West Virginia had a short press conference on Tuesday, as Coach DeVries along with Tucker DeVries and Javon Small answered questions from the media about their upcoming game against Gonzaga and the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament as a whole
Darian DeVries:- DeVries said the guards of Gonzaga is what makes them go. They are able to attack you in a lot of different ways and they are really good at sharing and moving the ball- DeVries pointed out how balanced they are as a team and how they are able to get great shots because of their balance and how they play together as a unit- The focus for WVU on defense is trying to make Gonzaga earn everything they get. He also wants to limit turnovers offensively and get good looks and not force anything on offense."It’s more about from our side of things, as we present it, taking care of the basketball. if you can take care of the basketball, making sure you’re getting good shot selection and then defensively aking sure we’re being aggressive and playing to what our identity is"- DeVries' entire focus is on Gonzaga. He said other coaches have scouted other teams and they tried to find anything that a team does which is unique, and they practiced against that, but his focus has been fully on Gonzaga- Basketball and winning games is the focus for DDV. Said it's cool to be in the Bahamas but that's not the point of the trip to go sightseeing.- DeVries is somewhat familiar with Ryan Nembhard who played two seasons at Creighton."He’s a great player. Watching them so closely over the years. I feel like I got a great feel for him as a player. He’s so well-rounded and just terrific, unselfish, and knows how to lead a team"- Just because Gonzaga is ranked No. 3 and WVU will be an underdog doesn't change anything for DDV. He said they are going to approach this game like they would any other game
Tucker DeVries:- the message has been to win games and compete this week- Gonzaga is really balanced and moves the ball so well that they can do a little bit of everything on the court. DeVries added it's on them defensively to play together as one unit and take away the easy looks- Playing together on defense is the key to giving them a chance to beat Gonzaga
Javon Small:- Small feels comfortable in the WVU offense with his ability to break defenses and knows he doesn't always have to be the shooter- It's a one game at a time mentality. Not looking ahead to Thursday or Friday- It's a business trip and everyone understand that
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