Photo by: Big 12 Conference
WVU’s Carey Searching For On-Court Chemistry
October 28, 2021 12:12 PM | Women's Basketball, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Right now, Mike Carey is basically dealing with two different basketball teams – one that knows what it's doing and the other that doesn't.
His 2020-21 roster is made up of half returning players and half newcomers, and the challenge he has right now is getting those newer players up to speed with the rest of the team.
"I really don't know what our best combination is right now," the veteran coach admitted Wednesday. "You see signs with this group and then it's not. The problem is if we start shrinking that rotation then it's a whole different ballgame that you have to worry about."
Carey cited a lack of spacing on offense, defensive lapses and rebounding as his three biggest concerns heading into tonight's exhibition game against NAIA opponent WVU Tech.
What Carey wants to see is some more on-court chemistry developing among his players. Right now what he's got is a five-piece orchestra with a couple of instruments playing out of tune.
"If you have three or four players who know what they're doing offensively and defensively and one or two who don't, we all look bad," Carey said.
"When I put my best defensive team out there, it's not my best scoring team, so I've got to find a happy medium here," he explained. "I've got to be smart with our rotations because I've got to have some people on the floor at all times that can score. But, I've also got to have people on the floor that are not going to give up layups and can defend the 3."
Carey said his team's 3-point shooting was charted during last weekend's closed scrimmage against Buffalo. What it revealed was their step-in 3s were made and the 3s they forced were missed.
"I watched the tape of our scrimmage the other day and our spacing was horrendous against the zone. It was like two years ago when everybody was running to the ball wanting to get the shot off," he said. "I look for this team (tonight) to play a little bit of man and some zone, so I want to see better spacing.
"I asked the team (Tuesday) on a made shot do you want to push the ball up? They said yes. So I showed them 10 clips of a made shot and us walking up the floor. So they either push the ball up or there will be consequences," he said.
Carey is hopeful of using a bigger lineup at times this year with Esmery Martinez moving out to the three and Kari Niblack playing the four, but right now West Virginia's best combination is probably a smaller lineup with Niblack at the five, Martinez at the four and Jayla Hemingway, KK Deans and Madisen Smith in the backcourt.
That's the group of players listed in the game notes as tentative starters for tonight's scrimmage.
"It's hard to take Esmery and put her out at the three where she's not as effective," Carey admitted. "She's one of our better rebounders, and she gets to the ball and scores, and she's more comfortable at the four. You want to put people where they're comfortable and the most productive, and that's something I'm trying to figure out with all of these players."
Carey's immediate issue is trying to get the newer players to a comfortable place where they can help the team when they're out on the floor. The games begin counting on Tuesday, Nov. 16, when the 19th-ranked Mountaineers open the season at the WVU Coliseum against St. Francis, Pa.
"We're not picking things up as quickly as I thought we would. I find myself not putting a lot of stuff in," he admitted. "We're not even close to what I thought we'd have in right now.
"I think I'm the only one hyper about this," Carey added. "We have talent, but I told the team talent doesn't always win. You can have all of the talent in the world, but if you don't play together, you don't space and do the little things you're not going to win.
"Talent is just like the ranking – it's on paper and it doesn't mean anything," he concluded.
Tonight's exhibition game against WVU Tech will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage is on WBKE's FM (98.3) and AM (1490) stations in Fairmont.
His 2020-21 roster is made up of half returning players and half newcomers, and the challenge he has right now is getting those newer players up to speed with the rest of the team.
"I really don't know what our best combination is right now," the veteran coach admitted Wednesday. "You see signs with this group and then it's not. The problem is if we start shrinking that rotation then it's a whole different ballgame that you have to worry about."
Carey cited a lack of spacing on offense, defensive lapses and rebounding as his three biggest concerns heading into tonight's exhibition game against NAIA opponent WVU Tech.
What Carey wants to see is some more on-court chemistry developing among his players. Right now what he's got is a five-piece orchestra with a couple of instruments playing out of tune.
"If you have three or four players who know what they're doing offensively and defensively and one or two who don't, we all look bad," Carey said.
"When I put my best defensive team out there, it's not my best scoring team, so I've got to find a happy medium here," he explained. "I've got to be smart with our rotations because I've got to have some people on the floor at all times that can score. But, I've also got to have people on the floor that are not going to give up layups and can defend the 3."
Carey said his team's 3-point shooting was charted during last weekend's closed scrimmage against Buffalo. What it revealed was their step-in 3s were made and the 3s they forced were missed.
"I watched the tape of our scrimmage the other day and our spacing was horrendous against the zone. It was like two years ago when everybody was running to the ball wanting to get the shot off," he said. "I look for this team (tonight) to play a little bit of man and some zone, so I want to see better spacing.
"I asked the team (Tuesday) on a made shot do you want to push the ball up? They said yes. So I showed them 10 clips of a made shot and us walking up the floor. So they either push the ball up or there will be consequences," he said.
Carey is hopeful of using a bigger lineup at times this year with Esmery Martinez moving out to the three and Kari Niblack playing the four, but right now West Virginia's best combination is probably a smaller lineup with Niblack at the five, Martinez at the four and Jayla Hemingway, KK Deans and Madisen Smith in the backcourt.
That's the group of players listed in the game notes as tentative starters for tonight's scrimmage.
"It's hard to take Esmery and put her out at the three where she's not as effective," Carey admitted. "She's one of our better rebounders, and she gets to the ball and scores, and she's more comfortable at the four. You want to put people where they're comfortable and the most productive, and that's something I'm trying to figure out with all of these players."
Carey's immediate issue is trying to get the newer players to a comfortable place where they can help the team when they're out on the floor. The games begin counting on Tuesday, Nov. 16, when the 19th-ranked Mountaineers open the season at the WVU Coliseum against St. Francis, Pa.
"We're not picking things up as quickly as I thought we would. I find myself not putting a lot of stuff in," he admitted. "We're not even close to what I thought we'd have in right now.
"I think I'm the only one hyper about this," Carey added. "We have talent, but I told the team talent doesn't always win. You can have all of the talent in the world, but if you don't play together, you don't space and do the little things you're not going to win.
"Talent is just like the ranking – it's on paper and it doesn't mean anything," he concluded.
Tonight's exhibition game against WVU Tech will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage is on WBKE's FM (98.3) and AM (1490) stations in Fairmont.
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