Five pregame thoughts: Old Dominion

1.) Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding. See? Just like yesterday with Quinn McDowell, sometimes this stuff is so easy, even I can do it. Old Dominion relies on rebounding dominance as much as anyone in the country. The Flying Dutchmen probably can’t expect to outrebound the Monarchs—if they do, we’re all staying another night down here!—but David Imes, Greg Washington and Mike Moore have to minimize ODU’s advantage. Imes has been outstanding the last six games, during which he has averaged more than 10 rebounds per game. He must stay out of foul trouble for the Dutchmen to have a shot. Washington needs to be a bigger factor than in the regular season game against Old Dominion, when he had just two rebounds, and contribute like he did in the 2009-10 game in Norfolk, when he had seven boards. Moore will almost surely see time at the four if Imes or Washington gets in foul trouble and needs to make a few of those sneaky trips into the lane for the board.

2.) Make shots. Again, it’s just so easy! Of course Old Dominion doesn’t make it easy to make shots, but the Monarchs’ rebounding prowess is negated if the Dutchmen are hitting shots, which they haven’t done in their last three games against ODU, all losses. The Dutchmen’s shooting percentages in those defeats; 37.3, 35.8, 34.6. Of course, in their last win over the Monarchs, the Dutchmen shot 38.5 percent. So they don’t need to shoot the lights out, just make a few key shots. Fortunately for the Dutchmen, Brad Kelleher played his best game of the year, by far, last night but they’ll need Moore and/or Charles Jenkins to find their form from beyond the arc. It helps the Dutchmen got hot from the field in the second half against William & Mary and got used to the quirks of the Richmond Coliseum rims. As usual, if Kelleher or Shemiye McLendon hit multiple 3s, the Dutchmen will be in good shape. We’ll also take a 3-pointer from Matt Grogan!

3.) The Dutchmen can’t let the environment intimidate them. Not much flusters the Dutchmen, but then again, they haven’t played in an elimination game against a favored Virginia-based team in Virginia. From fan support to, err, other factors (i.e. the hilariously officiated VCU-Drexel game yesterday), the Dutchmen will be facing a stacked deck today. The Dutchmen and Mo Cassara have to stay calm when the momentum, the calls and the buzz of the building are all going against them (though I imagine Mason or VCU fans will be rooting for Hofstra, how weird would that be?).

4.) Staying focused if Old Dominion gets off to a fast start shouldn’t be a problem, though, because the Dutchmen are brimming with confidence after their two most lopsided Division I wins of the season. Granted, Delaware and William & Mary aren’t near the level of Old Dominion, but the Dutchmen are beginning to click on all cylinders and getting ever closer to that almost perfect game Cassara believes the Dutchmen have in them. Today would be a great time for that to appear.

5.) Charles Jenkins: The Wolf. Jenkins has never forgotten how bad he felt when his last-second shot against Old Dominion two years ago tomorrow fell short and the Dutchmen lost by one. Putting the Dutchmen on his back today and carrying them to the CAA championship game would further cement his legend as the best player to ever suit up for Hofstra. The good news is he didn’t have a trademark Jenkins game yesterday, so he’s got something in reserve. If it appears tonight the Dutchmen have a good chance to be playing tomorrow night.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Five pre-game thoughts: Old Dominion

Blast from the past!

1.) The first thing you should do after you finish reading this is get in the car and go to Hofstra and watch this game. I’m probably speaking to the converted here, but hey, the Flying Dutchmen are 5-0 and the bandwagon is getting full, so who knows how many new visitors we have here? Anyway, I was going to do something yesterday imploring the masses to show up at the Arena, but there was a lot of snow to shovel in Connecticut and a lot of day job work to grind through so I never got to it. But don’t take it from me—take it from my man Tim McMahon, who is probably sticking his DD voodoo doll after I interrupted him during dinner Thursday then never used his quotes!

“On Long Island, you come for a 4 o’clock game, you leave at 3:40, takes you 10 minutes to get there—[you think] ‘I’ll park and I’ll walk in and buy a ticket and be in the seat at 4:01,’” McMahon, Hofstra’s associate director of external relations, said.

But momentum for this game has been building since last Wednesday’s win over George Mason. And with more than 2,200 tickets sold as of this time yesterday—that’s in addition to season tickets—and dozens of other tickets being occupied by the high school bands that will play today, seats will be scarce today in what should be a great atmosphere for college basketball. So finish reading this and get your butt to Hofstra.

“People need to buy early and get in from the start,” McMahon said. “Let us know who you are and let us know what you think.”

2.) On to the game: Drexel put on a clinic on how to beat Old Dominion in coming back from an eight-point halftime deficit to beat the Monarchs, 62-57. Drexel outrebounded Old Dominion in the second half, 27-17, and became the first team this year to finish the game with the rebounding advantage over the Monarchs (47-37). Old Dominion’s prowess underneath the boards (it ranks among the top three in the country in rebounding and pulls down almost 16 offensive rebounds per game) compensates for its famously poor shooting (43.3 percent from the field and 63 percent from the line). The Monarchs simply can’t get second shots. David Imes and Greg Washington must be huge factors today in minimizing the number of opportunities ODU gets. And conversely, against the suffocating Old Dominion defense, the Dutchmen must be as potent on the offensive boards today as they were Wednesday, when they had 21 second-chance points.

3.) This would be a good game for the Dutchmen to find their form from beyond the arc. The Dutchmen have either been really good or really bad from 3-point land in their last eight games: They’ve shot 42 percent or better four times but 27 percent or worse four times. Old Dominion has scored more than 70 points just five times in 16 games and has been held under 70 in each of its last six contests and is not a team built to mount a comeback. Putting the Monarchs into that mode in a hurry will give the Dutchmen a big advantage.

3b.) No way this game gets into the 70s. It might not even get into the 60s.

4.) Old Dominion will be one mad, ornery team. Playing the back end of a northern bias road trip is bad enough, but playing it right after blowing a big lead at Drexel means the Monarchs won’t lack for focus or motivation today—especially since a loss here would put the overwhelming preseason favorites in a world of hurt. ODU would fall to 3-3 with a loss and would be, for all intents and purposes, four games behind the Dutchmen (today’s winner has the tiebreaker for seeding purposes since this is the only game of the season between the teams). But hey, nothing has come easy for the Dutchmen this season, so why should they get the top team in the league at anything less than its best?

5.) Coming full circle here: The atmosphere could be a huge factor for the Dutchmen in the first few minutes. The 2008-09 team played its best game of the season when it fed off a boisterous Arena and led Old Dominion wire-to-wire in a win Feb. 10. Darren Townes established the tone for that game by forcing held balls on the Monarchs’ first two possessions. Drexel proved Thursday a team doesn’t have to jump on Old Dominion from the tap in order to win. But embracing the buzz (man I sound like some kind of corporate wonk there, have I missed my calling?) early and never giving the Monarchs a chance to grab the momentum is vital. Because as much fun as it was to watch Aurimas Kieza drain that buzzer-beating 3-pointer for the win five years ago, a stress-free win is much more enjoyable.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.