Darian DeVries wants his teams to be physical.
That’s the trademark identity that he wants from every team that he puts out on the floor and that is certainly going to be tested by a Massachusetts team that prides itself on those same principles under Frank Martin.
“We’re going to find out. They play the same way every year. They’re going to be tough and physical,” he said. “We understand want that challenge is going to be and we’re going to see if we can match that physicality.”
It will be a good litmus test for where this West Virginia team is at on that front as DeVries hopes that the same way that people talk about Martin’s teams will be how his clubs are regarded.
“They’re going to come out. They’re going to play tough. They’re going to play physical and that’s going to be what we try to make our identity every day,” he said.
But how does DeVries measure that? The head coach doesn’t chart deflections or tips but instead looks to see what his eyes are telling him on the floor each and every game.
“Are we gritty? Are we tough? Are we getting through screens? And kind of see it and feel it when you’re hooked up the way you want to be playing. That’s kind of how we base our physicality,” he said.
That extends itself to rebounding and while Robert Morris was able to corral 16 offensive rebounds in the opener, DeVries believes that his team has a chance to be strong in that department. That’s because he hasn’t seen his team getting overwhelmed in rebounding, instead it’s issues that can be corrected such as playing with better habits and getting bodies on bodies and hitting.
The biggest issue to date has been no executing on box outs and the staff has done reps in practice hitting with pads in order to help reinforce that mindset in defensive rebounding. At Creighton DeVries even said that his players practiced with football equipment borrowed from Nebraska-Omaha to help create that.
But it starts with a mindset and while that isn’t necessarily a skill, some players naturally are that way more than others. Still, it’s about embracing that approach team-wide to capture the identity that he wants.
“Certain teams have a reputation for how they play, and we want our reputation around those same lines,” he said.
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