Coach Eilert 12-28-23
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Thanks everyone for joining us.
00:05 We'll go ahead and get started with Coach Howard.
00:07 Morning.
00:09 First of all, I just like to congratulate the W football team and
00:14 coach Neil Brown on a great win last night.
00:17 That was impressive performance by our football team and love the direction
00:22 of which the football team is going.
00:23 And not only that, the fan support out there in Charlotte,
00:28 Mountaineer Nation showed up in full force.
00:30 That was a very special to see and every time I do a recruiting call,
00:36 I talk about our fans support and how much backing we got from our fans
00:43 and the great people in the state.
00:44 So kudos to the fans for making that trip out to Charlotte and backing
00:49 that football team and kudos to Neil Brown and the football program
00:54 for a great victory.
00:56 Also like to recognize Coach Mark Kellogg, women's program for top 25
01:02 appearance and undefeated record thus far non-conference and moving into
01:06 conference play.
01:07 So they're on a roll and happy to see them succeeding.
01:11 Going back to the Toledo win, you know, we had, that's our getaway day.
01:18 It's always a hard game to prepare for knowing that, you know, some of your
01:23 guys have, you know, one foot out the door and ready to get home to see
01:27 their family for Christmas.
01:28 So, you know, as part of the NCAA, you know, rules, you have to, you're
01:33 required to give three days off.
01:35 So we gave them, you know, 24th, the 25th and 26th off and met that
01:42 requirement.
01:42 We reconvened yesterday and turned the page and everybody was here available,
01:50 you know, yesterday afternoon and we went back to work and started and had a
01:54 really good practice, you know, coming out of break and sat down and really
01:59 went over Ohio State and got started on them.
02:02 So that was day one of preparation for Ohio State, you know, day two today
02:07 and then tomorrow morning we'll travel out there, practice out there at the,
02:11 you know, Cleveland Cavaliers practice facility before, you know, having
02:15 shoot around on Saturday morning.
02:18 We'll go ahead and take questions.
02:20 Start with Kevin.
02:23 Hey coach, just briefly, anything nice happened over the holiday?
02:29 Any fun plans?
02:31 Were you able to take advantage of any of that?
02:32 Took advantage of all my family time, you know, I didn't, I didn't travel
02:38 anywhere, you know, Morgantown really is my home.
02:41 So, you know, I got to go home and spend, you know, some uninterrupted
02:47 time with my family and it was, it was, it was nice to just kind of sit back
02:52 and put basketball aside for a few days and just enjoy my time with my family
02:56 and kind of, you know, take it all in.
02:59 You know, it's been a crazy six months thus far, six, seven months, you know,
03:03 here at the helm and a lot of challenges we've faced and a lot of adversity.
03:08 So just to be thankful for what position I'm in and sit down and have those
03:17 moments with my family was special.
03:19 Let's go to Ethan Botton.
03:22 Yeah, coach, a little bit more on just the Christmas break.
03:25 How important was it not only for you, but for the rest of the team to kind
03:30 of just sit back, just kind of reflect for once, kind of get a little break
03:35 heading into Ohio State.
03:36 Yeah, I use that going into, you know, sometimes coaches don't want to talk
03:41 about it in terms of, you know, the whole elephant in the room of, you know,
03:45 as soon as the game's over, everybody's leaving and I just address this,
03:49 let's lock in and focus and figure out, you know, let's get this win against
03:56 a really good Toledo team.
03:58 And I promise you, I said, I'll give you three, almost four days of mental
04:04 health days.
04:04 And that's what I kind of refer to those days as mental health days.
04:10 And they really are to an extent because, you know, how hard we've been
04:14 going, how many things we've had to, you know, navigate and the challenges
04:18 we've navigated.
04:19 So everybody need to kind of get away and reset their minds, reset their
04:24 bodies.
04:25 You know, some of those nagging injuries from a physical standpoint, you
04:31 know, can be healed up to some degree, you know, with three and a half
04:35 days off.
04:36 So you can tell the legs were, you know, not nearly as conditioned yesterday.
04:42 We'll have to build that conditioning back up, but you can tell they were
04:45 fresher legs, which is great to see from a coaching perspective.
04:50 Let's go to Hertz.
04:52 Yeah, Coach, you got a bunch of guys on the team that were, I don't know
04:58 what's in your background, but came in this year.
05:00 What can they learn from the experience last night, if they watch it and
05:06 are you going to talk to them about it with the football team, with the
05:10 crowd that was there, with them accomplishing what they set out to do,
05:14 even though no one thought they could, but much the same as your situation
05:19 might be now?
05:19 No, it's the same message that I had going into the pick game.
