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00:00 OK, Coach, I think we're ready.
00:02 First of all, I'd like to start by offering my thoughts,
00:05 prayers, and condolences to Coach Knight's family.
00:10 That's certainly a guy that I grew up admiring and watching
00:13 his teams, and especially what they did from a coaching
00:18 standpoint-- what he did from a coaching standpoint in terms
00:20 of discipline was something I always admired.
00:23 And I was thinking back last night of the opportunity
00:27 I got in 2003 to line up against him when Texas Tech came
00:32 to Kansas State and Bramley's Coliseum.
00:34 And so that's a special moment for me,
00:36 thinking back that I got in a game against Coach Knight,
00:40 and we got the win.
00:42 So they're 23rd in the country, and they
00:45 came to Bramley's Coliseum.
00:46 And we held them to 44 points, and we beat them by 24 points.
00:50 And I saw Coach Knight get his first technical foul
00:54 as a Big 12 member.
00:55 So that was kind of exciting to think back on.
00:58 So I want to send my condolences to his family.
01:05 Looking forward, it's here.
01:07 I mean, we're on number 28 practice, and we're excited.
01:14 Mondays, you look back at the 40 days, and you get 30 practices,
01:18 and it came really fast.
01:20 And we've had a lot of challenges
01:22 through those 40 days, but we're here,
01:25 and we're excited.
01:26 Might be a little bit shorthanded,
01:28 but we got guys that I think we can count on,
01:30 and guys that I'm excited to go to bat with.
01:34 So we're here.
01:36 We're looking forward to Monday and getting the season started,
01:39 and we're excited.
01:41 Season tickets, I heard nearly 7,000 season tickets are sold.
01:46 And that gives us, as a program, as a coaching staff,
01:50 as a team, as a unit, a lot of excitement
01:54 and a lot of--
01:56 we feel that support.
01:57 And we're excited that our fans are buying
02:00 into what we got going on.
02:02 And I've said this before.
02:03 West Virginia kind of operates with a chip on their shoulder,
02:06 and we kind of feel like we're backed against the wall,
02:09 and we're going to fight, and we're going to compete.
02:11 And that's the only way we look at things.
02:15 So certainly have our challenges.
02:19 I told the team the other day, you guys are not--
02:22 don't take the victim mentality.
02:25 We are not victims.
02:27 We got opportunity in front of us,
02:29 and we're going to take full advantage of our opportunity.
02:31 And a lot of guys have sat and put the time in
02:35 and went through the process, and now it's
02:38 time to step up and take advantage
02:40 of those opportunities.
02:41 We are not victims.
02:43 So we're excited.
02:44 The Mountaineer Nation is backing us,
02:46 and we feel that we have that full support.
02:49 And the more the merrier in the Coliseum on Monday.
02:52 We're excited to feel that energy
02:54 and see that Coliseum rocking.
02:58 On to Missouri State.
03:01 They're a good opponent from a very good conference.
03:04 Won 17 games last year.
03:05 Dana Ford has done a really good job with them.
03:09 They fought some injuries last year,
03:11 but they got some really good pieces,
03:13 and they do some things that could disrupt us in terms
03:16 of what they do defensively.
03:18 So we haven't got a great opportunity to see them.
03:23 Just these early games, it makes it really hard,
03:28 especially if people are tight to the vest in terms
03:31 of their film with their closed scrimmage, which we haven't got
03:35 a chance to see their closed scrimmage.
03:36 And we know they played a night, a D2 there in the state.
03:41 So we won't get a chance to see that.
03:42 It won't be on TV.
03:44 But it certainly presents a challenge for us
03:47 because they've seen us play against George Mason,
03:50 and we won't get a chance to see them.
03:52 So we've got to look back at what they did last year.
03:57 There's some cohesion there in terms of their coaching staff.
04:01 He's been there five years now.
04:03 So we should have a decent opportunity
04:06 to see what they did.
04:07 And hopefully, they carry some of those things on,
04:10 and we can prepare from what we saw last year.
