West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries understands the challenges of putting together an almost entirely new team together over the course of an off-season.
That’s because, in his six-year stint at Drake, DeVries had to bring in at least ten new players in two of those seasons with that being his first 24-10 campaign and last year a 28-7 season with a trip to the NCAAs.
So, while those type of high-end results can’t necessarily be expected to spill over into a league as difficult as the Big 12, this also isn’t DeVries’ first rodeo when it comes to rebuilding his roster.
“We’ve had to do it before,” DeVries said.
The biggest hurdle is when it comes to the time and attention to detail required on things when it comes to both the terminology and understanding of what is required out of those on the floor. The trip to Italy certainly helped in that department as it gave the team ten days to spend extra time on concepts, but the biggest component in terms of making it happen simply comes with time and repetition.
The other challenge comes in the department of simply getting all of the new players on the roster to buy into their roles even if those are different than where they were beforehand. The key is getting everybody on the roster to play together and maximizing what those players do well to make it fit into the team’s framework.
“That’s the part that as we go on throughout the season those roles can continue to change and evolve and that’s the fun part of going through a 31-game schedule. You’re not going to be the same team on Nov. 4 as you are March and hopefully it’s a better version of yourself in March obviously,” DeVries said.
The head coach does believe that his team has made some noticeable progress since pre-season practice has opened especially in the realms of connectivity on both ends of the floor. And while he believes that his team is getting closer to be ready to play a game, they certainly aren’t at that point yet.
The Mountaineers still have plenty of things that will need to improve over the course of the preseason such as zone offense and defensive sets, late-game situations and other items that will need to be implemented.
“We’ve got the bulk of our stuff and now it’s just tidying up the loose ends,” DeVries said.
West Virginia will get a good look at where the team sits coming up with the exhibition game against Charleston on top of a secret scrimmage against an unknown opponent for the time being. But things will really start to take shape as the non-conference portion of the schedule plays out.
While DeVries is feeling comfortable with the perimeter defense of the Mountaineers, in the front court the unit will be undersized which means being creative in the ways they both defend the post and rebound. West Virginia will need to be physical, but also there will be times when they send another body to provide help.
In preseason practice West Virginia has worked being able to trap the post and play off that to be prepared for when that will have to be used. That won’t always be the case, but when it is used the Mountaineers will need to be ready to make the correct rotations and communicate well.
It makes things more difficult when bringing two to the ball, so it will require early anticipation to get a strong trap but making sure the other three players are getting to their spots and recovering from it. Because if the defense isn’t able to get reshaped quickly that’s where open shots occur.
That is why it has been such a focus at this stage of the off-season while also working different ways to throw those double teams to avoid teams getting too comfortable with the looks.
“It doesn’t mean our defense still can’t be good; we just have to play it a little differently,” DeVries said.
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