05:24 You know, you watch the, you go to the pick football game, you see how
05:28 much our fans live and die by West Virginia sports, and you're going to
05:35 have, you know, some of the best support here that you've ever, you will
05:39 have anywhere you ever go.
05:41 And these people really live and die by it.
05:45 They support you wholeheartedly.
05:48 They're very understanding with the challenges you go through, but they
05:52 want to see you compete at the highest level, every single possession, and
05:58 then we certainly deserve that to them.
06:00 And so that's the message.
06:02 I mean, you have all the support in the world.
06:05 We have each other.
06:06 So there's no reason we don't give everything we've got, every single
06:11 possession.
06:12 How about not getting any respect, which the football team didn't get
06:17 coming into the season, and using that to create a culture?
06:22 Is that part of your dealings with this team too?
06:25 Yeah, I mean, you get, you know, we've had our challenges, certainly, and
06:31 we're five and seven.
06:32 That's the facts.
06:33 We're five and seven.
06:35 There's going to be a lot of people that write us off.
06:37 And I tell these guys all the time, people write you off because of your
06:42 resume thus far.
06:43 We haven't 100% played what we're capable of playing.
06:48 I think our best basketball is going to come here in the future.
06:52 And it's, I think it's going to start gelling soon, sooner than later,
06:58 and certainly, especially with these new guys, we've floated in the roster
07:02 and everybody trying to figure out their new role on the team.
07:05 And then, you know, in three weeks, you know, we got Jesse Edwards coming
07:09 back and we'll actually have a five man.
07:12 We're really trying to navigate things without a five man on it.
07:15 So, yeah, I mean, we can be playing our best basketball in February and
07:23 March.
07:23 So let's continue to have that growth mindset and continue to figure out
07:28 how we get better each and every day.
07:31 Our record doesn't, I don't think in any way, proves who we are, who we're
07:37 capable of being.
07:38 You know, I remember looking at the net rankings when we first put it on
07:42 the board, you know, we're in a 215, 220 range.
07:46 I said, that's, man, this is rock bottom.
07:48 We got to continue to, this number is going to continue to go up.
07:52 And, you know, we're going to be playing some very, very solid competition,
07:57 you know, starting with Ohio State on Saturday and then going to Houston
08:01 which is number one in the net the following Saturday.
08:04 So we got plenty of opportunities in this league to prove ourselves and
08:09 prove that we belong.
08:10 Thank you.
08:12 Let's go back to Kevin.
08:14 Coach, is Noah farther along than you thought he might be when he came back
08:22 and when the eligibility rules changed?
08:24 And what's just your couple game evaluation of him so far?
08:28 Noah's bought in 100% and that's the first step in having a good team
08:35 player.
08:35 I mean, he's locked into everything we're doing.
08:39 Never did he stray in any way.
08:41 Sometimes you see it as a kid sitting out for a year, you know, they might
08:46 not be 100% locked in.
08:48 They know they're not playing until the following season.
08:51 So, you know, they don't lock in on your sets and they just kind of are,
08:57 you know, going through the motions sometimes in practice, but Noah's never
09:00 been like that.
09:01 Noah from day one has taken the opportunity.
09:05 We had those conversations soon as he come in.
09:08 You know, I said, it's a challenge to sit out a year.
09:12 It's a challenge to stay locked in every day and he met that challenge and
09:16 he was ready to go when his time came and that opportunity, you know,
09:21 presented itself for him.
09:23 He was ready to go.
09:24 And yeah, he hadn't got the reps by any means that anybody else had with the
09:30 first team and he primarily been working all scout team, but he had everything
09:36 mentally.
09:36 He was ready to go.
09:37 He was locked in.
09:38 He's been taking care of his body like a professional, taking care of, you
09:43 know, his understanding of everything in terms of our playbook.
09:46 So there was no, not much of any transition to try to get him, you know,
09:51 ready to play and thrown into the starting lineup.
09:54 Let's go back to Ethan.
09:57 Coach, just on Ohio State, just talk about their strengths, weaknesses, and
10:02 then if you think there's any challenges between Thornton or battle.
10:06 Yeah, both those guys present challenges and themselves, you know, battles
10:12 of as good a shooter that that size is your house see, you know, across the
10:17 country and Thornton.
10:18 It's a going to be a constant challenge to figure out how we try to keep the
10:23 ball out of his hands, you know, you know, he said he's a dynamic three
10:27 three-way score and he does a lot for their team, you know, they're a physical
10:33 team.
10:33 They do a lot of things very, very well.
10:36 They shoot the ball very, very well.
10:38 But I mean, just like any team, they have their weaknesses as well.
10:44 We got to figure out strategically how we take advantage of some of those
10:48 weaknesses.
