University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman guard Josh Odem needs to be highlighted in the defensive game plan for opposing coaches.
Odem no longer is flying under the radar behind senior Ty Patterson, point guard Keegan Bell and UTC’s rotation of post players. And it’s his own fault.
“The free pass that he got when the season started — when you’re new and nobody talks about you a lot on the scouting report, you’ve got a free pass — now he doesn’t have a free pass anymore,” Mocs coach John Shulman said. “J.O. has a long ways to go.
“Things come easy for him, so it’s been great for him to get his tail end kicked in the last two games. He needs to get his tail end kicked, and it came pretty good.”
Odem has been limited to seven points in his last three games, following a career night at Georgia Southern.
“The last three games have a been a little bit of a struggle,” Odem acknowledged. “I haven’t been playing like myself. I’ll pick it up for Thursday’s game (at UNC Greensboro).”
Georgia Southern coach Charlton Young fell into the Mocs’ secret trap. Young eliminated Bell from the game with double-teams and denials and had players rushing out to Patterson when he touched the ball.
But Odem came off the bench, went 4-for-4 from the 3-point line and finished with a career-high 22 points in just his 15th game as a Division I player.
“We thought we could run Patterson off the 3-point line, but we didn’t expect the freshman to come in and drop 22 points,” Young said after that game. “He stuck his open shots. For a freshman to come off the bench and score 22 on the road is very impressive.”
Odem has been silent since.
The lanky lefty had two points at home against UNCG, when he missed a dunk and sat for the last eight minutes of the game.
He scored four points against The Citadel and one against Charleston. Both of the Charleston-based squads pressured Odem when he had the ball, doubled him at times and shaded to his side when they played a zone.
“As soon as I caught it, they were on us,” Odem said. “They did a good job of coming out and getting to us before we got the shot off.”
The Citadel coach Ed Conroy and Charleston coach Bobby Cremins both had their teams limit Odem’s opportunities. They also made him expend energy while playing defense. Player of the year candidate Cameron Wells, a guard for The Citadel, educated the youngster on the finer points of a midrange game by scoring on Odem during four straight possessions.
“He tried to go out there and cool it against The Citadel, and Wells whipped his tail,” Shulman said. “So he thought he’d better get after it. Then Wells whipped his tail some more.”
Odem is 2-for-8 from the floor in his last three games. He took nine shots against GSU and sank six.
“When he comes out and scores 22, teams are going to notice that and teams are locking down on him more,” Bell said. “He hasn’t got many shot attempts, and I have to do a better job of trying to get him shots. We have to work together to get each other open.”
Shulman rarely has played freshmen until this time of year, if at all. Only one other player besides Odem has started as a freshman, and Jaycen Herring did it just once.”He doesn’t understand what the wall is,” Shulman said of Odem. “He’s not fazed a whole lot. I think these last two games have been good for him.”