04:13 So looking back to the George Mason game,
04:17 I thought we did some really good things.
04:19 We had some adversity there early in the second half
04:22 with a cook going down.
04:24 And if I could take one thing from the game,
04:28 and somebody I truly respect in the game that
04:31 was watching from afar said, you guys have a lot of--
04:35 you showed a lot of resolve.
04:37 And I'll take that.
04:39 Really showed a lot of resolve.
04:40 You found a way to win when things weren't going your way.
04:45 And so many different variables.
04:48 And it started with our two--
04:52 we had lack of depth at the forward position.
04:55 And a cook got two fouls early.
04:59 Jesse got two fouls early.
05:00 So we had to figure out some rotations that we really
05:03 haven't practiced before.
05:05 So it got a little sloppy.
05:06 But regardless, the guys came together
05:09 even after the medical emergency and figured out
05:13 a way to come together and win the game.
05:16 So that was certainly a positive note on that.
05:21 From there, I'll just open it up to questions.
05:23 You mentioned challenges.
05:25 Obviously, some with the cook.
05:28 They're more important things than basketball.
05:30 What's his basketball status?
05:31 And what do you-- updates you getting medically?
05:35 Our medical staff continues to monitor him daily.
05:38 And they've done additional testing early this week.
05:42 So I was a business major.
05:47 So none of this really--
05:50 when they start talking the medical terminology,
05:52 it goes over my head.
05:53 So I'll leave that up to them.
05:57 But that's certainly something we work with him every day
06:00 to figure out what the next step is.
06:02 So I don't have any further updates for a cook.
06:05 But as for his well-being, he seems
06:09 to be in really good spirits and trying to figure out
06:11 where we go from here.
06:12 Do you have any idea if he'll be able to play for you
06:15 any point this year?
06:17 No, I have no idea where that's going to end.
06:20 And I know in the short term, he will not be playing on Monday.
06:24 So that's how I'm operating right now in the short term.
06:28 Coach, did they ever say what happened at the scrimmage
06:35 or at the exhibition?
06:37 No, I didn't get a clear picture of exactly what did happen.
06:41 I think they're still reading some of those tests.
06:43 So I'll leave that up to them to answer those questions.
06:49 You mentioned last time we talked
06:51 about being on the boogie board.
06:53 And you talk about obstacles that you've been presented.
06:57 I mean, some coaches have one or two.
07:00 You probably had maybe a dozen.
07:02 Do you sit in your office and look up and go,
07:05 well, when are the basketball gods
07:06 going to look at me differently?
07:09 Yeah, the coaches meeting this morning, I said,
07:11 guys, we're about as low as it gets, I think, at this point.
07:17 So we still got a smile on our face.
07:20 We're still coming to work with--
07:22 it certainly presents a challenge.
07:24 But within challenges and adversity
07:28 come a lot of opportunities to learn and grow.
07:31 And not only from a coaching standpoint and our staff
07:35 trying to meet these challenges head on,
07:38 but also for our players.
07:40 So yeah, it looks like everything's
07:42 going against us right now.
07:44 But maybe the tides are going to start turning.
07:47 Maybe things are going to start going our way.
07:49 And that's the way we're going to have to operate.
07:52 We might get more challenges.
07:53 Who knows?
07:55 But from now, go try to win the day, so to speak.
07:59 Today, we're trying to figure out
08:01 how do we prepare ourselves with what we have going
08:04 into Monday's game.
08:06 And then on top of that, you're following a Hall of Fame coach,
08:10 one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history, who's here.
08:15 Do you have to tell people, hey, I'm Josh Eilert.
08:17 I'm not Bob Huggins.
08:18 I'm not the same type of person.
08:19 I'm going to do things my way.
08:22 I think people know that.
08:25 I've been presented a lot of challenges.
08:27 And I'm not-- just like I told our guys, I'm not a victim.
08:31 I got presented an incredible opportunity.
08:34 And my opportunity is to lead these young men
08:37 and put them in the best place to succeed.
