UVA hoops: drinking from a fire hose, then refining

By Jerry Ratcliffe

When Virginia’s basketball team returns later this month, Ryan Odom will begin to emphasize the finer points of how he wants his system to run after giving them a big dose of “Odom Ball” during their brief summer work.

“What I’ve tried to do over the years, and it has changed some, is try to give them a lot (in June/July workouts) and see what they can digest, and then, when they get back in August, you really hone in on the details,” Odom said.

UVA’s new coach acknowledged that there’s not enough time — especially with a completely rebuilt roster absorbing a completely new system — in the summer to become what he termed the best team in transition defense or a well-oiled machine on offense.

“Instead, you give them the opportunity to make mistakes without fear and really play their game and show what they can do over the summer,” Odom said. “Then you begin to figure out, ‘OK, this guy, he can do more than I even thought he could do,’ going into your season.”

Odom didn’t put in a lot of defensive things during summer drills, other than just one-on-one stuff, and that’s where his defense starts.

“You have to be able to stop your man, but we’re not putting in a ton of schemes on defense (until late August/September) in terms of pick-and-roll defense, or how do we guard certain situations and rotations. We have to be able to guard our man first,” Odom said. “And guarding our offense is hard enough. We’re training them to play at a high pace, but it’s not reckless to where they’re turning the basketball over.”

Instead, working on shot selection, teaching his players what “Virginia basketball” shots look like, not what individual shots should look like.

“We’re trying to train them every day to play at a high pace and search for the best shot for Virginia, plus developing a sense that if you’re going to play here, you’re going to share the ball,” Odom said. “That’s something that they’re being coached on every single day.”