Second-year IU basketball coach Darian DeVries met with the media via Zoom on Wednesday morning as the program prepares for its third exhibition game against Western Kentucky on Sunday.
The Hoosiers beat Butler 96-68 in their exhibition opener and North Carolina 76-58 in their second exhibition.
Here’s everything DeVries said in his Wednesday media availability:
On the emphasis this season on offensive rebounding:
“It was certainly something very intentional for us just from a roster construction standpoint. And then also a point of emphasis that we wanted to prioritize being an elite offensive rebounding team, elite defensive rebounding team. And it’s something that we just felt was really important.
“We felt in watching last year and some of the previous years, I think even the NBA now, you’ve seen a change back to becoming more of a priority and just last year, not getting those second and third opportunities. It makes it really stressful for your offense on your first shot to be really efficient. But even the other night against North Carolina, we only shot 36 percent or so from the field, but still got 20 offensive rebounds.
“So still able to score over a point per possession, where last year that just wouldn’t have been effective for us. So I like what the guys have done with it. I like how they’ve embraced it.
“I think the coaching staff’s done a good job of getting guys to buy into it as well. And last year I think it was Michigan State was number one in the country in defensive rebounding, about 77 percent or so. I think we were at 76 against North Carolina.
“And then I think Tennessee was number one last year around 48 percent, which is an incredible offensive rebound rate. We were right there at 44, I believe for the North Carolina game. So small sample size, but certainly going in the right direction for us.”
On Jaden Mustaf’s defense:
“Yeah, what I like about him is he just gives us some physicality. It gives us a little different dimension on both sides of the ball. I think offensively that straight line driver ability to get to the free throw line. We’d like to see his conversion rate go up a little bit. I think he’s still trying to find his spots a little bit, when to be aggressive, when to maybe get in the paint, which is doing your job and hey, they do a good job and they cut you off and you get the defense to collapse. Now let’s spray it out to some shooters.
“So I think he gives us that element there. And then defensively, I just love his size and his ability not to get bumped off his spot as a defender. I think when you have him out there, we can prioritize his defense on the other team’s best offensive player.”
On the AP poll and whether he pays attention to it:
“Not at all. Not right now. I just think it’s like, what are they going off of? So many teams have new rosters, it’s just a guessing game. So there’s really no point in giving it any kind of credibility right now. So for us, it’s just about us. Like hey, we got a game in front of us and then we got to practice a week to see what we did well, see some of the things that we’re not doing well. That’s our main focus right now. Our turnovers right now, we’re turning the ball over too much.
“So that’s something we have to get cleaned up for us to be better offensively because it’s hard to rebound off a turnover. So at least we got to get the shot up at the goal. And that’s something that I think our guys are understanding that we just got to do a better job of taking care of it.”
On what they’ve accomplished from the first two exhibitions and what he’d like to see on Sunday:
“We wanted to make sure that we keep talking about the rebounding. That had to be there. Like you can have some inefficient possessions and some things there that are just like, hey, we need some time and then that fixes it… more practice on those type of things. But the effort, the physicality, the rebounding, that kind of all tied together.
“Even our discipline has to continue to improve, but we’re getting better there. If you’re gonna be an offensive rebounding team and a defensive rebounding team, it’s not just physicality. There has to be a discipline to it as well in terms of you have to go, as simple as that sounds.
“So I think overall we get through this third one. It’s like, have we have we improved in the margins? The turnovers, the foul rates, the rebounding, those type of things.
“So that’s ultimately what we want to get out of these three games, is get a good gauge as to where we’re at. Take each game. I feel like we’re getting better, certainly from before we played.
“Now we get the Butler game, the North Carolina game, a week of practice in between. So awesome opportunity for us to take what we see on film against an opponent and be able to make those adjustments in practice.”
On Prince-Alexander Moody:
“Prince is doing fine. It’s a lot of it’s just as the physicality, the speed, the competition has increased and just going through normal freshman stuff of learning how some of those opportunities now at the rim aren’t there because now we have two 7-footers sitting back there in practice. And the practices, everything just gets cranked up a little bit higher as you get closer and closer to the season.
“But he’s doing a good job. He’s continued to work. He’s continued to have a great attitude. We just have guys that right now are in front of him, but he’s certainly someone that I feel very confident he’s going to continue to get better and better. And I have the utmost confidence in the world to put him out there, too. So, he’s just got guys in front of him right now.”
On playing Markus Burton and Bryce Lindsay together and their relationship on the floor:
“That was what went behind the decision to bring Bryce off the bench, which is to get a little better rotation. From that standpoint, now it’s something like as the year goes on, if we feel like we want to start games out with Bryce, we can certainly do that.
“But right now that’s ultimately why we wanted to bring Bryce off the bench. Just Markus, even a great example the other day, Marjus picked up two quick fouls. So now instead of having Bryce, who’s already been out there, we can bring him in and he’s not out there for that extended minutes right off the jump.
“But those two together, they play really well together. They’re both different in what they do well to the offensive end, especially Markus is more of a downhill guy. Bryce kind of comes off and probes maybe a little bit more. For a lot of guys, maybe they’re not great at off the dribble threes or a little pitch backs, and he’s really good at those.
“And then he surveys things really well, too. So I think he’s really underrated as a passer. I don’t think people talk about that enough when you watch him and how he can see the floor, too.
“So they’re a great one-two punch whether they’re in together or just to be able to bring one in for the other one. So it’s a nice luxury to have.”
On transition offense:
“Yeah, that’s one of the areas that I don’t think we’ve been as good as I think we can be, is in our transition offense. I think we’ve rebounded at a high rate, but I don’t know that we put enough pressure on defenses yet in transition. So it’s certainly something we’ve continued to stress in getting kick-aheads and being able to put guys on their heels, attack the rim a little bit more, get some paint touches out of transition, which can lead to more of those kick-out threes once we get the defense collapsed. So we need to continue to get better at that. But yes, it should be a strength of ours as the season goes along.”
On Sunday’s exhibition game in Evansville:
“It’s just another opportunity, a neutral site game, get to be in state in Evansville. So I think that’s great just to have some more fans from that area, be able to come watch us play there. So it’s a fun game for us.
“It’s another neutral site. We have several neutral site games throughout the season. So just going through that as well, I think is great. So I love the third game that the NCAA granted us to be able to play from an exhibition standpoint just to again, get multiple opportunities to see your team before you get ready for the regular season.”
On the defense in the first two exhibitions:
“Yeah, I’d still like to see our ball screen defense get a little better on the point of attack, getting our guards through the screen a little cleaner. But I feel like our communication has really improved their connectivity. I think they’re learning how to play off of one another again.
“It just takes time a little bit. But some of our switching has really improved when to switch, when not to switch on some of that. Physicality being able to be aggressive and denying some things, but also not getting so extended. And it’s a fine balance there.
“But overall, I think we’ve done a good job keeping the ball in front of us, making teams have to score over the top of us and then cleaning up the defensive glass to finish off possessions.
On Trevor Manhertz:
“Just for a freshman again, we just have a lot of trust that he’s earned throughout the summer and fall of just being able to play multiple positions, understanding what to do there. I love his length. It gives us some versatility defensively on the glass.
“He’s just, for a guy his size, he plays more physical than maybe what he looks like just from his body type. But I think he’s got tremendous upside. I love the aggression he plays with.
“And just again, I keep going back to just incredible feel for the game at both ends of the floor. So he understands what the game plan is, what the spacing is, and he’s still a freshman. He’s growing every day. But I like what he’s done so far.”