08:41 Certainly, I could hang my head every day.
08:45 But what good is that going to do?
08:47 There's a lot of people in life going
08:49 through a heck of a lot more challenges
08:51 than what I'm going through on a basketball court.
08:53 And we haven't even played our first game yet.
08:55 So we don't know who's going to rise to the occasion, who's
08:59 going to step up.
09:01 And like I said, the opportunities are there.
09:05 They're right in front of everybody
09:07 to take advantage of, including our staff,
09:09 including guys 8, 9, 10 in the rotation.
09:13 So we're going to look to them to do so.
09:15 Last thing on that, do you block out the white noise
09:18 and put the blinders on and just focus
09:20 on what you can focus on?
09:21 That's all you can do, all you can do.
09:24 Control what you can control.
09:25 That's helped me sleep at night since day one of getting a job.
09:30 There's so many things outside of my control
09:33 that you just got to let it go and do the best you
09:37 can with what you can control.
09:38 Just to be clear, you're probably not expecting
09:41 a cook to play Monday?
09:43 No, I do not expect a cook to play.
09:46 Does that open the door for Quinn?
09:47 Is that kind of maybe how you--
09:49 Yeah, at this point, on paper, Quinn
09:52 would be slotting in as a starting four man.
09:54 And with Kerr out, it looks like Kobe would definitely
10:00 be taking the starting knot at the point guard position.
10:04 And I'm excited about Kobe.
10:06 Kobe, this is the third year in the program.
10:09 He's played in 61 games.
10:13 He's very capable and I have full confidence
10:17 in Kobe leading the program.
10:18 So I'm excited about him taking advantage of that opportunity.
10:22 Who's your backup point, Jay Kutz?
10:26 That's a challenge that I don't want to go down that road.
10:29 Jeremiah Benry.
10:32 Jeremiah, he's a redshirt freshman.
10:37 So yes, he's very capable.
10:43 But he hasn't played a college game yet.
10:45 The closest thing he's got was the minutes
10:47 we got him at the Vanderbilt scrimmage.
10:50 So I probably should have found a way
10:53 to get him some more minutes against George Mason.
10:56 You get caught up in the moment trying to win the game
10:58 and you don't think all these things, certainly.
11:01 But we did get him some very valuable minutes
11:03 against Vanderbilt and he held his own.
11:05 And if we can get him fine tuned on the offensive end,
11:10 and I'm not asking a whole lot, I just
11:12 need to get him to put the ball where it needs to go
11:14 and just really sit down and guard, and he can help us.
11:18 Could Seth help you there a little bit too?
11:20 Yeah.
11:20 Yeah.
11:22 Seth can relieve some pressure for Kobe.
11:23 If they put a lot of pressure on Kobe,
11:25 I think they'll be able to handle the ball.
11:27 And we've simulated some of that in practice.
11:29 And I don't feel like that's an issue whatsoever.
11:34 Josh, if Kobe gets two fouls, knock on wood, sorry.
11:36 But if you go Bambri, do you just kind of--
11:41 I'm probably going to end up going Bambri to begin with
11:44 and see where that goes.
11:46 And then I'm not scared to play a smart individual with a high
11:53 IQ with two fouls in the first half.
11:58 I didn't really want to have to do it with Jesse,
12:00 but I was shorthanded there in the first half
12:04 against George Mason.
12:05 So I knew Jesse at the end of the day
12:07 was going to do what he needed to do to protect himself.
12:10 He got two back to back, number four and five,
12:13 there late in the second half.
12:16 But for the most part, he did a pretty good job
12:17 of staying out of foul trouble between two and four.
12:24 Having kind of seen through the exhibition game
12:27 how games are going to be officiated,
12:31 certainly the charge block calls combined with the depth
12:37 or lack of depth that you have now,
12:39 do you almost have to--
12:41 I don't want to say retool, but just tell guys, hey, maybe
12:45 we can't be as aggressive defensively as what
12:49 we had talked about in the past season.
12:50 That's a good point.
