THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997 TAG: 9702010604
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 98 lines
The best of times have turned into the worst of times for the Old Dominion men's basketball team.
Just over two weeks ago, ODU was off to its best start in 17 seasons.
Today, the Monarchs are mired in their worst slump in conference play since their first season in the Colonial Athletic Association, 1991-92.
``We didn't handle success very well,'' ODU guard Mike Byers said. ``We stopped approaching games the same way.''
How did the Monarchs slip from 13-3 - the program's best start since the 1979-80 team opened 20-3 - to 14-7 with a three-game losing streak and 5-4 mark in the CAA? And where do they go from here?
ODU begins the last month of the regular season tonight by hosting Richmond (7:35, HTS) at Scope. Losers in four of their last five games, the Monarchs must run the table in seven remaining CAA outings to avoid their worst conference record since the 1991-92 team went 8-6.
In the four most recent losses, ODU's emotions have run the gamut from shock (American), embarrassment (William and Mary), humiliation (James Madison) and withered confidence (ECU).
``We've gotta come out every day and go hard in practice,'' Byers said. ``The last couple of weeks we haven't been doing it, and it's showed in games.''
A few other things have showed up as well:
If you shut down forwards Mark Poag and Odell Hodge, you can shut down ODU.
The Monarchs are at their best when Poag is hitting from outside and Hodge is living large inside. But recently, teams have successfully bottled up both, clamping down on Poag with bumping and grinding on the perimeter and harassing Hodge with double teams down low. No one has filled the gap.
``What's making that strategy effective is the other players are not being aggressive,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said.
In the last four losses, Poag is shooting 23 percent, 20 percent from 3-point range and averaging 7.8 points. Hodge is averaging a respectable 15.7 points - with 29 in one game and nine, 10 and 15 in the others - but has missed a bundle of shots around the hoop.
Poag has to move better without the ball and work for open looks in transition or running off screens, while Hodge needs to finish better. But the Monarchs also have to develop other offensive options. Byers needs to shoot more - he has fewer attempts per game than he did as a freshman - and ODU needs more consistent play from sophomore big men Reggie Bassette, Cal Bowdler and Skipper Youngblood.
``We really need to get other guys to contribute,'' Hodge said.
The defense tends to rest.
ODU was a defensive dynamo through 16 games, holding opponents to 37-percent shooting and 66.9 points while averaging 9.5 steals and 7.4 blocked shots. But the Monarchs' last five opponents have shot 47 percent and averaged 73.6 points while ODU averaged just 7.8 steals and five blocked shots.
``We stopped defending,'' Hodge said. ``No question about it. That creates offense for us.
``When we were winning and having success, we were competing the whole game. That's what we need to get back to.''
Nothing is free about free throws.
The Monarchs are abysmal from the line - but they have been all season. Their .631 inaccuracy from the line is threatening the school-record low, .631 in 1962-63.
``I've had players that have gone in a slump from the free throw-line, but never an entire team,'' Capel said. ``I think it's been contagious. It started out with a couple of guys and now it's spread through the entire team.''
ODU is failing its board exams.
The Monarchs outrebounded opponents by 2.7 per game their first 16 games, but have been outrebounded by an average of 2.6 the past five - a swing of 5.3 per game. Many of those are offensive rebounds by opponents, leading to second-chance points.
A couple of disciplinary issues also cropped up during the slump. Bassette, the starting center, was suspended for two games - including the loss at American that started the Monarchs' slide - while Hodge, Byers and Brion Dunlap did not start the East Carolina game.
Capel does not divulge his reasons for disciplining players, but according to sources Bassette missed class and the other three missed a weight-training session.
During their slump, the Monarchs dropped from 42nd to 96th in the RPI Report, the computer rating system that simulates what the NCAA uses to select teams for the tournament. ODU also received votes in The Associated Press poll before its January swoon.
So where do the Monarchs go from here?
Capel says they can do everything they set out to this season. They are just a game out of first in the conference standings, and the tournament should be wide open. The 1991-92 ODU team that went 8-6 in the conference won the tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
The Monarchs have five of their remaining seven conference games at home. They have already traveled to, and been blown out at, East Carolina and James Madison, the CAA's two toughest venues.
If ODU - which has not led in its last 85 minutes of play - can shake off this funk, it could be a better and hungrier team down the stretch. If it doesn't shake it off, a team of which much was expected could be labeled a disappointment.
``You can get back in the corner and take a (butt) whipping or come out fighting,'' Capel said. ``It's up to us.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color file photo
Jeff Capel