West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries wants to play positionless basketball on the offensive end.
A big part of that is by choice, some others by necessity due to the lack of size at the five spot but the focus is on opening the floor as much as possible to allow playmakers to do what they do best.
The Mountaineers have multiple guys that can handle the basketball and can space the floor which puts an emphasis on two things above all others for the first-year head coach.
“Ball movement and then taking care of the basketball. That’s our number one priority that we talk about every single day is just not turning the ball over and making sure we get as good of opportunities as we can,” DeVries said.
Because West Virginia has the ability to play a five-out style of offense with center Amani Hansberry in the game, the coaching staff plans on utilizing that aspect. The five in DeVries' scheme is going to touch the ball a lot in space, so it requires them to be able to have the ball at the top of the key and make decisions.
That doesn’t necessarily mean breaking anybody down, but they need to be able to make a back-cut pass dribble hand-off and be able to roll or pop depending on the best scenario for each player.
“We do ask them to be involved with the offense a lot more out on the perimeter,” he said.
While Eduardo Andre is a different style of player, Hansberry has shown the ability to step out and shoot threes which can be tricky to guard for opposing defenses. But, he needs to also show the ability to put pressure on the rim and find those situations where he can choose his spots to pop or roll.
That area of understanding is critical across the board and while DeVries doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about shot selection, he wants his players to figure out on their own what they can and can’t do. Part of that line of thinking is to keep players aggressive on the offensive end and not hurt their confidence, but if he needs to pull back on certain individuals he will.
DeVries points to during his career how some players will play with a different level of freedom on the scout team because they don’t worry about being reprimanded and play with confidence. But then struggle with moving back into their own offense because they are overthinking things on the floor.
The goal is for his players to play with that same level of confidence on the offensive end.
“But the last thing I think you can do with a shooter and a scorer is have them looking over their shoulder.,” he said. “I want them to kind of figure it out on their own and most of the time that happens.”
And so far, DeVries has been pleased with the progress that his team has made both from an identity standpoint on offense as well as their ball movement and understanding of the concepts. Now, it’s about continuing to improve there ahead of what will be a very challenging schedule.
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