It's D-Day For Dave
posted by Scott Hood on Saturday, December 22, 2007
This afternoon’s game against Bobby Cremins and College Charleston at the Colonial Center is one of those pivotal moments that defines a season.
Everybody will be watching to se how the Gamecocks respond after blowing a 20-point lead at home to Baylor Wednesday night. It was one of those losses that can gnaw at you for a long time.
Unfortunately, there have been too many games like that this season. USC could have – and should have – beaten N.C. State and George Mason in Orlando as well. In all three games, USC led in the second half before falling.
So, the Gamecocks could be 8-2 entering Saturday’s matinee against the Cougars. But they’re not. Instead, they’re a .500 basketball team at 5-5.
And therein lies the problem.
Their failure to take advantage of opportunities thus far this season means USC must win all four remaining non-conference games (COC, UC-Irvine, Radford, UNC-Asheville) and then win at least nine or 10 conference games in a mediocre SEC in order to have any chance of earning a berth in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
That was the goal this season, and it remains the goal. But, right now, I question whether USC can reach it.
The way this season is going, USC will battle just to get into the NIT, and that’s something Gamecock Nation doesn’t want to hear. Thay’ve had their fill of the NIT. It’s time to take the next step.
Despite the optimism surrounding the team coming into the season with new players like transfers Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick, things haven’t clicked yet. The unrest and negativity among the loyal USC fanbase is growing everyday.
A loss to College of Charleston today would be devastating to the program, and to Odom personally in terms of his job security.
That’s why I believe it’s a must-win situation for USC. More importantly, it’s a must-win for Odom.
A significant portion of the fan base has already turned on Odom, despite the fact he’s compiled four 20-win seasons in Columbia and won two NIT titles.
In the season stays on the same track, will we see candlelight vigils in front of the Colonial Center? Knowing how passionate USC fans are, that’s possible. Fan boycotts? Probable. Lots and lots of angry fans calling radio sports talk shows and writing letters to their local newspaper? Most definitely.
Surely, one appearance in the NCAA Tournament in Odom’s first six years isn’t good enough, even if you believe in the theory that USC should only expect to make the Big Dance once every two or three years.
In today’s college basketball environment, the NCAA Tournament is everything. In essence, the season has been reduced to three weeks in late March and early April. Everything that comes before that is just a precursor.
Everything a team does in November, December, January and February and early March always leads to this one question – is it good enough to get into the NCAA Tournament?
Heck, here we are in late December and ESPN already has its bracketologist Joe Lunardi talking about which teams will get into the NCAA Tournament. It’s lunacy, but that’s the way of the world today.
Will Odom be fired if USC doesn’t make it to the Big Dance this season? Possibly. But I don’t think it’s a “done deal”, as fans often like to say.
I can assure you Athletic Director Eric Hyman hasn’t given Odom any “NCAA or Bust” ultimatum. Hyman doesn’t operate that way. Nor will Odom be fired before the end of the season, unless a total meltdown occurs, which I don’t expect to happen.
Like most athletic directors, Hyman conducts a full review of the program after the season and then makes his decisions in regards to coaches, etc.
Besides wins and losses, there are financial considerations as well that Hyman must think about. Buying out the contract of a Division I head coach typically isn’t cheap and it won’t be for Odom either.
But there’s no doubt the pressure is on Odom to win more basketball games.
Starting today.
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Welcome to D-Day for Dave Odom.
This afternoon’s game against Bobby Cremins and College Charleston at the Colonial Center is one of those pivotal moments that defines a season.
Everybody will be watching to se how the Gamecocks respond after blowing a 20-point lead at home to Baylor Wednesday night. It was one of those losses that can gnaw at you for a long time.
Unfortunately, there have been too many games like that this season. USC could have – and should have – beaten N.C. State and George Mason in Orlando as well. In all three games, USC led in the second half before falling.
So, the Gamecocks could be 8-2 entering Saturday’s matinee against the Cougars. But they’re not. Instead, they’re a .500 basketball team at 5-5.
And therein lies the problem.
Their failure to take advantage of opportunities thus far this season means USC must win all four remaining non-conference games (COC, UC-Irvine, Radford, UNC-Asheville) and then win at least nine or 10 conference games in a mediocre SEC in order to have any chance of earning a berth in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
That was the goal this season, and it remains the goal. But, right now, I question whether USC can reach it.
The way this season is going, USC will battle just to get into the NIT, and that’s something Gamecock Nation doesn’t want to hear. Thay’ve had their fill of the NIT. It’s time to take the next step.
Despite the optimism surrounding the team coming into the season with new players like transfers Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick, things haven’t clicked yet. The unrest and negativity among the loyal USC fanbase is growing everyday.
A loss to College of Charleston today would be devastating to the program, and to Odom personally in terms of his job security.
That’s why I believe it’s a must-win situation for USC. More importantly, it’s a must-win for Odom.
A significant portion of the fan base has already turned on Odom, despite the fact he’s compiled four 20-win seasons in Columbia and won two NIT titles.
In the season stays on the same track, will we see candlelight vigils in front of the Colonial Center? Knowing how passionate USC fans are, that’s possible. Fan boycotts? Probable. Lots and lots of angry fans calling radio sports talk shows and writing letters to their local newspaper? Most definitely.
Surely, one appearance in the NCAA Tournament in Odom’s first six years isn’t good enough, even if you believe in the theory that USC should only expect to make the Big Dance once every two or three years.
In today’s college basketball environment, the NCAA Tournament is everything. In essence, the season has been reduced to three weeks in late March and early April. Everything that comes before that is just a precursor.
Everything a team does in November, December, January and February and early March always leads to this one question – is it good enough to get into the NCAA Tournament?
Heck, here we are in late December and ESPN already has its bracketologist Joe Lunardi talking about which teams will get into the NCAA Tournament. It’s lunacy, but that’s the way of the world today.
Will Odom be fired if USC doesn’t make it to the Big Dance this season? Possibly. But I don’t think it’s a “done deal”, as fans often like to say.
I can assure you Athletic Director Eric Hyman hasn’t given Odom any “NCAA or Bust” ultimatum. Hyman doesn’t operate that way. Nor will Odom be fired before the end of the season, unless a total meltdown occurs, which I don’t expect to happen.
Like most athletic directors, Hyman conducts a full review of the program after the season and then makes his decisions in regards to coaches, etc.
Besides wins and losses, there are financial considerations as well that Hyman must think about. Buying out the contract of a Division I head coach typically isn’t cheap and it won’t be for Odom either.
But there’s no doubt the pressure is on Odom to win more basketball games.
Starting today.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.