close game pedigree pulled it through.

A few odds and ends:

- There were Jason Pimentel and Breon Key sightings early, as Taylor sought to stretch his bench with his team playing its third game in five days.

- Rendleman had another rough outing vs ODU, whose length and bulk seem to bother one of the CAA's more skilled and efficient (usually) big men. He was rushing shots all night, as if hearing footsteps.

- ODU chartered a plane for the trip, to save on missed class time. Have to wonder if it didn't pay off a bit in fresher legs.

ODU hosts W&M Saturday, while UNCW travels to Towson.

"Right now we need a little bit of rest," Seahawks coach Buzz Peterson said.

 

 

 

 

Northeastern wrap

The turnover count last night from the Ted.

Red Panda: 0. This, folks, is what's known as bowl control.

ODU: 17. While that's not an insignificant number, it's eight fewer than the Monarchs had Saturday night at VCU. In the second half, ODU did exhibit some ball control.

If you missed the gamer from the Monarchs' 69-57 win over Northeastern last night, click here.

A few other odds and ends from a game that lifted ODU to 7-2 in the CAA at the season turn.

This was a game of big "answer" plays, the cumulative effect of which finally turned back a determined Huskie team.

A few of the notable ones:

- A 3-pointer from Trian Iliadis in response to one from Jonathan Lee. It gave ODU a 49-41 lead with 8:27 left.

- Marquel De Lancey's 3-pointer from the corner to put ODU up five with 5:45 to go.

"That's a play we really need out of  Marquel," Blaine Taylor said. "Jumping up and shooting a shot at a big time is something we need him do. If he misses it, so what, we'll do what we can on the boards."

- Kent Bazemore's post-up and tip-in of his own miss with 4:15 to go.

It was not the best offensive night for Bazemore, 3 of 8, with five turnovers. He grabbed 10 boards, however,. and is averaging 7.4 over the last five games.

Taylor said Bazemore is seeing defenses geared to stop him.

"He's got to be opportunistic," Taylor said. "He's got to understand they are stacking dominoes in front of him."

Taylor added later:

"His best games are when he is ready to score the ball late in the game, and not try to be the primary scorer throughout the game."

- Donte Hill's block of Lee on one end, and knifing backdoor layup on the other, on a pretty dish from Chris Cooper.

Hill is quitely emerging as ODU's Renaissance Man, a gritty defender and an opportunistic scorer.

"He's a terrific player," NU coach Bill Coen said. "He gives them an added dimension, another ballhandler in the backcourt and another athlete. Defensively I think he adds a huge element to their game."

Taylor said Hill's versatility, "makes life easier on other players", particularly Trian Iliadis and Dimitri Batten, who are free to play to their own strengths. For Iliadis, that's shooting. For Batten, it's providing energy off the bench.

Iliadis, all or nothing of late, had 18 points, after not scoring against VCU. The Monarchs, a 61 percent FT shooting team, made 25 of 34.

On to UNC-Wilmington. More on the Seahawks later.

 

 

Northeastern

Red Panda, blue uniforms.

It should be an interesting scene tonight at the Ted, when ODU hosts Northeastern.

As we reported Sunday afternoon, ODU's home blue unfiforms went missing Saturday night, while the Monarchs were in Richmond losing to VCU. ODU will wear road blue this evening.

If you head over to the game, be sure to hang around for the halftime entertainment. The acrobat known as Red Panda will perform. Let's just say the act is more entertaining than watching Sheriff Bob McCabe shoot free throws.

As for the game itself, it tips off an important week for the Monarchs. The Huskies have won five of seven CAA games since ODU beat them in Boston last month. NU has quietly positioned itself a game out of second place, behind Drexel, ODU and VCU.

For some particulars on Northeastern, click here.

After a 25-turnover debacle against VCU, job one for ODU tonight will be taking care of the ball.

"It was in the frontcourt that our guard play let us down," Blaine Taylor said.

For live updates from the game, follow me on twitter @edmillervp

VCU wrap

RICHMOND

Oh, the turnovers.

Seven from Kent Bazemore.

Five from Marquel De Lancey.

Four from Trian Iliadis.

Sixteen from ODU's senior guards, 25 from the team as a whole.

Those miscues were the story of ODU's 61-48 loss to VCU Saturday. ODU's post-game press conference was in exercise in seeing how many different ways the Monarchs could say they basically threw the game away.

For coach Blaine Taylor, the real disappointment was that his veteran guards were the worst culprits. And, that many of the turnovers weren't the result of VCU's full-court pressure, but of sloppy passing and ballhanding against the Rams half-court D.

"Kind of a choppy game," Taylor called it.

Taylor pointed to the end of the first half, when VCU closed with a 9-2 run, and a second-half stretch when ODU cut the lead to four as particularly crucial stretches.

"In both stretches we were trying a little bit too hard, just trying to keep the game tight, and that getting tight really slowed us down to where we made a miscue here and there."

ODU only got 16 second-half shots.

With VCU's Troy Daniels dropping 3s from luxury-suite height, a raucous (is there any other kind when ODU visits the Siegel) crowd began to sense it, taste it, feel it.

ODU, after all, had beaten the Rams on West Broad Street last year. Freshman Briante Weber didn't play, but he was there to see it, and he heard about it all week.

