Odom's Post-Game Tirade A Good Sign
posted by Scott Hood, Thursday, January 03, 2008
If you’re a follower of South Carolina basketball, you had to smile when you heard about Dave Odom’s post-game tirade Wednesday night following the 90-63 victory over Radford.
Don’t be fooled. The game was a lot tighter than the final score indicates.
Radford is a bad basketball team, yet trailed by just three points (54-51) with under 15 minutes remaining.
Yes, the same Radford team that had lost to Campbell and Prebyterian earlier this season by 17 and two points, respectively. Campbell, if you recall, lost to USC by 40 points on Nov. 28.
Odom quickly brushed aside the win, as he should have, considering it came over a vastly inferior opponent. In the long run, it means little.
USC proved nothing by beating a bottom of the barrel Division I team by 27 points, especially when they should won by 40 or more.
While Odom has more than his share of critics – considering his SEC record, I can understand why – he showed last night through his post-game comments he grasps two concepts very well:
1. The heat is on, considering Eric Hyman’s comments in his New Year’s Day message that he expects the men’s basketball team to make the NCAA Tournament every season; and
2. If the Gamecocks’ front line plays as poorly in the first 30 minutes as they did last night against Vanderbilt next Wednesday in the SEC conference opener, they will suffer an embarrassing loss to the Commodores.
Greater sense of urgency? You bet.
Was the tirade necessary? Absolutely. Some of his players needed a kick in the butt and Odom was more than happy to oblige.
In addition, Odom showed a side of his personality he rarely displays in public. He's a lot more feisty than he lets on.
The fate of Odom’s tenure could come down to the first five games of the SEC schedule when USC faces, in addition to Vanderbilt, Tennessee (1/12), Arkansas (1/16), Florida (1/23) and Kentucky (1/26).
If USC wins just one or none of those games, I fear the rest of the season could get ugly for Odom as far as the fans are concerned. Interest will wane, like it did last year following the blowout losses to Kansas, Florida and Kentucky at home, and atmosphere at the Colonial Center will be a lot like it was Wednesday night – dead.
The Gamecocks MUST find a way to win at least two or more of those first five SEC games, despite the fact the Gamecocks will likely be underdogs in all five contests.
The future of Odom’s tenure could depend on it.
Unfortunately, Wednesday night’s struggles against Radford gives one pause whether USC can get it done. They certainly have to convince me. A solid performance for 40 minutes against UNC-Asheville on Saturday could quell some of the concern.
But until they lace ‘em up against SEC competition, we won’t know for sure. I know this much – the overall talent of Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida are light years ahead of Radford’s.
USC’s biggest concern right now is finding some offensive support for guards Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick. The duo combined for 49 of USC’s 90 points last night, 54.4 percent of the total.
Odom understands that in the SEC the coaches are smart enough – and have enough quality defenders - to figure out a way to stop an offense dead in its tracks when only two players are scoring the bulk of the points.
In USC’s case, they’ll simply cover Downey and Fredrick like a blanket on the perimeter and dare the interior players to beat them.
Frankly, USC’s forwards haven’t proven they can do that on a consistent basis through the first 13 games of the schedule. But they’d better come up with something fast.
After initially promising the players a day off, Odom vowed to put USC’s big men through a strenuous workout Thursday morning in order to try to reverse the recent slide.
For the sake of his tenure as USC head coach, Odom must hope the extra practice cures the problem.
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There’s no aggression. There’s no outward sign that there is pride there. When they get scored on, it doesn’t look to me like it bothers them. I’d like to see one guy one time just crack an opponent and not let them score and take a foul like a man. One time. Just one time. Quit letting the guy score like it’s okay. It’s not okay. Not to me, it’s not - USC head coach Dave Odom when asked about his big men following Wednesday night’s game.
If you’re a follower of South Carolina basketball, you had to smile when you heard about Dave Odom’s post-game tirade Wednesday night following the 90-63 victory over Radford.
Don’t be fooled. The game was a lot tighter than the final score indicates.
Radford is a bad basketball team, yet trailed by just three points (54-51) with under 15 minutes remaining.
Yes, the same Radford team that had lost to Campbell and Prebyterian earlier this season by 17 and two points, respectively. Campbell, if you recall, lost to USC by 40 points on Nov. 28.
Odom quickly brushed aside the win, as he should have, considering it came over a vastly inferior opponent. In the long run, it means little.
USC proved nothing by beating a bottom of the barrel Division I team by 27 points, especially when they should won by 40 or more.
While Odom has more than his share of critics – considering his SEC record, I can understand why – he showed last night through his post-game comments he grasps two concepts very well:
1. The heat is on, considering Eric Hyman’s comments in his New Year’s Day message that he expects the men’s basketball team to make the NCAA Tournament every season; and
2. If the Gamecocks’ front line plays as poorly in the first 30 minutes as they did last night against Vanderbilt next Wednesday in the SEC conference opener, they will suffer an embarrassing loss to the Commodores.
Greater sense of urgency? You bet.
Was the tirade necessary? Absolutely. Some of his players needed a kick in the butt and Odom was more than happy to oblige.
In addition, Odom showed a side of his personality he rarely displays in public. He's a lot more feisty than he lets on.
The fate of Odom’s tenure could come down to the first five games of the SEC schedule when USC faces, in addition to Vanderbilt, Tennessee (1/12), Arkansas (1/16), Florida (1/23) and Kentucky (1/26).
If USC wins just one or none of those games, I fear the rest of the season could get ugly for Odom as far as the fans are concerned. Interest will wane, like it did last year following the blowout losses to Kansas, Florida and Kentucky at home, and atmosphere at the Colonial Center will be a lot like it was Wednesday night – dead.
The Gamecocks MUST find a way to win at least two or more of those first five SEC games, despite the fact the Gamecocks will likely be underdogs in all five contests.
The future of Odom’s tenure could depend on it.
Unfortunately, Wednesday night’s struggles against Radford gives one pause whether USC can get it done. They certainly have to convince me. A solid performance for 40 minutes against UNC-Asheville on Saturday could quell some of the concern.
But until they lace ‘em up against SEC competition, we won’t know for sure. I know this much – the overall talent of Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida are light years ahead of Radford’s.
USC’s biggest concern right now is finding some offensive support for guards Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick. The duo combined for 49 of USC’s 90 points last night, 54.4 percent of the total.
Odom understands that in the SEC the coaches are smart enough – and have enough quality defenders - to figure out a way to stop an offense dead in its tracks when only two players are scoring the bulk of the points.
In USC’s case, they’ll simply cover Downey and Fredrick like a blanket on the perimeter and dare the interior players to beat them.
Frankly, USC’s forwards haven’t proven they can do that on a consistent basis through the first 13 games of the schedule. But they’d better come up with something fast.
After initially promising the players a day off, Odom vowed to put USC’s big men through a strenuous workout Thursday morning in order to try to reverse the recent slide.
For the sake of his tenure as USC head coach, Odom must hope the extra practice cures the problem.
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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 @.