After the Terrapins men’s basketball team forced a shot-clock violation in the first half Sunday, forward Damonte Dodd walked to the sideline smiling and shaking his head. The bench ran over to meet him. Center Diamond Stone jumped on top of him. Others extended their arms for high-fives.
Everyone wanted to congratulate the 6-foot-11 junior for his defense over the previous minute. Dodd had just swatted shots on back-to-back possessions only 37 seconds apart midway through the first half of the Terps’ 86-82 win over Michigan.
Dodd entered the season pegged as a top rim-protector, but his shot-blocking prowess didn’t show for the first 13 games of conference play. In the last two contests, though, Dodd has blocked a combined eight shots.
“I label myself as one of the best shot-blockers in the nation,” Dodd said Feb. 20, a day before the Wolverines game.
Before the season, coach Mark Turgeon said Dodd had the ability to win NCAA Defensive Player of the Year. The Centreville native averaged 1.5 blocks per game as a sophomore, which ranked 10th in the Big Ten.
But after starting 31 games last season, Dodd has primarily served as a backup behind the freshman sensation Stone. Dodd started 13 games this season but only one (Minnesota) of the past eight, when Stone sat out to serve a suspension.
He seemed to turn a corner in the start against the Golden Gophers on |Feb. 18 when he swatted a career-high six shots in the 68-63 loss. It was the first time he blocked more than three shots in a game since doing so five times as a sophomore.
“Damonte is coming off his best defensive game maybe in his career here at Minnesota,” Turgeon said.
Dodd carried that success into the matchup with the Wolverines. When guard Derrick Walter Jr. drove into the paint with 11:49 left in the first half, Dodd helped off his man and deflected Walton’s layup.
The next time Michigan came down the floor, Dodd again helped off his man to defend the rim. Forward Kameron Chatman attempted to lay the ball off the glass with his left hand, but Dodd swatted it out to the perimeter to force the shot-clock violation.
“He caused a lot of havoc around the rim,” forward Robert Carter Jr. said. “We want to stay close [to] their shooters, so he was just big for us in the middle, helping over and making them adjust their game plan.”
While his blocks per game have taken a dip this season — he’s averaging 0.8 — Dodd said practicing against better post players this season has helped him hone his game. The Terps didn’t have a true center last campaign, while Stone is averaging double figures in scoring as a freshman.
“Going against Diamond and Rob — great scorers down there — every day, it’s just making me better because they’re one of the best scorers in the nation,” Dodd said. “So going against them is just making my game take a big leap defensively.”
Dodd isn’t the only one benefiting from practicing against better competition, though. He believes he’s making the starting bigs better by blocking their shots in practice.
“If Diamond, Rob, etc. is finishing over me, they shouldn’t have any problem finishing over people in the game,” Dodd said. “So that’s why I try to block all their shots in practice, just to make them better.”
Prior to his six-block game at Minnesota, Dodd had only recorded blocks in two of the Terps’ 13 previous conference games.
Over the past week, however, he’s looked more like the shot-blocker Turgeon alluded to in the preseason.
With just three regular-season games left before postseason play starts, Dodd could be hitting his stride when the Terps need him most.
“I’m happy for Damonte,” Turgeon said. “He is finding his niche at the right time.”