12:51 I mean, you're going to have to certainly be
12:53 a little more conservative, knowing you have lack of depth.
12:56 And that message will be out there.
12:59 You hate to think like that, especially when you're trying
13:02 to-- even you look back to George Mason
13:04 and you say, how active is everybody on the defensive end?
13:09 You start looking at deflection numbers,
13:11 and they really aren't even close to where you want them.
13:14 But then you start looking at your lack of depth.
13:16 It's like, how bad do you want them out there pressuring
13:19 and taking chances to get those deflections now?
13:23 And back to the block charge, I mean,
13:26 I think some of that's going to loosen up
13:27 on the primary defender.
13:29 I know it's a very big emphasis on the secondary defender,
13:33 on help side.
13:34 But the defense certainly has an opportunity
13:37 to hold their ground and their space as a primary defender.
13:42 And watching college basketball, and I
13:44 watched several Big 12 games last night on TV.
13:48 And I did see a couple of times where the primary defender did
13:52 get the charge.
13:55 So I think early in these games, I
13:59 believe it's going to officiate.
14:00 They're going to side on the fact
14:02 that most everything's a block.
14:04 But I think they'll really start to look at some
14:06 of these primary defenders.
14:07 So the emphasis is on the help guy.
14:11 The rule change has more to do with the help defender
14:14 and the secondary defender.
14:16 Do you have a specific going zone?
14:19 Yeah.
14:20 Especially with the big man used to it.
14:22 Yeah, we certainly have to think of these options.
14:26 And we simulate a lot of zone in practice
14:30 just to make sure we're ready to go zone offense.
14:34 So if we had to throw a straight zone out there at any time,
14:38 I wouldn't hesitate to do so if I had to.
14:43 To Bob's point, just to change up, if the team's on a run,
14:46 just throw something at them a little different
14:48 to give them a different look.
14:49 Yeah, we have a couple different options to do that.
14:53 Like I said, in an exhibition game,
14:55 you don't want to show your cards.
14:56 But at the end of the day, you still want to win.
14:59 So certainly, I knew that was going to be on TV.
15:04 I knew our first three, four opponents
15:06 are going to be able to see that.
15:07 So it's an advantage, certainly, to Missouri State
15:11 that they can see what we did.
15:12 And unless they're consistent with what they did last year,
15:17 it's hard to be able to scout them, especially not knowing
15:21 exactly what pieces and personnel
15:23 are stepping up for them.
15:26 Looking back on that exhibition, the fact
15:28 that you were down 10 points, I think in the second half,
15:31 does that maybe like a blessing a little bit,
15:33 give you an idea that, hey, this is what this team can do,
15:37 how they can rally around themselves, maybe
15:39 a little bit of a gift to you to deal with that?
15:43 Yeah, that's a positive way to look at it.
15:47 We certainly-- we didn't exactly run offense like a work of art
15:53 by any means.
15:54 But what did we put up?
15:55 85 points.
15:58 So I keep saying our growth is on the defensive end.
16:02 We've got to figure out a way to stop the bleeding when
16:06 teams are on a run.
16:07 And what's in basketball terminologies
16:11 are such things--
16:12 it's called a kill when you stop a team three straight times
16:17 without scoring.
16:18 We only did that twice against George Mason.
16:21 So we got to get that to five, six, seven times at minimum
16:25 against our opponents.
16:27 So like I said with the deflections,
16:31 we only got 15, 16 deflections in the whole game.
16:36 So our activity on the defensive end certainly needs to step up.
16:41 But yeah, there's a lot of things
16:42 we track defensively that we need to shore up.
16:45 What changes offensively from Kerr to Kobe,
16:48 and what do you need to see from Kobe
16:50 to help fill that role on offense?
16:53 I'm not worried about Kobe.
16:55 I have a high degree of confidence in him.
16:59 He's always been really steady.
17:01 He's not going to take probably nearly as many calculated
17:06 risks, or I guess risks, that Kerr might.
