Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Traditions
 Q&A with Dave OdomMen's basketball coach previews 1998-99 season.Every year, the ACC's coaches and players meet with media from throughout the ACC area on the last Sunday in October, at Operation Basketball. At that gathering, coaches are usually expected to know a good bit about their teams' makeup, but often things are still left unknown. It is, after all, at least three or four weeks before the first game for most teams. Dave Odom didn't have that much luxury when the annual media circus hit Charlotte on Oct. 25. He was just about two weeks away from the Deacs' opener, and he had to learn a lot in a short amount of time. He even had to change his philosophy on preseason practice because of the early start. The day after Operation Basketball, Odom talked with Jay Reddick of Gold Rush about the coming season. The following is their conversation: Gold Rush: How have you felt about the early practices, and what they mean for the season ahead? Odom: We've had a week of practice, and I think I'm very pleased generally with what's gone on. We've spent an inordinate amount of time on offense, for us. Usually, we go defense early, then try to bring our offense along in December and January. Because of the early start, I thought it was necessary to get an offensive base in much sooner than we normally would. I think that was the right approach. Defensively, we can catch ourselves up easier than we could if we did it in reverse. The freshmen, right now, are at a point where there's so much thrown at them that they're just treading water, trying to keep their head above. Our sophomores and Joseph (Amonett) look much more comfortable with what's going on. In general, they feel that they are much more in command of their game than they were a year ago. Gold Rush: So the offense has progressed well. Odom: It's a little ahead of schedule, ahead of where it normally is this time of year, but there's still a situation where we have to work on execution and specifics of what we want. Gold Rush: Is the offense going to be a more fast-breaking style, to take advantage of the youth and depth of the team? Odom: I think we've worked on that. I'm not so sure at this point. We had started off with the intent that this was going to be a faster-paced team than we have been in the past. But in truth, I have to be comfortable with that, just like the players do. Also, I'm not so sure practicing a fast break is the way to go. I think the best fast-break teams that I know are those who generate the fast break off of their defense, so we might want to look at creating more steals, more turnovers, more deflections defensively to get more open-court opportunities to score. Gold Rush: You have only three weeks of practice before the first game on Nov. 10. Besides bringing the offense along more quickly, is that short time having an effect? Odom: I think that's the biggest difference that and having such a young team. People know we have a fair amount of experience in our sophomores, but they are still sophomores and need to be retaught. The freshmen are obviously green and young. Though they are willing to learn, you still have to give them a chance to get a base of teaching and foundation under them to be as effective as we want them to be. We've had to mix the teaching with a little more full-court work than we like to do this time of year. Nov. 10, by anybody's estimation, is too early to play, but that's the hand we've been dealt, and we have to deal with it. Gold Rush: Have there been any surprises among the freshmen? Odom: I don't think so. They are freshmen, first and foremost. They don't know what to do; they don't know basketball Wake Forest style right now. They are consumed, and we've asked them to consume themselves with learning that. As far as their skills and talents, they're pretty much what we thought. They're good athletically, they have good skills, and the most important thing is, they're willing learners. They've come in and made a nice contribution to team chemistry early on. They're reaching up to the upperclassmen and virtually saying, OEHelp me along.' That's what you want. From that standpoint, they're pleased. Gold Rush: Is it too early to say how they'll fit into the rotation? Odom: We'll play some of them. We have five new eligible players there. It's not reasonable to believe they're all going to play, but I do think a good number of them will play at different times. Maybe all of them, who knows? The only real disappointment has been Craig Dawson's stress fracture in his shin. Not only do we need his outside shot, but he showed us in the month of September during our 3-on-0 work that he was a better player than we knew. He came in with a reputation as a shooter. But he showed us that he can play as well. So his injury has been a concern, but everything else has been about like we hoped it would be. Gold Rush: So Craig is going to miss a couple of weeks, or maybe more? Odom: There's no time frame. It's a day-to-day thing. He's practicing some every day, but he hasn't been through a whole practice yet. He goes 30-40 minutes of every practice; we don't want to overwork him. Gold Rush: Have the upperclassmen shown more improvement than you expected? Odom: Yes. That's been the highlight of our practices. Every player comes back every year, and the first thing I look at as a coach is not the newcomers. I look to see how much improvement the older guys have made. To a man, I think they're all better. Robert O'Kelley looks more comfortable with the ball, making decisions. He still has work to do in those areas, but certainly he's better. Rafael Vidaurreta and Josh Shoemaker are more comfortable with the offense and the defense and with each other. We've only played Niki Arinze at the outside 3 spot, instead of bouncing him around like we did last year, and we're going to continue to work him there. He's working on thinking like a perimeter player, in addition to acting like one. James Griffin is certainly more confident than he was a year ago. Aron McMillian has made some progress as well. We're pleased with them. If you had to point to a team leader right now, it would be Joseph Amonett. Hopefully he'll have a chance to show what he can do on the court, and I think he can mean a lot to this team. Jim Fitzpatrick may be the most pleasant surprise for me. He's got a tremendous basketball IQ, and he's quick with the ball, and he pushes the ball, and he's good and hard-nosed. I feel good about his potential to make a contribution to our team. Gold Rush: Griffin had been expected to play a pretty big role with the team this season. How has he responded to that? Odom: Athletically, he certainly is a high-caliber athlete. He's worked real hard on his skills during the summer, and defensively he is probably one of our better players right now, putting pressure on the ball. I think the thing with him right now is to keep him working consistently at a high level. He's had a tendency to go and come a little bit, and we want to keep him involved. He shoots the ball OK, we just need to continue his progress. He's gained a lot of confidence. Gold Rush: Among the freshmen, Darius Songaila got a lot of attention this summer one writer said he was the best player entering the ACC. How is he progressing? Odom: He's doing very well. The more he knows about our style, the better he gets. Still, he's new to everything, and the language is not easy for him, so he's struggling with a lot of things from that standpoint, but his performance on the court speaks for itself. He's very combative, he's very competitive, he has good size, very physical. And he's been productive, so we're pleased with him. Gold Rush: Do you have any good ideas about how the league is going to shake down this season? Odom: I basically see Duke as having the inside track on being the best team, but Maryland is very close to them. Clemson has the most people back in the league. I would never discount Carolina as a threat to win a championship. Beyond those four, I think N.C. State will have a great front line. People don't understand the importance of Damon Thornton coming back. If he's healthy, he'll give them as good a frontline as there is in our league. Georgia Tech took a blow with Dion Glover's injury, but they have two quality post players. I think our team, our frontline is big enough and strong enough to hang in there with any of them. We have to get some great backcourt play, and if we do, I think we have a chance to be good.
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