By PAUL GOTHAM
HOUSTON, TX. — While his teammates “Shoot ’em up, or sleep in the streets,” Daniel Ochefu is content to control the paint.
The Villanova Wildcats average almost 25 3-point attempts a game. Ochefu, Villanova’s starting forward, averages fewer than seven shots. Don’t let that fool you. The big man will play a vital role in Villanova’s offense when the Wildcats take the court against Oklahoma Saturday night in the Final Four.
“He’s really been the key,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We’ve always had great guards. Great guards can win a lot of games for you. You’re not going to win in the tournament without great guards.
“But if you’re ever going to have a chance to win a national championship, you better have a big guy that can control the paint, defensively protect the rim, offensively be a go-to guy that can score, make good decisions, meaning not turn the ball over, and make free throws. That’s what Daniel Ochefu is.”
Ochefu’s 10.1 points a game ranks fourth on the the Wildcats roster. His offensive rating of 120.8 (estimate of points scored by team in 100 possessions while player is on court), though, per KenPom is second and usage (21.7 percent) is third on Villanova.
Hitting 62 percent from the floor, the senior captain leads Villanova in overall field-goal percentage. Per Hoop-Math.com, that number increases to 70.1 percent around the rim.
“He’s really the key to our run,” Wright noted. “We’ve always told big guys, I’ll give you a little recruiting pitch right here: You want to come and play with these great guards, if you’re with great guards, they’re going to get you the ball and they’re not going to double-team you and you’re going to be able to score.”
The 6-11 forward also leads the Wildcats with 7.6 rebounds a game. His defensive rebounding percentage of 26.3 ranks 29th in the nation.
“When I was younger, I understood the concept of how important defensive rebounding was, I just wasn’t physically able or just didn’t have enough experience to do so,” Ochefu explained. “Now defensive rebounding keeps me on the court for the most amount of time I can play. When I’m playing with such great guards offensively, it’s easy to catch the ball and go dunk or lay it up. Definitely my defense has evolved and my rebounding has evolved as well.”
Ochefu converts 68 percent of his attempts from the free throw line. What can get easily overlooked is Ochefu’s 1.7 assists a game while committing just 1.4 turnovers. He has handed out 2.75 helpers in Villanova’s four NCAA Tournament wins and two or more dimes in eight of his last 11 games. What doesn’t show up in the stats are the number of times Ochefu passes out of the post and gets the hockey assist (pass leading to the assist).
“We have a weapon there,” Wright said. “It’s a weapon when you can go to a guy that shoots a high percentage, doesn’t turn the ball over, if they foul him, goes to the foul line. We want to use him.”
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