Everything From Ryan Odom After Virginia's Season Opening Win Over Rider

The Ryan Odom era started with a win tonight.

UVA used a strong second half to put away Rider and get an 87-53 win to move to 1-0 this season. After the game, Odom spoke with the media and here is everything that he had to say:

Opening Statement...

"Yeah, I thought, obviously it was a great victory for our guys. Really proud of how they responded in the second half.

Shots weren't falling in the first they, you know, at halftime, we talked a little bit about the decisions that we were making, probably some extra passes out there, the shots were a little bit, maybe, weren't completely contested. But ones that you know, had we made a different decision, maybe another guy gets a wide open look, and certainly we had some open ones. The free throws obviously were not ideal tonight. You know, for us, we got to the line.

Credit to our guys for rebounding, the basketball, offensive rebounding, you know, and then just, I thought, the beginning of the second half, the starters set the tone. The guys off the bench came in and did a really good job of, you know, extending that, extending that lead, and then we're able to finish it, you know, down, down to the end. So, great win overall, and good to get. Get off to a good start here."

1. On what his emotions were like coaching his first game at Virginia...

"Yeah, I was asked that earlier. I think, you know, gratitude walking out of the tunnel. I think that was the first thing you know that you think about, you know, just, I'm really blessed to be here, be the coach here. So, you know, tried to let that, you know, marinate in my head, and then, you know, excitement. You know, you're excited. This is another season. And I tell my wife every year, it'll be March before you know it. And it happens literally like that. Soon as you start playing, it's game after game, practice, prep meals, you know, time together, and it's really special. And everyone right now is hoping that they're going to have a special season. And you have to work to have it. You have to be lucky.

And certainly, I'm proud of the guys you know for what they did tonight."

2. On Thijs De Ridder...

" I think he's, he's growing into it, you know, quite honestly, I mean, on his team overseas, you know, he was not the go to guy, and so that's, you know, new for him and and certainly in this particular game, we felt it was important in the first half to establish that and try to get him the ball as much as we could, because they were going to be in that zone, and we wanted to try to establish him down low. And he did a really nice job of when they didn't double scoring, getting fouled, when they did double, getting it out. And we got some quality looks, you know, from that. And so I was impressed, you know, with his overall game."

3. On cutting down on the turnovers...

"Yeah, we had the one right at the end there too. Jakari trying to get his teammate, Elijah, one ahead. Yeah, certainly you want to take care of the ball. Certainly something that we, you know, have certain practices where we're really good with it, and then the next practice, sometimes, you know, it'll get away from us a little bit. And you know, tonight, we did a nice job of getting shots."

4. On Owen Odom getting into the game...

"I reminded Owen that when we got in the locker room. But no, really proud, you know, that, most importantly, proud that he's here with us, you know, and gets to experience UVA. That's a true blessing. You know, anybody that's attended this great institution, you know, understands, you know, what that means. And Owens getting that opportunity to, you know, earn a degree from here, but then also, you know, be a part of the division one basketball team, which is really cool. And then just real quickly, were his grandparents here tonight. They were not my mom, unfortunately, is a little bit under the weather they were supposed to be, but I'm hopeful that they were able to figure out, you know, the TV and computer, whatever, to be able to watch it. But, yeah, I know, I know Lucy was fired up, and I'm sure Connor was too."

5. On the first half three-point shooting...

"Yeah, I think what I said initially, it was just we were taking some that were challenged, and maybe they were halfway challenged, but still, there were better opportunities out there. And so we showed the guys a few of those in the first at halftime so they could see it. Because a lot of times, if you settle for those slightly contested shots early, there's other things. There are other opportunities out there that you're missing and getting later. You know, in offense, you know, was going to be important for us. And a lot of times those open threes can turn into twos, and I think we were able to get some of those, you know, in the second half, which was, which is really good. And then we had to just, you know, convince our guy, Hey, you're fine. We're all good shooters here, like, don't hesitate, you know. But let's, let's be mindful of the decisions. You're not gonna be perfect with the decisions."

6. On the second half defense...

"Certainly, one of our goals was to pressure up the court and 24 and thought chance gave us a huge lift, you know, in that regard, and that's the cumulative effect. Sometimes, you know, when you're able to sub multiple guys in and play, you know, a bigger number, you know, eventually, you know, you hope that you'll, you'll be able to crack them at some point and get the type of run that you need. And certainly, the starters did an excellent job early in that first half. And then when chance and the other group, you know, subbed in, they gave us an even bigger lift. And you know, that's, that's, that's what you want to see, you know for sure. And one of the other things I told the guys, you know, even that shoot around today, was we have to get teams deeper into the clock. Trust me, the fans will know what to do at the end. Now we have to get them used to some of the other stuff on the other side, and that'll be a learning curve, you know, for them as well. But this is the best place in college basketball to play. JPJ, there's no better arena, you know, you can walk in there and see it, you know, it's just a special, special place, and the fans, our students, are huge. Huge is the, you know, most important part of that is obviously, our players."

7. On the ball movement tonight...

"I thought they did a better job tonight, you know, moving it. There were certainly some times, you know, where we didn't and we got caught in tough situations, end of clock situations with, you know, Sam out front, you know, is one that, you know, I remember in the second half, but I thought the guys did a pretty nice job."

8. On Chance Mallory...

"Not really. I mean, I think the Villanova game helped us. I mean, that was huge, you know, to be able to play in front of fans. You know that early. I know it's nerve wracking for the coaches, but I think it's really important for the players to feel that. And you know, losing, winning. You know, it's not going on in either column, but it's really just helping you improve and get better and and certainly, Villanova really helped us, you know, last week, and we feel like we helped them too, and that's why I'm excited that, you know, the NCAA has allowed these, these open games, but Chance has played a lot of big games you know, in his life, I know this is a different stage and all that, but I thought he handled it really well."

9. On Devin Tillis...

"Yeah, so Devin, after the Villanova game, his knee kind of blew up and didn't feel anything during the game. It was the next morning, and, you know, basically he's he, he had to have surgery, you know, for that. And you know, we're not sure exactly how long, but it was the best path for us or for him, to be able to have a season, you know, here with us. And so it went well, and, you know, he's just now recovering, so you've noticed the lineups were, we had to, you know, try some new things. One we didn't try was Ugonna and Johann together. And maybe there will be a time, you know, for that at some point. We practiced it a little bit, but we wanted to give Sam and Martin some time back there and get Elija in the game. And, you know, I thought that was, that was good for tonight."

10. On the biggest focus after this game...

"Just, you know, the same things that we always do, quite honestly, I mean, I have to go back and watch, you know, the game to see specifically, you know, things that we need to work on. But you know, we kind of do what we do. And you know, every day is about getting a little bit better, and the way that we practice, you know, the guys are energetic every single day that they come in.

They get excited about, you know, learning and film, and sometimes I keep it in there a little bit too long, but that's just part of it. And they understand that's what it takes, you know, to be successful. And they're all internally driven to do really well individually, but what we're trying to do is make sure that they're collectively, you know, trying to do do really well together. I thought we took a step forward tonight defensively, you know, just kind of imposing our will on the game and doing it together. We were not, by age means perfect, but, you know, definitely things that we can we can look to and pull from to continue to get better."