Shooters galore on UVA practice floor

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Ryan Odom had us when he said, “I love offense.” Wahoo fans could finally empty their medicine cabinets and dispose of their NoDoz, or wean themselves of caffeine.

It’s a new era in Charlottesville. No more “first one to 50 wins” chatter. Perhaps no more allowing inferior opponents to keep within an arm’s length because of the snail’s pace.

We’re talkin’ greyhounds here.

During the first summer press conference by a Virginia basketball coach since at least 2008, Odom shared his thoughts on how the Cavaliers will play this season, and the plethora of shooters he and his staff lured to Charlottesville.

A portion of UVA’s fan base never thought the Cavaliers had enough shooters. One exception was the 2019 national championship team that featured Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, De’Andre Hunter and supporting shooters that could light up opposing defenses at times in Kihei Clark, Braxton Key and occasionally Jay Huff from the perimeter.

Otherwise, many of those teams featured only a couple of guys who could fill it up, and if they were having a bad night or if teams chose to take them out, there wasn’t enough firepower to get the job done. Instead, it was up to the defense to make stops and grind out cliffhangers with few exceptions.

Now, it’s Katie bar the door. There are shooters galore, and that’s by design.

It’s gonna rain 3-pointers in JPJ. Bring an umbrella.

“It’s something that certainly has always been important to me personally as a head coach,” Odom said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s also important to our game.”

Odom, decked out in a navy blue Virginia sweatshirt, pointed out that fans who watch NBA and college basketball, the teams that find quality looks around the basket but also find quality looks outside the 3-point arc have a really good chance to be successful, especially if they play good defense.

Certainly the latter became more important as Odom developed as a coach. He noted that when he was a head coach for the first time at Lenoir Rhyne, he wasn’t a very good defensive coach.

“I didn’t really worry about it,” Odom said. “I wanted to outscore the other team.”

That style was fun to watch for Odom’s dad, Dave, a successful coach at UVA, Wake Forest and South Carolina, but at the same time frightening for the elder Odom.

Focus on defense has increased, but so it has on shooting the rock. That has shown up in Ryan Odom’s first recruiting class at Virginia.

“Certainly we wanted to find guys that fit our system and our style,” he said Tuesday. “The more times that you can put four guys on the court — sometimes five — that can shoot the ball, well, the court just does this,” as Odom’s arms stretched wider.

“When you have multiple guys that are not those type of shooters, then it does the opposite,” as the space between his arms narrowed. “Then, the defense can load up. We’re all searching for that space on offense to be able to create both off the bounce and from behind the arc.”

Even Odom’s bigs have the ability to stretch the floor, especially German 7-footer Johann Grunloh. We even saw 7-footer Ugonna Onyenso, thought to be mostly a rim protector, nail three consecutive 3-pointers while working with an assistant coach prior to the interviews. Odom said they’re experimenting with that to see what develops.

Check out these shooting numbers from some of the backcourt guys:

Point guard Dallin Hall (BYU) shot 34.3 percent from the arc last season.

Guard Malik Thomas (San Francisco) averaged 20 points a game and put up 36 against Loyola Chicago in the NIT. All-WCC first team.

Forward Devin Tillis (UC Irvine) averaged 14 points, 26 games with double-figures scoring, 25 points three times.

Jacari White (North Dakota State) averaged 17 points per game and shot 45 percent from the floor, 39.8 from the arc. Drilled seven triples in a 27-point game against Butler.

Guard Sam Lewis (Toledo) averaged 16 points, led the MAC in 3-point percentage (44.4), and had 11 20-point outings.

Forward Martin Carrere (freshman transfer from VCU) shot 42 percent from the arc for the French (U18) National Team.

Point guard Chance Mallory (freshman from St. Anne’s-Belfield) can shoot from the NBA 3-point line, holds the STAB record with 45 points in a game and 11 triples.

Buckle up, boys and girls. The folks at King’s Dominion might have to name a new ride for Virginia’s offense.