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Freshman guard Jonathan Powell didn’t shoot the ball well in the Bahamas. But you wouldn’t have known it looking at every other area of his game.
Over the course of the three games, Powell was just 1-14 from the floor and 1-12 from three. Those numbers are well off from his marks over the first four games which were at 48.6 percent from the field (18-37) and 41.3-percent from three (12-29). But the process was sound despite the shots not falling.
Powell took quality open shots, they just didn’t fall and sometimes that’s just going to happen.
“He’s a really good shooter. It’s part of basketball. You’re going to have a two-three game stretch sometimes where they just don’t go. And you’re going to have a two or three-game stretch where you have a night like Tucker (DeVries) did and you’re going to make everything and that’s just part of it,” head coach Darian DeVries said.
But the most encouraging part is that despite the fact that his shots weren’t falling the 6-foot-6 true freshman did everything else that he was asked to do. He displayed maturity by doing all of the other things that he needs to do in order for the team to be successful.
It was something that DeVries had previously talked to him about and stressed the importance of not letting his ability to make shots spill into other areas.
“If you miss some shots you can’t let it bother you. Don’t let that impact the rest of your game that’s going to help us win or lose a game. You can go 0-6 and we can still win as long as you’re still rebounding, still defending and all that stuff,” DeVries said. “That’s the biggest thing especially for a young player, not to get too caught up in the results especially when it’s making or missing shots.”
It’s something that Tucker DeVries recalls vividly during the early part of his college career, but he has been impressed with the confidence that Powell carries on and off the floor. Despite being only seven games into his college career, Powell understands that West Virginia needs him to have success.
“He still brings a lot of value outside just making and missing shots. We’re going to need him going forward and I expect him to continue to work and he’ll be right there,” DeVries said.
And there’s plenty of confidence in him moving forward.
“At the end of the day, once he sees one goes down there’s just going to be five or six following it right after that,” DeVries added.
Yes, the ball wasn’t going through the hoop but Powell didn’t let it become an issue. That was much more encouraging to his head coach than missing any shot would be on the opposite end.
And his teammates shared the same sentiment as Powell did a terrific job of playing hard, especially on the defensive side of the ball. He also put the ball on the deck and made some plays to get others open for shots as well with his not falling through the net.
“He did that. He stayed involved and tried to defend and gave us a great answer. He just missed and that’s part of it. Hopefully Friday that’s the night they go back in,” DeVries said. “But they will, he’s a good shooter, he’s put in the work and the work will pay off.”
Sometimes it takes adversity to grow and Powell will certainly emerge a better player from this stretch largely due to the way that he has carried himself.
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