Following WVU's Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament, head coach Darian DeVries held The Darian DeVries Show on Monday night in Morgantown.
DeVries talked about their recent trip as well as how they want to work offensively and which player he was most impressed with this week.
Battle 4 Atlantis Recap
DeVries recapped WVU's trip to the Bahamas which included a win over No. 3 Gonzaga and a win over No. 24 Arizona.
"No bigger challenge than playing the three games we did and got a little extra work in on all three nights," DeVries said. "To come away with two wins, I feel really. good about the way they approached it, the way they hung in there and fought throughout the tournament."
All three games went to overtime for DeVries and company, and what impressed him the most was how the Mountaineers approached their game against Arizona, coming off the loss to Louisville.
DeVries said those three games gave him and his staff great insight into his team and they were able to pick up on a lot of things through the experience of all three games.
"Those three games gave us a great insight to where we are, what things we got to improve on, what things we’re doing well. And even as coaches how to best utilize guys… I like the way the guys responded in general all weekend," DeVries said.
Focus on Offense
DeVries went in-depth about how he wants his team to play on offense.
He felt his team was able to run efficient offense throughout last week, and it's still a work in progress.
"The guys have tried hard to play within the structure of the offense… very unselfish moving the ball," DeVries said.
West Virginia had 21 assists on 27 made shots as an offense against Arizona, and DeVries said the coaching staff has been trying to get their guys to make the extra pass.
"Give the extra pass positive reinforcement... guys like that, they like to be told they did a good job. They’re working hard, having fun, competing," DeVries said.
One area DeVries said he wants his team to get better at is with turnovers. WVU turned the ball over 10 times against Arizona, 16 against Louisville, and 13 against Gonzaga. DeVries said the goal is to try and have three or four fewer turnovers per game in order to help them gain a few possessions on the offensive end of the floor and, therefore, allow them to score more points.
Another piece of the offense is Sencire Harris, who has not yet made a 3-pointer but wants him to keep shooting.
"We still want him to continue to shoot and be confident… right now, you don’t need to take five of them, but if you’ve got one you like, go ahead and take it," DeVries said.
Amani Hansberry
One of the things that impressed DeVries the most throughout WVU's trip last week was the play of Amani Hansberry.
Hansberry, WVU's five, had DeVries worried about his ability to play long-term minutes due to his issues with fouling.
"I was really nervous going into it about foul trouble with him… I was a little concerned with foul trouble and I thought he did a really good job of playing without getting into a wrestling match," DeVries said.
On the offensive end, DeVries was very impressed with Hansberry's ability to switch and move within the offense.
"I thought Amani did a really good job of making him have to go out there and play in space… making him move and chasing him down… they didn’t want to have to switch him onto our guards all the time and when they did we were able to keep him moving," DeVries said of Hansberry's performance against Gonzaga.
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