Minium: In Spite of its Record, ODU Basketball Team is Improving and There Remains Hope for a Late-Season Run

Let's be honest: it's been a difficult and frustrating season so far for the Old Dominion basketball team.

The Monarchs seemed to get every break and make every shot they needed last season as they motored to 26 victories, their first Conference USA championship and their first NCAA tournament bid in eight years.

This is team is younger and less experienced and hasn't quite jelled as we expected. And the Monarchs have missed Ahmad Caver and B.J. Stith, the All-Conference USA seniors from last season, more than many thought.

There were some ugly early season losses, including a narrow home defeat against James Madison and a 63-46 loss at William and Mary, during an eight-game losing streak. Then, in December, two players transferred from ODU to Hampton.

Last week came heartbreaking losses at Western Kentucky and Marshall. ODU outplayed WKU and frittered away a lead the Monarchs should have maintained. They played well at Marshall, but the Herd won by a point in a game decided by a late foul on ODU.

The Monarchs limped home last weekend with a 6-12 record.

But if you're thinking of giving up hope for this season, don't. Though short on depth and height, this team is talented, and the Monarchs clearly haven't given up on themselves.
ODU hosted Charlotte on Monday afternoon in a must-win game, and triumphed, 66-62. In the process the Monarchs did everything this team must do to win games – they played good defense, made critical shots and maintained their poise down the stretch.

Yes, they've dug themselves into quite a hole. The Monarchs (7-12 overall, 3-3 C-USA) are tied with four teams for seventh place and they need to finish fourth to claim a coveted first-round bye in the Conference USA tournament in Frisco, Texas.

It will be difficult to finish fourth.

But it's doable.

ODU hosts Florida International Thursday at 7 (ESPNU-TV; ESPN Radio, 94.1-FM) and Florida Atlantic on Saturday, and the Monarchs may need to win both in order to maintain their goal of garnering a first-round bye.

As I said, there is hope, and that's because of the nature of C-USA this season. 

Generally, the league has two or three really good teams. This year there aren't any great teams, but unlike some previous seasons, nearly every team is pretty good. FIU has the league's best overall record at 13-6.

"We can beat anyone in the league," coach Jeff Jones said. "But our margin of error is this thin," he added while holding his fingers close together.
Consider this: had the Monarchs scored a total of five more points last week, they would be 5-1 in the league and in second place, a half a game behind 6-1 North Texas.

Five points is a very thin margin.

FIU, by the way, is very good. Coached by former VCU assistant Jeremy Ballard, the Panthers play like the Rams. They press and run and take a ton of 3-point shots and are 4-point favorites over ODU.

ODU will have to make shots from the outside – FIU has the nation's leading shot blocker in 6-foot-9 center Osasumwen Osaghae.

Curiously, when ODU's coaches and players met after the two players transferred, the team came together in a way it hadn't done earlier. Someone – Jones can't remember who – said "We Believe," during the meeting and that's been the team's motto ever since.

"The coaches were telling players and players were telling players, 'we believe in you guys, we believe you can do this, but we have to stick together," Jones said. "We can't keep the status quo. We have to keep working to become mentally tougher and play smarter.

"And nobody's blinked since. These guys have played with such resilience after some very difficult losses."

The Monarchs outworked Charlotte. Sophomore Jason Wade had a career-high 23 points, and he often just willed the ball in the basket against taller players.

Aaron Carver, the steady senior forward from Elizabeth City, had seven points, a blocked shot and 15 rebounds – he leads C-USA in rebounding at 9.7 per game.

Newcomers A.J. Oliver II (12 points) and Malik Curry (11 points, four assists) played well – both guards continue to make progress. Joe Reece improved greatly over last season and is providing good minutes off the bench. Kalu Ezikpe, the sophomore from Lawrenceville, Ga., at 6-foot-8 is ODU's tallest player, and while he has played well at times, he hasn't been consistent.

Neither has Xavier Green, the redshirt junior from Williamsburg. The Monarchs beat Charlotte in spite of an 0-for-10 shooting performance from Green, the redshirt junior from Williamsburg who was MVP of the C-USA tournament.

With Caver and Stith gone, Green figured to become ODU's offensive leader this season, but has been mired in a shooting slump.

Early on, Green was taking shots he didn't normally take. In other words, he was trying too hard to be "The Guy."

Now he's taking good shots. But confidence is everything for shooters, and his confidence is a bit shaken.

Jones said when some shots go in, his confidence will be restored. For now, he said, "all we can do is support him, encourage him, love him and tell him to continue taking shots."

Green is a talented player who works hard. Even with his shooting touch a bit off, he leads ODU with 12.3 points per game.

The shots will begin to fall for him, and when they do, ODU will become a team to be reckoned with.

It goes without saying ODU won't play in the postseason without winning the C-USA championship. When I asked Jones if this team is capable of winning three or four games in Frisco in March, he answered with no hesitation.

"Yes, we can do that," he said.

But for now, he wants to keep his team focused on the task at hand – winning the next game.

"We can't worry about any of that now," he said. "We've got to worry about how we can get a little better, bit by bit, step by step.

"We need to lift the confidence of this team. We've got to get more guys playing well consistently and hope we get some breaks, because that factors into the game. Last year, we won a lot of close games."

They did, winning 13 games by six points or less.

"When I look around the league," Jones added, "what I see are a bunch of teams like us who need to put it all together at the right time."

Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu