Jan. 8, 2008
Audio: Listen to the entire teleconference at SECsports.com
Vanderbilt basketball head coach Kevin Stallings and South Carolina head coach Dave Odom discussed Wednesday’s game with the national media during Monday’s SEC Teleconference. Find out what each coach had to say about the matchup.
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings:
On Vanderbilt entering Wednesday’s game vs. South Carolina. Obviously, the exciting part of the schedule is now here. I think the players, coaches, and fans get excited for SEC play. Generally speaking, I think our team is in good health and a very good frame of mind. We’re excited with what we’ve been able to do in the non-conference portion of our schedule. When you look around the country, upsets seem to be the norm, and our team has been able to avoid that thus far, so that’s been really pleasing for me as a coach. Now with league play here, anything can happen. We know South Carolina has a very good team with great guard play. We’ll have to be more than ready for that, but we’re excited league play is now beginning.
What do you attribute 15-0 to? I think we have good players, and I think we have really good leadership with [Shan] Foster, [Alex] Gordon, [Ross] Neltner, and [Alan] Metcalfe. Our seniors have done a great job of leading, a great job of leading in practice, and bringing high levels of energy to practice every day. They work hard and are our hardest workers. They’ve set the tone. We really have a very young basketball team. We have four seniors, no juniors, two sophomores, and the rest freshmen. Their leadership has been critical and awesome. The way Shan has played has been terrific. A.J.’s presence has been instrumental, but I think more than anything, I think we have some good players and great seniors.
How accurate is it to say that Vanderbilt is winning by simply outscoring other teams? I think that we found many different ways to win. I think we’ve been better offensively. Our numbers would certainly suggest we’ve been better offensively than defensively. I think we’re getting better defensively, but there have been times when our defense has had to carry us. When it’s had to, it has. I don’t think we get to this point if our defense hasn’t been there for us at some level.
The consensus among basketball analysts is that the SEC is down this year. What’s your perception of the league? I don’t think the SEC has won the percentage of games in the non-conference portion of the schedule compared to the past. I think it’s only natural for people to assume that. I think that when the NCAA tournament gets here, the SEC be well represented and our teams will do well. I don’t think we can dispute that assessment right now because the SEC did not perform as well this year in the non-conference versus the past.
Has A.J. Ogilvy surprised you with his play? I’m surprised he’s played this well this quickly. I knew he was good. I certainly thought he would be as good when we recruited him. His adjustment was almost zero. I think that speaks to the coaching he’s received and some of his international experience, but he’s stepped right in like a veteran. He’s been a very big factor why we’re undefeated.
Why is Ogilvy such a good player? He’s got great instincts. He’s got very good skills. He’s strong. It seems like he catches everything. Maybe the best thing he does is know how to get fouled. He shoots eight or nine free throws per game. He shoots over 80 percent from the line. There are many things to like, but his ability to get fouled is probably the best thing he does.
South Carolina Head Coach Dave Odom:
On South Carolina entering Wednesday’s game vs. Vanderbilt. We’re coming off a disappointing loss to UNC-Asheville, a really good team the other night. It was a game we thought we had in hand. We’re up 58-51 with less than four minutes to go, and we took three bad shots that were way too early in the shot clock. We had two turnovers and didn’t make any defensive stops. When you do that, the outcome is predictable. We’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves. Asheville is a good team. Give them credit. That puts us at 8-6. We’ve played a difficult schedule, but we could’ve won two or three more games and been in better position than we are right now.
However, going to Vanderbilt, I don’t know if the schedule makers looked ahead, but they certainly dealt us a difficult opening assignment. If you look at it from our standpoint, it may be better to go in there first rather than later. Vanderbilt is undefeated, certainly undefeated on their home court, a difficult place to play. My hat goes off to Kevin [Stallings] and his staff for putting together another outstanding team. I think they’ve built on success from last year when they had an excellent basketball team. They brought in some really good young freshmen. When you hear they’ve got a big freshman coming from Australia [Ogilvy], you say he’s going to be pretty good, but I don’t think anybody envisioned that he was going to be anywhere near as good as he’s turned out to be. He’s a true low post player, one that has developed very quickly. You combine that with easily one of the two best outside shooters in the SEC in Shan Foster and you’ve got a formidable team. The thing I think makes them so good is that they attack as a team. I saw they had 27 assists against South Alabama and 32 field goals. That’s an incredible stat. Any coach would tell you that. Defensively, they’re excellent.