17:11 Kerr is probably more of a guy that's
17:13 going to force the issue, where Kobe
17:15 is going to take care of the ball
17:17 and be very, very solid with it and get it where it needs to go.
17:22 So I don't anticipate Kobe having the ball in his hands
17:25 as much as Kerr.
17:27 But he's done an incredible job, like, elevating his game
17:30 from last year to this, especially
17:33 in these scenarios where we're putting him in ball screens.
17:35 But Kobe gives you a lot of things that Kerr can't.
17:40 Kobe's got-- his length as a defender is better than Kerr's.
17:46 His size and strength is better than Kerr's.
17:48 So on the defensive end, it's a step up.
17:51 And you can take Kobe, and you can put him in a position
17:55 to post him as well, because he is a big, strong guard.
17:58 So you can take advantage of those mismatches as well.
18:01 So it's a give or take with Kobe, Kerr.
18:04 But bigger than anything, as an issue to me, is lack of depth.
18:09 Is it hard with your numbers to even practice?
18:12 And with that being said, do you go out and scour
18:15 the student body for a young Josh Eilert, who
18:18 can step off the rec center and give you
18:20 a little help in practice?
18:21 Well, if there is a young Josh Eilert,
18:23 I hope they walk through the door and introduce themselves.
18:25 But right now, we have plenty of guys to practice.
18:31 We haven't had that problem yet.
18:33 I mean, we have less guys sitting on the sideline.
18:38 And we probably get through practice quicker now,
18:42 because you want to make sure everybody, especially when you
18:46 have 13, 14, 15 guys, get as many reps as they need.
18:50 And sometimes that comes to the detriment
18:52 of some of the guys that are playing big minutes.
18:56 So it might be sometimes, in a way,
19:00 if you've got 10 or 11 guys, a more efficient practice
19:03 for everybody involved.
19:05 One more on Kobe, if you don't mind.
19:07 He doesn't have to be Kerr, maybe he can't be Kerr.
19:09 But is it fair to say that he can't be like Kobe
19:13 the last year?
19:13 He's a little bit more aggressive offensively?
19:15 Yeah, we've talked about that with Kobe since he got here.
19:19 And he's been slow with pushing that envelope in terms
19:23 of his aggressiveness.
19:24 But his confidence levels are way higher
19:29 than it was last year.
19:31 And stepping up from a sophomore to a junior,
19:35 and a staff that was putting a lot of faith in him,
19:40 I think that's given him a lot of confidence.
19:42 And I've always believed in Kobe.
19:45 And he's one of those guys.
19:46 And Seth's one of those guys.
19:48 Those are program guys.
19:50 JoJo's one of those guys.
19:52 They just keep grinding.
19:53 They keep on showing up every day.
19:54 And eventually, they're going to shine.
19:57 All the things that we've talked about in terms of obstacles
20:00 or whatnot, you do have Jesse Edwards.
20:02 And in a lot of games, he's going
20:04 to be the best player on the floor.
20:05 And there was instances in that game, in that exhibition game,
20:09 where he was dominant.
20:10 And what did you see from Jesse that you liked?
20:13 You know, Jesse, like I said, I think
20:16 one of the--
20:17 I didn't want to have to force the issue with Jesse.
20:19 I wanted to come more natural.
20:22 So we did isolate Jesse as much as we could just
20:25 to make sure we won the game.
20:29 I'd like to see him a little more aggressive on the rebounds.
20:32 I think he probably, in the last two games,
20:35 between Vanderbilt and George Mason,
20:37 probably left about five or six rebounds out there.
20:40 And that's put a lot of pressure on our defensive rebounding,
20:45 especially Jesse can't be the one that we all count on
20:49 to clean everything up.
20:50 We all want to play fast, but everybody, one through five--
20:55 and that's been the message-- one through five has to rebound.
20:58 We've got to finish possessions before we move forward.
21:01 Consider tweaking some things to what he does well,
21:04 to fit his skill set, instead of him having
21:07 to fit what you guys want to do?
21:11 Tweak his skill set for what?
