Everything Ryan Odom Said After Virginia Basketball's Win Over California

The Virginia Cavaliers played another dominant game this week against California, ultimately clinching an 84-60 victory. Now, the Cavaliers are 13-2 overall and are running 2-1 in conference play. Following the matchup, head coach Ryan Odom sat down with the media to discuss how the game played out. Here's everything he had to say.

Opening Statement...

"Good basketball game, you know, all around for us. I thought the guys did a nice job in that first half of staying with it. Cal was really bothering us with their defense, their aggressiveness, and stepping out and pick and roll, even though we didn't have a ton of turnovers in that first half. We had five. There were still some bobbled balls. The ball was loose and a little bit too loose for us. And their pressure had a lot to do with that. The end of the half was really important for us, the execution on defense and offense to give us a little bit of a cushion there going into halftime. And then just really proud of the guys in the second half, how they came out, you know, ready to play defensively in tune with the game plan, and we were able to kind of finish it, you know, throughout there. Obviously, the fouling, you know, was disappointing, but I thought our guys overall did a really nice job defensively. And then I think Cal hit 10 of its first 16 shots from the floor and then cooled off a lot after that."

On if UVA took a step forward defensively...

"Yeah, I feel like we did. There's no question about it. They're tough to guard. I mean, they seek a lot of threes and 50% of their shots are from three, and so you have to get out there, and so you run the risk of getting beat off the bounce, and it's hard to do both, you know, when there's high when you're playing against a high-volume three-point shooting team. And I thought our guys did a nice job. The discipline was there for the majority of the night. They did get us on occasion, not on occasion, probably too many times at the end of drives with shot fakes, but for the most part, in that first 10 minutes of the second half, we were able to stop them in and around the rim and stay down. And they were kind of left with some really hard shots there, which allowed us to get out in transition. I thought our press was pretty good. Even though we didn't get a lot of turnovers or anything like that, I thought our press, you know, was effective."

On holding them without a field goal in the second half...

"Yeah, that's huge. I mean, we talk about score stop in our practices all the time. We play a score stop game, and, you know, certainly during that stretch, you know the defense was tight, and you know the offense was beginning to take shape and take form, and, you know, on a night where we didn't shoot it particularly well. We got the right shots, I thought, and I thought our guys, you know, we certainly didn't knock as many as we wanted to down in that second half, but it's hard to argue with some of the shots that we were getting."

On Chance Mallory...

"Chance is the real deal. He's a really good player and, you know, he's a competitor, and he's going to play hard for his team and play hard on each possession, and he's amazing. He can find things that shouldn't be there, and he makes it happen, and on offense and defense, too. All of a sudden, he comes out of nowhere and grabs the ball, you know, and we're off to the races the other way."

On the significance of a 24-point win in conference play...

"I'm not worried about the margin. It's more about how we're playing. And I thought our guys played well tonight, you know, defensively, we're trying to make strides. We're trying to get better. The guys are focused on that. Offensively, we can't lose that, you know, ability to really share the ball and put pressure on our opponents. And I think we're improving. And, you know, we can't stay where we're at, though, you know, we've got a, you know, great team, teams that want to compete for championships have to take care of homecourt, and you have to find ways to win on the road. It's tough to win on the road, and our guys were able to do that the other day, which was a huge deal for us and, you know, the focus overall with our group has been there."

On Ugo Obasi's ceiling...

"I mean, NBA is his ceiling. I mean, I think he can play in the NBA. Hopefully, I know he can continue to play basketball after the University of Virginia for sure. He's just an elite shot blocker, and if he can continue to get better in and around the basket, you know, finishing plays, making free throws, teams need that kind of guy. And if he can get a little bit bigger and stronger, he still can do that. And Coach Curtis is working with him. Get a little bit lower. Certainly, we believe he can continue to play basketball professionally after this, but for this particular season, you know, I think he and Johann, it's like tonight I told him after the game, they were a two-headed monster, and they both protected the rim really well, and they both were energetic with their play, and I was impressed."

On Malik Thomas...

"Yeah, I think the biggest thing with Malik is on defense. Like today, it was his best defensive performance, and he fouled a couple of times there at the end, but overall that was his best defensive performance, you know, of the year. And so, he's really worked hard, you know, at that. The coaches have done a great job of watching film with him and really helping him because the way they play defense at San Francisco was just a little bit different than the way that we do it here. And so, you know, there's been some growing pains, you know, with that. But offensively, he plays like us. Like, I love that play that he and Sam made. In the NC State game, we had a break opportunity, and the ball found Malik, and then Malik whizzed it to the corner for Sam for three, and Sam banged the three and it was reversed this game and Sam didn't make the shot but I love seeing that because it's just speaks to they understand that they're supposed to pass and Malik is wired to score. He can score with his eyes closed. Like, he's really good. But the key is we want him to be a well-rounded player, and he's getting there."