MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The secret sauce for success for the West Virginia University women's basketball team resides in its talented backcourt this year.
The Mountaineers are going to score lots of points with former Parade All-American Kysre Gondrezick joining a returning backcourt consisting of All-Big 12 guard Tynice Martin and double-digit scorers Naomi Davenport and Katrina Pardee.
But what has got veteran Mountaineer coach Mike Carey concerned is not how many points his team is going to score, but how many points the other team is going to score while the Mountaineers are getting theirs.
"I'm not real happy with the intensity on defense and (Sunday) we emphasized that with all of the treadmill running," he said. "We got a lot of defense in and running. Those are the two areas we are going to concentrate on going into the season."
At the top of the list of his worries heading into tonight's exhibition game against West Liberty is developing a point guard out of the four outstanding shooting guards he currently has, all of whom are used to scoring lots of points.
We know all about Martin and what she's capable of doing. We are also familiar with Davenport's perimeter skills and Pardee's impressive outside shooting, and fans are going to love what Gondrezick, who once scored 72 points in a high school playoff game, is capable of bringing to the table with her scoring prowess.
Kysre Gondrezick
But Gondrezick, a Michigan transfer, has always been a score-first, pass-second guard who is now being asked to make the difficult transition to point guard. So far, the impression you get from listening to Carey is it's still a work in progress.
"We've got a lot of scorers and one night someone is going to get a lot of shots depending upon who they leave open and the next night somebody else is going to get a lot of shots, but we can't get concerned with how many shot attempts we get during a game," he explained.
What Carey is seeking is more ball movement to force defenses to go from strongside to weakside where more opportunities become available to attack it.
Moving the ball also wears down the defense and creates additional scoring opportunities in the third and fourth quarter when defenders get tired.
"If we just stay on one side of the floor and create shots when you are hitting them that's great, but when you're not hitting them that's a big problem," he explained.
Carey said he is also trying to get his backcourt players to realize that points can come from the defensive end of the floor, too.
Getting transition shots can lead to baskets much easier than trying to score against all five defenders in a half-court setting.
"We're playing four guards so how are we not up in the lanes creating turnovers? The reason is our energy," he explained. "It's amazing how I don't see energy on the defensive end and then when we get the ball, all of a sudden they're quick, and they have all of this energy."
Carey is putting a lot on his guards this year because he doesn't have a lot of experienced players returning in the post. How much interior depth he has will ultimately depend upon the eligibility status of Penn State transfer De'Janae Boykin.
If Boykin gets clearance to play this season that adds about eight points and six rebounds per game from a proven Big Ten player to his lineup. That will greatly help a front court that no longer has All-Big 12 forward Teana Muldrow, West Virginia's best interior scorer last season.
If she isn't cleared, Carey is probably going to have to rely on guards to do most of the scoring, even when he is looking for something close to the basket.
"I've always been a power team, and this year it's going to be a little bit different because of our personnel," Carey explained. "We're not real deep in the paint and that concerns me going into the season."
Overall, Carey believes his team has a high ceiling if it can improve its defensive intensity and clean up some of the areas that are still bothering him.
"I'm excited about starting the season, and we have some great players, but if we really want to go where we want to go those little things have to get a lot better," he concluded.
The process begins with tonight's exhibition matchup against West Liberty, and then a week later, the games start counting when the Mountaineers open the season against Coppin State at the Coliseum on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
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