West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries addressed the media ahead of the Oklahoma State contest. WVSports.com provides a summary of what was said.
--DeVries said that this team has done a good job with handling success. This team has remained grounded and have stayed single focused on the next opponent.
--Oklahoma State is very aggressive, especially defensively and they create a lot of turnovers. They do a good job of attacking the rim.
--DeVries said he's sure it has a little added significance for Javon Small to play his old team but he's just getting to go out and play. It's about trying to win the game.
--Even from a coaches perspective, they understand that the Kansas game was just one game. They appreciate how hard that win was to get, but that was a great moment but they have a new task at hand and have to turn the page. Basketball you don't get a lot of time to celebrate the wins and you have to move forward quickly.
--You have to have the discipline to move on after wins or losses because it can impact your next scout and preparation.
--DeVries said he's worked for some great coaches along the way and one of he things he's appreciated about them is their consistency of not getting too high or too low. The season is long and hard and there are ups and downs, but the best way to avoid going through big droughts is to make sure you're focused on the task at hand.
--It's a great win and they're excited about it and it will continue to build some confidence but that's just him trying to do his job.
--DeVries felt the first 25 minutes they were good defensively against Kansas and executing well. Part of the game plan was going to lead to bad possessions because they wanted to go deep into the shot clock because they didn't want that to be a fast-flowing game. In the second half they got stagnant and they had to try to get some things up at the rim late. That's a credit to Kansas because they made some adjustments. That's the flow piece that they have to get better at offensively and as a coaching staff they're working on trying to address that.
--Everybody is getting closer health wise. They're getting closer.
--Eduardo Andre has been terrific. One of their first live scrimmages in June he had one assist and like 17 turnovers but the progress he's made has been significant. His physicality has really improved and he's doing a really good job there. He is playing with a lot of confidence on the floor. At the time, West Virginia needed size when they brought him in and he had produced. They felt he could come in and play a role.
--Jayden Stone has made strides and is getting closer and closer.
--They try to guide it where there are opportunities after wins to show them more of the mistakes in film review and sometimes after a loss you don't want to beat them up anymore. It's a little bit of a feel thing on what they want the film session to look like.
--DeVries said they showed them a few positives from Kansas but they wanted to show them a lot of things they could do better.
--DeVries worked with the Oklahoma State head coach at Creighton. There are a few things that he does that reminds him of their time with the Bluejays. He tries to play with pace and that's a huge part that Greg McDermott wants to do.
--You try to take as much stuff as you can from your former mentors in coaching on both ends of the floor and put it to your own style.
--DeVries said this roster has some limitations and know the margin of error. They know what they have to do to be successful if they don't do those things they won't be. That's how they have to win and give themselves a chance by doing certain things but there isn't a lot of margin for error.
--Toby Okani is learning how to be a cutter and figuring out the different ways that people are trying to guard him. He is figuring out ways to get it around the rim and has done a really nice job. It took a while to figure out where he's fit in but he's done a good job.
--It's been all year long on the offensive side where they've had droughts in all different styles of games. It has a little bit to do with their movement because they do put a lot of energy on the defensive end. They will focus on the little things and figure out ways to do it.
--Jonathan Powell did a really good job. Like any freshman he can get a little sped up and nervous, but DeVries felt he was never rushed against Kansas. That says a lot about him. Hitting his first three helped him relaxed both the freshmen played well.
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @wesleyshoe
