The Monarchs (3-5) made the short trip up I-64 Wednesday night to take on the Tribe of William & Mary (4-6) in an old CAA matchup revisited. A tight battle from the jump saw ODU fall 84-79 to a Tribe team that came into the game with just 5-healthy scholarship players due to injury. We have seen a lot of growth this year but Wednesday showed there is still a good deal of work to be done. Below are three takeaways from the game.
Ball Screen Defense
ODU was struggling to stay attached all night long. The Tribe were not running anything special or tricky. Coach Jeff Jones said on the Post Game Show that “nothing they did tonight surprised us.” Players were going under screens they should have gone over top of and vice versa. There was a stretch between 15:04 and 12:08 where W&M ran the same action almost every time down and ODU made the same error almost every time which led to W&M scoring three 3’s, two layups and a dunk during the stretch. The fundamentals of ball screen defense just weren’t there Wednesday night. Four W&M players finished in double figures and a combined 14-31 from three (the entire team was 15-31) and the majority of those threes were uncontested good looks off screening action. Give credit to Caleb Dorsey, Trey Moss, Gabe Dorsey and Charl Williams because they hit the shots, but like Coach Jones said, nothing they did was surprising. The Monarchs have to get better on the defensive side of the ball.
A Two-Headed Monster is Forming
The offensive picture is starting to come together. Chaunce Jenkins had a relatively quiet night compared to the 17-points he averages. He ended with 12 and although he had an off-night shooting, a lot can be credited to the Tribe defense selling out on him not being the one that beat them. They wanted someone else to step up and for the second game in a row, Vasean Allette was up to the task. Vasean had a game-high 30-points on 13-19 shooting (3-6 from three) to go along with 7-rebounds, 3-assists and 2-steals. What impressed me most was how he took over in crunch time. With 5:13 left in the second half Vasean hit a 3 that cut the Tribe lead to 5 and sparked a 5 for 5 run himself, scoring 13-points during the span. When the run ended ODU was only down 1, 78-79, with 1:20 left. He is playing more confidently in the freedom of movement offense the Monarchs run and if he continues to play this way teams are no longer going to be able to sell out on Chaunce. Having to account for both guards will free up players like Ty Williams, RJ Blakney and Bryce Baker for good looks and if they knock those down, driving lanes and space on the block will open up due to a stretched-out defense.
Dani Pounds Appreciation
Dani logged just 2-points Wednesday night, but that came at crucial moment with 3:56 left in the second half and the Monarchs down 5 – it was a big shot. He also grabbed 5-rebounds and dished out 4-assists (not a typo). He fought hard for rebounds, scrambled for loose balls and altered a number of shots. The ball screen defense and turnovers need work, but he is only a Freshman and that will come, but he is taking strides forward. He played 16-minutes in each half, logging a +/- of 7, which was good for 2nd on the team (Ty Williams with a 9). I am excited to see what kind of player Dani looks like mid-season as well as year’s-end. I think he has great upside potential and am glad he’s a Monarch.
The Monarchs are back home Saturday for the Royal Rivalry against the 18th ranked JMU Dukes. The game is a White Out and tips at 7pm. Make sure to get there early and make the environment electric from tip-off to final buzzer.