Our team right now is still trying to find themselves in terms of who we are offensively. I do think our defense improved the other night versus Asheville. Our offense did not improve. We’ve been scoring enough points, except in that game. Hopefully we can on Wednesday night. I can tell you this: we’re very excited about starting SEC play. There’s conversation around the country that the SEC is down, but by the time we reach the eighth game mark in our league, I think everyone will start to say it’s the same old SEC, the one that’s well respected and has championship caliber teams within it.
What makes Shan Foster so good? He’s one that obviously stretches you to the limit. He’s not on the three point line; he’s well outside it. If you follow your normal defensive principles, if the ball’s away from him, it’s going to put you back in the lane. You’re temptation is to be in the lane to help on Ogilvy, but I know by looking at tape, and I’ve seen hours of it, if you leave Foster too far, Vanderbilt will skip the ball to him quickly, and he can get the shot off in an unorthodox manner with his release. He’s a full grown 6’7″ or better. He puts the ball well above his head. He has good elevation on his shot. A normal guy getting up defending him will not affect his shot. You’ve got to stay out there and keep the ball off him as much as possible. He’s the perfect player for a guy like Ogilvy because if they enter the ball on his side, it’s hard to get help to whoever is guarding in the low post. He’s also a veteran. His senior year, he’s playing terrific.
When you scout Vanderbilt, what is it about Ogilvy that stands out? I think he runs very hard and is so young. He has committed himself to the Vanderbilt style of play right now. He’s a great finisher inside. He has great hands and feet, two things that I think as coaches, we find difficult to improve. I’ve always felt that as a big man coach, if they’ve got great hands and feet, the rest of it can be handled. He’s got both of those. He moves and catches well. He’s got a great presence around the basket. Oftentimes, many big guys can’t figure out where they are on the court, but he has a great presence. He knows how to handle the ball once he gets inside. They’ve got a great plan for him. They space so well and give him plenty of room to operate inside.
With Kentucky struggling so far, how does that so strongly affect the perception that the SEC is down this year? I think Kentucky’s record right now is a product of two things: they did lose many players from last year, and there was a coaching change. Programs will go through that. Let’s face it: the success of Kentucky’s program over the years is unparallel. To a large extent, the SEC has ridden with the success of Kentucky. In some years, we’ve been pulled along by Kentucky. To have them not ranked in the top 10 does affect our league. There’s no question about that. From that perspective, I bet every coach in the league pulls for them. We want them to do well from that standpoint to help the league, and on the nights each team plays Kentucky, we want to beat them. It is important that Kentucky be good, just like Florida and Arkansas. Arkansas is a team that has nationally been much respected. It’s important that all of our marquee teams in our league do well which does help with the national respect. People can talk about other leagues all they want, but at the end of the day, you have to look at the SEC as being one of the very best, and in most years, one or two of the most respected leagues in the country, and Kentucky’s success cannot be discounted. It is important that they be good.
You have done well in Memorial Gym the last several years compared to any other coach. How do you get your team to play as well as they have at Memorial? I think Memorial Gym is one of the best arenas in the country. To be quite honest, through my years in coaching, I’ve always tried to take my teams to arenas that represent the best in college basketball. I’ve played, taught, and coached in that. I like that kind of thing, and Memorial Gym in Nashville represents the best in college basketball. I tell my team that they have a great opportunity to play in a historic arena, one that has not been bothered by aesthetic makeovers. It’s what it is, a great place, and a great honor to play there. We’re playing against a great school, team, and coach. That’s college basketball at its best. That’s the way I approach all of these particular games. It’s a thrill to be able to do that.