21:12 No, tweak the things that you're doing
21:14 to fit the things that he's comfortable doing,
21:16 as opposed to him forcing him to--
21:19 That's what coaching is all about every day.
21:22 You've got to play to your personnel.
21:24 And each and every day, it's a combination of personnel
21:28 sometimes that you're playing to.
21:29 And we're trying right now to figure out
21:32 with our new rotation, we have three days
21:35 to get these guys as many reps as possible together
21:39 and build that cohesiveness that we
21:42 need starting on Monday.
21:45 As you saw during the George Mason exhibition game,
21:50 you saw that there are a lot of rotations
21:52 and a lot of lineup combinations that probably weren't
21:56 used very much in practice.
21:58 And we had to do it on the fly.
22:02 Never in my wildest dreams did I think my two guys
22:06 that I relied on to five were going
22:09 to be in foul trouble in the first five minutes.
22:12 So I thought maybe one of them.
22:14 I didn't think both of them would be.
22:16 Coach, I have one for her.
22:18 Did you see the statement released by Arizona?
22:22 I guess what my question is, I kind of
22:24 have a hard time understanding the situation where
22:27 the kid's at a school and he took responsibility
22:32 for accepting the--
22:34 but the school where he's at at the time isn't penalized.
22:39 The school that he goes to does get penalized.
22:43 I guess I'm looking for a reaction on that, I guess.
22:47 Yeah, I'm not worried about what Arizona does or says.
22:52 And I know there's student privacy laws
22:54 in terms of current situations.
22:56 So I won't get into it.
22:57 But my message is we're not a victim.
23:02 We take responsibility for whatever
23:05 that is that we need to take responsibility for
23:07 and we move forward.
23:09 And Kerr's going to help us in practice every day.
23:13 It's not like he can't travel with us or practice with us
23:16 or be around the team.
23:17 And I've looked at Kerr for leadership through this.
23:21 Own your mistakes, which he has.
23:23 Own your mistakes and find a way to help us win.
23:28 He's one of our captains, him, Jesse, and Quinn.
23:31 So he's one of our captains.
23:33 And he can do an incredible amount of good
23:36 for our program in the meantime.
23:38 Just by mentoring JB, by giving Kobe pointers running the show.
23:46 And so we're excited to move forward
23:52 regardless of the situation.
23:53 We're not hanging our head.
23:56 The other question is, I obviously
23:59 don't know the inner workings of the portal
24:01 and how it's handled and guys, how they're evaluated
24:06 and that kind of stuff.
24:08 Does this situation-- and I understand
24:10 he was signed by Huggins.
24:15 The situation, I don't want to say could
24:16 have been prevented, but does it serve
24:19 as any kind of precautionary tale
24:21 to what the portal is at all?
24:26 I think you might be reading a little more into it,
24:29 to be honest with you.
24:30 It's something that didn't happen on our watch,
24:33 but something that we're dealing with on our end.
24:39 There were a lot of people recruiting him, right?
24:41 So this would have happened wherever he would have signed.
24:43 Right.
24:44 Right.
24:44 OK.
24:45 Did he give you any help at all, or is he too raw to really--
24:50 I don't know when the first opportunity is.
24:52 I'm going to throw him out there.
24:54 Certainly with a short bench, if we're
24:58 in a position to throw him out there,
25:01 and it serves our best interest, we will.
25:04 So he is raw, and he has a fairly good understanding
25:09 of the game.
25:11 But at this point, we're just waiting to figure out
25:14 where he can help us.
25:15 And when that day comes, I certainly
25:18 will put him in to do whatever needs to be done to help us
25:22 win, if that's the case.
25:24 On Kerr, is there any way to pinpoint when the--
25:29 I don't care what the violation was, but when it occurred.
25:32 Was it during recruiting at Arizona?
25:33 Was it while he was playing there?
25:36 Was it just before he came here?
25:39 I can tell you this.
25:40 The violation didn't occur on our watch.
25:44 That's the aftermath that we're dealing with.
25:46 Anything else?
25:53 Coach, thank you.