West Virginia has had some breaks built into the schedule prior to the start of Big 12 Conference play.
The Mountaineers will open league play on the road at Kansas today but played only one game against Mercyhurst over that 17-day period from the end of the Bethune-Cookman win. There also was a five-day break for the Christmas holiday.
"Conference play the intensity gets cranked up a little bit more, teams are familiar with each other, they’ve played against each other year after year so in our case it’s different because we’re new. But overall, I think league play always has a little added significance to it from players, coaches, fanbases. There’s just a little more on the line for it," head coach Darian
During that time when the team was practicing, the Mountaineers focused primarily on going back on the basics. On defense that meant positioning and defensive rebounding with a strong emphasis on both.
“Coming up with new position drills to get a new way to go hit a body and things,” DeVries said.
Meanwhile, on the offensive end, the focus has been on cleaning up some of their sets with different plays filling in at different positions with the injuries to senior forward Tucker DeVries and senior guard Jayden Stone. As part of that, the Mountaineers' coaching staff utilized some things they had done at previous stops or on video in order to get creative and maximize the work being on the court.
West Virginia had to be conscious of the depth and was smart with how they practiced, but it didn’t make any less beneficial to the overall development of the team.
“Kind of didn’t want to do the same things we’ve done for the last six months. Just come up with something fresh,” DeVries said.
With the changes to the lineup, the Mountaineers have shown moments where you could see some positive things but others with disconnect on the offensive end. That has meant keeping things simple as players learn their new roles and new positions on the roster. Expanding that also was a focus during the time away.
Without DeVries on the floor, the coaching staff has relied on input from everybody on the floor, but it goes without saying that senior point guard Javon Small has seen an increased importance in that department. He has been very encouraging with his teammates because as a veteran, Small understands that all of the pieces on the roster are necessary to try to compete in the Big 12 on a nightly basis.
West Virginia understands the challenges ahead in the Big 12, but the non-conference schedule has helped to provide some confidence in each other and what they’re doing.
“They came here to compete. They came here to win and that will be our mission every night in Big 12 play,” DeVries said. “Some nights that will be great, other nights you will come up on the short end because it’s a tough league. Our goal is we will approach it the same way.”
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