The West Virginia basketball learned a lot about themselves during their three-game trip to the Bahamas but there’s still a lot of basketball left.
The Mountaineers have already responded well after their road loss to Pittsburgh which was a lesson in dealing with defeat. At the time it was a negative, but perhaps was exactly what the Mountaineers needed in order to help them get closer as a team.
“You really don’t build chemistry until you go through things good and bad together. I obviously would have loved for the Pitt game to go differently but in some cases it was the best thing for us,” senior forward Tucker DeVries said. “Because you kind of have to go through some adversity. I thought our group overcame that pretty well.”
Now, the challenge will show that this team can handle success following two wins over ranked teams at the Battle 4 Atlantis and a narrow defeat in the third.
And the first opportunity will be against Georgetown in the Big East-Big 12 Battle.
“I am kind of looking forward to seeing how we respond after having a good week but like I told the guys we have not arrived. This is not the end game,” head coach Darian DeVries said. “Our goal is to continue to improve and continue to get better and as I’ve said, to maximize what this group is capable of and we still have plenty that we need to grow into and continue to get better.”
DeVries has been impressed with the mindset of his team and their willingness to practice since returning to the states. And the approach has been focused on continuing to improve.
There of course is positive reinforcement after wins, but that only matters if you carry that over and continue to play at a high level moving forward. The coaching staff is directing the attention of what unfolded to lead to those outcomes and now the goal is to repeat those things.
“There are certain things that need to happen to put ourselves in those positions,” DeVries said.
Some of that was as simple as cleaning up some x’s and o’s type of issues which included moving Toby Okani around more to get not only himself but others open, while others are more core type adjustments such as ball movement to get good shot selection.
But two things stand out above the rest and are non-negotiables for success.
“Number one thing for us every single day is defensive rebounds and taking care of the basketball. Those two areas if we’re not good at it we’re not winning. If you’re good in those two areas you give yourself a chance every night,” DeVries said.
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