UVA Basketball: Odom Ball progress report, updates on Bennett/Sanchez transfers

From a look at the numbers, Ryan Odom’s new-look UVA Basketball team is already playing the way he wants to play.

Starting with, Odom wants his offense to be: shots at the rim and shots in the paint, kickout threes, no midrange twos, offensive rebounds/second-chance points, points off turnovers, fast breaks, all of this leading to getting to the foul line.

To that end

• Shots at the rim: 23.3 FGA/g
• Shots in the paint: 7.5 FGA/g
• Threes: 29.1 FGA/g
• Midrange twos: 2.3 FGA/g

Compared to last year’s Tony Bennett/Ron Sanchez group

• Shots at the rim: 13.8 FGA/g
• Shots in the paint: 8.7 FGA/g
• Threes: 22.1 FGA/g
• Midrange twos: 7.1 FGA/g

Shooting percentages/points per game at each level

• Shots at the rim: 65.6%/30.5 ppg this season; 63.3%/17.5 ppg last season
• Shots in the paint: 50.0%/7.5 ppg this season; 37.4%/6.5 ppg last season
• Threes: 38.8%/33.8 ppg this season; 37.5%/24.9 ppg last season
• Midrange twos: 33.3%/1.5 ppg this season; 39.2%/5.6 ppg last season

Offensive rebounds/second-chance points

• Offensive rebounds: 17.5/g this season; 6.8/g last season
• Second-chance points: 20.5/g this season; 8.4/g last season

Points off turnovers/fast breaks

• Points off turnovers: 21.3/g this season; 11.1/g last season
• Fast breaks: 14.3/g this season; 4.1/g last season

Get to the foul line:

• Free-throw attempts: 26.5/g this season; 13.7/g last season

The defense is 94 feet, with a full-court press that isn’t oriented itself toward creating turnovers, but eating time from the opponent’s shot clock, and wearing down the opponent’s guards.

The Bennett approach takes a different path toward the same goal – aiming to force opponents into late-shot-clock offense, and making opponents work so hard that they wear down as the game plays out.

A key measure of the efficacy of the two approaches is:

Average defensive possession length

• The numbers there: 19.0 seconds/possession this season; 18.6 seconds/possession last season

Odom/Bennett transfers at their new schools

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Dai Dai Ames (Cal)

• This season at Cal: 22.5 ppg, 4.0 assists/g, 60.0% FG, 66.7% 3FG, 31.5 minutes/g
• Last season at Virginia: 8.7 ppg, 1.9 assists/g, 46.0% FG, 39.7% 3FG, 25.7 minutes/g

Christian Bliss (Delaware)

• This season at Delaware: 15.7 ppg, 6.3 assists/g, 5.3 rebounds/g, 38.6% FG, 47.1% 3FG, 38.0 minutes/g
• Last season at Virginia: DNP (injured)

Jacob Cofie (Southern Cal)

• This season at USC: 13.7 ppg, 8.7 rebounds/g, 3.0 blocks/g, 56.7% FG, 33.3% 3FG, 27.7 minutes/g
• Last season at Virginia: 7.2 ppg, 4.6 rebounds/g, 0.8 blocks/g, 49.5% FG, 24.4% 3FG, 20.8 minutes/g

TJ Power (Penn)

• This season at Penn: 13.5 ppg, 9.5 rebounds/g, 40.4% FG, 36.4% 3FG, 29.5 minutes/g
• Last season at Virginia: 1.3 ppg, 1.0 rebounds/g, 20.5% FG, 18.2% 3FG, 9.4 minutes/g

Isaac McKneely (Louisville)

• This season at Louisville: 12.3 ppg, 43.6% FG, 41.2% 3FG, 26.0 minutes/g
• Last season at Virginia: 14.4 ppg, 43.9% FG, 42.1% 3FG, 34.4 minutes/g

Ishan Sharma (Saint Louis)

• This season at Saint Louis: 11.8 ppg, 50.0% FG, 54.5% 3FG, 20.5 minutes/g
• Last season at Virginia: 3.4 ppg, 33.3% FG, 33.3% 3FG, 12.8 minutes/g

Elijah Saunders (Maryland)

• This season at Maryland: 9.8 ppg, 5.8 rebounds/g, 43.8% FG, 27.3% 3FG, 29.0 minutes/g
• Last season at Virginia: 10.4 ppg, 5.0 rebounds/g, 42.0% FG, 34.7% 3FG, 26.8 minutes/g

Blake Buchanan (Iowa State)

• This season at Iowa State: 7.8 ppg, 5.5 rebounds/g, 2.0 blocks/g, 70.0% FG, 22.0 minutes/g
• Last season at Virginia: 5.4 ppg, 5.3 rebounds/g, 1.1 blocks/g, 53.4% FG, 22.0 minutes/g

Andrew Rohde (Wisconsin)

• This season at Wisconsin: 7.8 ppg, 1.8 assists/g, 47.8% FG, 33.3% 3FG, 21.5 minutes/g
• Last season at Virginia: 9.3 ppg, 4.3 assists/g, 43.2% FG, 41.3% 3FG, 30.9 minutes/g

Anthony Robinson (Xavier)

• This season at Xavier: 3.3 ppg, 3.3 rebounds/g, 1.5 blocks/g, 42.9% FG, 21.3 minutes/g
• Last season at Virginia: 3.6 ppg, 2.4 rebounds/g, 0.6 blocks/g, 72.1% FG, 9.2 minutes/g