Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 9, 1991 TAG: 9103090084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Odom remains on cordial terms with his former colleagues. He said there was little animosity on the staff, but apparently there was some lively debate between coach Terry Holland and his assistants.
"I think I looked at things more from an opponent's standpoint than anyone else on our staff," said Odom, who left UVa for Wake Forest after the 1988-89 season. "We basically said, `This is what we do [on] offense and defense and we're going to do it no matter what the opponent does. We're going to keep doing the same thing; only we're going to do it better.'
"I had a tendency to look at our opponent and say, `Yeah, but they're not going to let us do this, so we need to have an alternative.' I was willing to say that some particular team was not going to let us run a certain play."
Odom was one of the early proponents of the diamond-and-one defense with which Virginia has employed with some success, although UVa and Wake Forest are using it less frequently.
Odom rejected the notion that his philosophy at Wake Forest is dramatically different than Holland's.
"I don't know," Odom said good-naturedly. "Would you say we play bad defense? Are you saying we rebound badly?"
Odom conceded that his Wake Forest team does not resemble Virginia offensively.
"That's where the basic difference is, if you're looking for something," Odom said. "But you also have to put into that, my talent is different."
By the time he got to Virginia, Odom already had coached in high school, been an assistant at Wake Forest and been the head coach at East Carolina. Jeff Jones has played and coached only at Virginia.
"I prefer man-to-man, going head-to-head rather than relying on trickery or concentrating so much on the opposition," Jones said. "I say, `Let us try to do something.' Maybe, it's a macho thing.
"I don't see many similarities at all in terms of X's and O's. I'd characterize [Odom] as an offensive tinkerer. He liked cute things."
Odom laughed at the characterization.
"You mean like my wife?" he said.
\ Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said there is one disadvantage to receiving an ACC Tournament bye as regular-season champion.
"It's been weird this week because you don't have one team to focus on," said Krzyzewski, who learned Friday that the Blue Devils will play North Carolina State, an 82-68 winner over Georgia Tech.
"I've been watching film of both teams and I hate to do that because it's a waste of time," he said. "At 4 o'clock, I'll be throwing away one set of notes and six hours of my time."
\ This probably was the last ACC Tournament for Georgia Tech guard Kenny Anderson, who has said he will turn pro if he knows he will be one of the top five picks in the NBA draft.
"Everybody is speculating that this was my last ACC game," Anderson said. "I'm going to wait till the end of the season; then, me and coach [Bobby Cremins] are going to sit down and throw all our cards on the table.
"As far as I'm concerned right now, this was not my last ACC game. I'm a little nervous - I don't want to say scared - to make the jump. I don't know the last time a player went out his sophomore year in the ACC. That bothers me."
The last sophomore to jump from the ACC to the NBA was N.C. State's Chris Washburn, now attempting a comeback in the Continental Basketball Association.
\ North Carolina freshmen Brian Reese and Clifford Rozier were not in uniform Friday night after receiving a one-game suspension when they were "a few minutes late" for curfew Wednesday night.
\ Maryland senior guard Matt Roe was the lone ACC representative on the GTE Academic All-America team. Roe, a transfer from Syracuse, had a 3.44 grade-point average while majoring in radio, television and film.
Roe, a first-team academic All-American, averaged 17.8 points and 5.5 rebounds and was a third-team All-ACC choice.
\ Before Friday, the only ACC teams with winning records against the top 100 teams in the USA Today computer rankings were Duke (9-6) and North Carolina (12-4).
The other four ACC teams hopeful of NCAA Tournament bids and their records against the top 100 are Virginia (9-10); Wake Forest (8-9); Georgia Tech (10-11) and North Carolina State (7-9).
by CNB