"Everybody was into the defensive end," said Weber, a Great Bridge graduate. "We really locked in."

"Steals came," said Darius Theus, a Norcom grad. "So we took 'em."

ODU took a slice of humble pie, but remains 6-2 in the conference, 4-1 on the road. The Monarchs have no time to dwell on this one. They host Northeastern Monday night.

 

VCU

There's no rivalry quite like VCU-ODU in the Colonial Athletic Association. Nor in the state, for that matter. The I-64 feud resumes tonight, when the Monarchs head to West Broad Street.

The names change. Instead of Frank Hassell and Keyon Carter anchoring ODU inside, the Monarchs look to 'Chris Cooper and Nick Wright. (For an in-depth read on Wright, click  here.)

Instead of Joey Rodriguez running the show, the Rams have 757 product Darius Theus, the hero of Thursday's OT win over William and Mary. Instead of big man Jamie Skeen stretching defenses, VCU has versatile Juvonte Redic.

Different personnel, similiar storylines. As always, the game has big implications in the conference race, with ODU 6-1 and VCU 5-2.

As always, ODU will have to deal with VCU's press. The Rams will have to find a way to compete on the backboards.

The Monarchs zone defense has come of age over the last few games, just as VCU's shooting (33.9 percent over the last 5 games) has gone south.

VCU beat man Tim Pearrell of the Richmond Times-Dispatch has more details here.

ODU, of course, knows a thing or two about shooting slumps. Whereas VCU's current season accuracy of 40 percent represents a bottoming-out, for the Monarchs, it's a high-water mark.

Predictions? Feel free to weigh in.

 

 

Towson wrap

A few takeaways from ODU's 71-41 win over Towson Wednesday night.

The schedule is what it is, and there's nothing ODU can do about it. Still, it's worth pointing out that ODU's six CAA wins have come over teams with a combined conference record of 10-25. That's not to rain on the Monarchs quick conference start, which includes four road wins, but to put it in perspective as they begin a tougher stretch that will reveal more about where they stand in the mosh pit that is the top half of the standings.

Speaking of "perspective", that's the word Blaine Taylor used at the opening of his press conference to describe what the Monarchs brought to the chore of playing at Towson. They played with maturity, maintaining a consistent level of effort and execution. They didn't get sloppy, a potential danger against a team that has to be hard to get up for.

Among the highlights were Nick Wright's 13 points, his most in six weeks; the steady play of Donte Hill and Marquel De Lancey, and 10 of 14 shooting from Trian Iliadis and Chris Cooper. That said, it was Towson. Let's not get carried away.

It's hard to imagine the Tigers winning a game this season. Their best chance might be their Bracket Busters date, but that's on the road.

To their credit, the Tigers play hard. They grabbed 34 rebounds to ODU's 32, which speaks to their effort. Other than forward Robert Nwankwo, though, they lack a player who would log significant minutes on any other CAA team.

"We don't shoot the ball particularly well, and we don't pass it or dribble it well," said the Tigers' brutally honest coach, Pat Skerry.

Skerry is a bundle of energy who inherited the mess left by former coach Pat Kennedy. He's handled the attention created by the program's 38-game losing streak with class and humor. For Towson, anyway, next year can't get here fast enough.

 

 

 

Delaware wrap

NEWARK, DEL.

A few quick thoughts before hitting the road back to the 757 tonight.

Was the ghost of Matt Howard purged tonight, courtesy of Chris Cooper's tip-in?  The one that lifted ODU to a 68-66 win at Delaware? The one that leaves the Monarchs sitting pretty, at 4-1 in the CAA?

Coach Blaine Taylor and guard Kent Bazemore both referenced the Butler game, in which Howard ended ODU's season with a tip-in at the buzzer in the opening round of the NCAA tournanment. The Monarchs, who had the look of a Sweet 16 squad, were sent home heartbroken.

"It's only fitting we end up with a Butler-type tip-in at the buzzer," Taylor said.

"It feels good," Bazemore said. "To be on the other side of that."

Was this the dawn of a new Kent Bazemore, the one everyone expected to see, before an off-season foot injury took some of the spring out of the fifth-year senior's step?

Bazemore simply took over when it mattered, toying with Delaware's Jarvis Threatt and Khalid Lewis, freshmen who were too small to keep him from getting clean looks at the hoop from the perimeter, and unable to prevent him from driving when the mood struck.

Bazemore looked every bit the veteran player comfortable in the moment, playing with both calm and urgency, jab-stepping and hesitation-dribbling, or simply rising up and hitting shots. His line: 27 points, 12 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover in 39 minutes.

"Oh yeah, baby," Bazemore said when asked if he was finally feeling comfortable. "It's about to be on."

Bazemore had lots of help. As they turn out the lights here at the Bob, mention must be made of Richard Ross (14 points, infectious energy), Chris Cooper (14 points, 10 boards, shut-down D on the Hens' Jamelle Hagins) and, freed from the dog house at last, Jason Pimentel (6 points in 9 minutes).

ODU played its 5th OT game of the year. Not sure if that's the most in the NCAA this year. Drop me a line if you find out before I'm able to check.

"We are entertaining," Taylor said.

Look for a game story online later.