West Virginia with specific goals in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament

In West Virginia’s four games, things went differently for the Mountaineers.

They opened the season with a stunning win that ensured they made a splash on the field. Their second win included a second half in which they seemingly couldn’t get a shot off. Their third game was a crushing defeat against an away rival. Their fourth game was a clear win.

There’s still a lot to learn about the Mountaineers after four games, but head coach Darian DeVries hopes he’ll learn many of those lessons this week when his team competes in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.

“The biggest thing for us is to keep getting better and keep growing. I think we’re making some good progress throughout the year and this is a great opportunity to see where we are with things. But most of all, we come down and compete and that’s the biggest thing we want from our team is to give up every possession,” DeVries said.

WVU’s fifth game of the season will be a new kind of challenge, pitting it against one of the best teams in the country in No. 3 Gonzaga. They then have another chance at a Power Four opponent in Indiana or Louisville and then a third game against one of four teams.

“The most important thing is we come here to compete and win some games,” WVU’s Tucker DeVries said. “We’re really here to play basketball and that’s what we’re really focused on.”

There has been some good and some bad from the Mountaineers through the four games, but they are still looking for more consistency and continue to work together as a team. Most importantly for DeVries, he sees three chances for three wins this week.

“We are here to play basketball. We’re here to compete and try to win games and we definitely want our guys to enjoy the scenery and enjoy where they are, but this is about us playing basketball,” DeVries said .

WVU’s Javon Small referred to this as a business trip, and it’s likely that this trip could have a significant impact on WVU’s cap space as far as a possible postseason tournament picture is concerned.

For example, let’s say WVU goes 1-2 this week, that would mean the highest win total they could reach before Big 12 play is eight. That means they would likely need at least nine or more wins to get anywhere near the NCAA Tournament bubble. That’s much easier said than done for a coaching staff and team that hasn’t experienced the rigors of Big 12 basketball.

DeVries knows he will learn a lot about his group this week, but what he wants to see is their commitment to winning and finding a way to do the little things necessary to win games.

“For us, I felt like we turned the ball over a little more than I would have liked. We continue to get great ball movement and player movement. I think we’ve really made some progress there in the last week or so. “The biggest thing is just our overall physicality. We need to continue to improve in some areas and rebounding is definitely a big part of that. “We want to continue to focus on all the things that are important to winning,” DeVries said.