10:51 It's going to do over product.
10:52 Josh, you guys had a great environment for this game four years ago when you
10:55 played in Cleveland.
10:56 What's the value of playing in a professional arena and against an
11:00 opponent of this caliber?
11:01 The value, you know, it's this it's we don't really look at it.
11:08 We'll kind of look at it as a road game really, but it's not true road game by
11:12 any means, but hopefully, you know, Mountaineer Nation shows us that same
11:16 kind of a type of support that they did for the football team in Charlotte.
11:21 And I think we'll have a great show in there in Cleveland.
11:24 So we're excited to get up there and take on a very, very good Big Ten
11:30 opponent and Ohio State and their role and we're trying to figure out exactly
11:35 who we are.
11:36 But I think we have a, you know, we have a heck of a roster right now that can
11:41 compete with about anybody.
11:42 Now, we have our challenges not having Jesse and not having a true five man,
11:47 but there's with with even with those challenges, we have some opportunities
11:52 to take advantage of some from our strengths.
11:54 Back to Kevin.
11:57 How is Jesse's timetable still looking good?
12:02 But how is he now one around a week removed from surgery?
12:06 I think whatever wrap or
12:08 cast he's got on his wrist, I think comes off after two weeks.
12:13 So we're a week into that.
12:16 I haven't heard anything in any way that that timetable has been
12:20 compromised by any means.
12:23 So I think we're still on that four week timetable.
12:26 And then one more if I don't, if you don't mind, uh, it seems like going back
12:34 to the UMass game, the offense is operating at its best when the three ball
12:39 is coming and volume as well.
12:41 Did you anticipate that?
12:43 And do you see high volume three point shooting being a part of your offense
12:48 going forward?
12:48 Yeah, we got it.
12:50 We certainly we certainly got to see some fall, especially the big good teams.
12:54 We can't we can't go out there and hit three or four.
12:56 We need to be hitting them, you know, eight or nine range.
12:59 So, um, no, it's it's it's certainly a different dynamic than we had before.
13:04 When you put Noah Farrakhan and Kirk Creasa, you know, Raekwon didn't play in
13:09 the UMass team, but Raekwon out there and you get two guys, especially between
13:15 Curd, Noah that can take advantage of defenses, especially as hard as Noah is
13:21 staying from.
13:22 He can he can get your paint touches and get downhill and spray that thing out.
13:27 And Curd is about as good as anybody reading defenses, manipulating, you know,
13:33 a pick and roll situation.
13:35 So, uh, yeah, I think we're going to get a lot more cleaner looks and we got
13:40 more shooters on the floor.
13:42 And certainly, you know, we were very one sided early without those guys to
13:48 where we had to force everything, probably over force things through Jesse
13:52 Edwards.
13:52 And we had to kind of play inside out.
13:55 Well, that was probably our advantage with with who we had in our rotation.
13:58 So, uh, yeah, that's going to continue to evolve.
14:02 And I see that as being way more balanced once Jesse comes in.
14:07 So we, you know, if shots aren't falling, we can throw it close.
14:10 But right now, as you see it, you know, are definitely our advantage.
14:14 They're our guard player.
14:15 He's a coach.
14:20 So something on a cook.
14:22 Just do you see him improving his conditioning over the last week?
14:27 And do you can you do you think he can get over that 24 minutes?
14:31 Or do you think that's maxed out?
14:33 I don't know.
14:34 It's I would love to see him get up to 30 minutes, but I just got to we just
14:41 got to take that day by day to figure out what he can handle.
14:45 Yeah, and in each game and each scenario is different and gets going into an
14:49 up and up and down battle and very little stoppage of play.
14:54 That's certainly going to it's going to hinder him.
14:56 But you can see he runs as good as anybody on the floor and he's going to
15:01 compete at the highest level, which starts competing at the highest level.
15:05 It's going to it's going to his his conditioning is going to start
15:09 faltering.
15:10 So I need him out there.
15:12 There's no question in terms of what he can do defensively and really need
15:16 to take that next step.
15:18 You know, and I think he did, you know, take that next step in terms of
15:21 rebound the ball against Toledo.
15:23 So, you know, but he can also score it.
15:26 So we need to get some, you know, some some bonus points by him soon making
15:32 a couple shots here and there and getting some extra second chance
15:36 opportunities for us.
15:37 So we need him on the floor, especially in the situation.
15:41 We're in we're going to have to rely on as much as we can and hopefully, you
15:46 know, as we continue to go each and every day, he's going to continue to
15:50 improve this condition.
15:55 Any other questions for coach?
15:56 Hey guys, thanks for calling in.
16:03 Appreciate it.
16:04 Thank you.
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