News and notes from Inside IU basketball with Darian DeVries

• Josh Pos

• 2h ago

 

Inside IU basketball with Darian DeVries returned on Monday night from Hoosier Hank’s in Bloomington.

The first-year IU coach sat with the voice of the Hoosiers, Don Fischer, ahead of Indiana’s second week of regular-season play.

Tucker DeVries was this week’s player guest.

Here’s a recap of what Darian DeVries and Tucker DeVries had to say:

• Darian DeVries said he was “excited” about how IU opened up last week. “I thought they came out very focused.”

• Darian DeVries credits the team, not any particular player, for the team’s success in the Alabama A&M game.

• Darian DeVries said that the staff has guys echo every call in practices. It’s been a priority to have a loud gym during practice to get more comfortable and confident. This has been the case since practices started in June.

• Darian DeVries on defensive play through one week: “I think we’re growing as a defense. There are still some areas to work on.” He said he likes the mindset of his defense in the first two games.

• DeVries said the entire staff is involved in both offense and defense, but the coaches are split between the two during practice. The defensive coaches broke down film from the Marquette game and formulated a practice plan based on what they saw and what they want to see in the next week of games.

• Darian DeVries on foul trouble in the Marquette game: “I thought the guys did a nice job of not worrying about this call or that call and continued to play.” He said Indiana needs to do a better job of playing cleaner and not allowing opponents to get points off of free throws.

• Darian DeVries said 3-point shooting results from players sharing the basketball. “It’s not always about who’s making them, it’s the connectivity of the offense and that’s what leads to one guy getting a shot opportunity.”

• Darian DeVries thinks Trent Sisley did “a really good job” last week. He added that Sisley had a huge impact in the Marquette game as the team was dealing with foul trouble and he provided a massive burst of athleticism in the second half.

“He just competes at a high level all the time. There’s no shutoff button with him.”

• Darian DeVries said “there’s no shutoff button” with Conor Enright and that he is unafraid of contact. “He’s got a problem.”

• Darian DeVries said Tucker’s trophy for the MVP of the Waterkeeper Alliance Invitational got stolen the night before and they gave him a “big blue rock” instead.

• Darian DeVries said having Enright and Tucker familiar with his system made it much easier for the team to implement the system in practice.

• Darian DeVries said the 27-to-8 assist-to-turnover ratio was impressive because of how much pressure Marquette put on them with a press early in the game. “I thought the guys did a nice job of staying composed throughout the game and taking care of the ball.”

• On Lamar Wilkerson: “He’s always got jokes, not sure they’re really that good of jokes, but he’s fun.” He also said Wilkerson “loves to shoot that ball.”

DeVries added that what got lost was Lamar’s eight assists and control of the floor when Indiana needed him to handle the aspect of the game.

• Darian DeVries said that Indiana plays at its best when it gets to play on a broken floor in transition.

• Darian DeVries said Sam Alexis and Reed Bailey are different, but both guys can stretch the floor and shoot the basketball.

• Darian DeVries said the team had a delay on the runway and got to see the end of the football game against Penn State on Saturday. They were taking off as the team won the game. He said the Wi-Fi went out as soon as the final pass fell incomplete.

• Darian DeVries on IU football: “It’s been really awesome and has been a lot of fun to watch.”

• Darian DeVries calls Wednesday’s opponent, Milwaukee, very similar to a lot of the stuff Marquette did. Milwaukee will press a lot and is very aggressive in transition.

• Tucker DeVries said being around the game with his dad at Creighton set a foundation for his basketball career. He was a ballboy during the Doug McDermott era in Omaha.

• Tucker DeVries never thought about going anywhere but West Virginia when his dad took the job.

• Tucker DeVries said that he lived with Conor Enright for three years at Drake and has known him for seven.

• Tucker DeVries said that everybody on the team has “a leadership role in their own way.”

• Tucker DeVries said that Lamar is the funniest person on the team. “It’s hard to be down when you’re around him.”

• Tucker DeVries said he enjoys golfing in the summer, but there isn’t much going on outside of basketball right now, especially with graduate classes online.

• Tucker DeVries said he wants to be a coach when his playing days are over.

• Tucker DeVries revealed that his sister, Tatum, got the athletic genes, and he will be attending his first of her games tomorrow.

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