Josh Eilert UCF Preview G2
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00:00 Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. We'll go ahead and get started with Coach
00:06 Eilert and we'll turn it over for questions.
00:11 Good morning. You know, looking back to the last three games and certainly trying to figure
00:17 out how we maximize our potential moving forward here and as we finish the season with the
00:26 games we have remaining in the conference tournament, I think the biggest thing I like
00:31 to look at is what we can't control. And that's the biggest thing is taking care of the ball.
00:39 We look at three games, it looks like nearly 75 points off our turnovers in the last three
00:45 games and that's either us or execution or us being sped up and making bad decisions.
00:52 And so that's one of my key concerns moving forward and something cleaning that up, you
00:58 know, outside of what we've, you know, been worried about from day one is cleaning up
01:03 possessions and finishing possessions with a rebound and not given, you know, all these
01:09 teams second chance points, which Baylor certainly took advantage of us and scored on probably
01:15 the nine out of 10 possessions in terms of second chance points. So looking forward to
01:21 working on a good central Florida team and welcoming them to the Coliseum and trying
01:27 to figure out, you know, how we're, you know, we had a dismal performance down there in
01:32 Orlando and we're looking forward to having them in our home arena.
01:36 Let's go first to Greg Hunter.
01:39 So Josh, you sort of covered this a little bit right there. When you get this deep into
01:43 the season, how much really can you improve and especially in areas that you've been deficient
01:48 for much of the year?
01:50 You know, you show a lot of it's, it's, it's, it's the things that you're consistently not
01:58 shoring up, you know, there's, there's times we've been very good at taking care of the
02:02 ball and there's, there's times we've been sloppy with it. So trying to find, you know,
02:07 the areas that we can, you know, the small areas that we can control. And then, like
02:12 I said, in, in the post game press conference, you know, it's not always on the guards, you
02:16 know, the guards will take a lot of heat sometimes with, for taking care of the ball, but sometimes
02:20 it's you know, our effort and our cuts and our, our timing in terms of running our offensive
02:26 sets and getting open. Sometimes that can be the blame as well, but we certainly need
02:31 to value the basketball better and work for that absolute best shot. You know, these live
02:36 ball turnovers in the last, last three games have has certainly, you know, killed us. So,
02:41 you know, like you said, you know, these quick turnarounds, you know, so one, two day preps
02:47 and a lot of situations. So you got to figure out what you can, especially in a situation
02:52 you play a team twice, what is the biggest thing that, you know, is going to, you know,
02:57 move the needle in terms of, you know, being successful from the last time you played them.
03:01 And defensively sort of the same thing though. What, what is it that you think that, you
03:04 know, is there a pattern you can find that can help you guys get better there?
03:08 Yeah. I mean, finishing possessions is the biggest one. I had our, our data people or
03:14 analytics people break down and show them the difference of, you know, if we're, we're
03:19 set in our half court defense and what our, what our teams are shooting or our opponents
03:25 are shooting field goal percentage wise, you know, if they don't get a second chance point
03:30 or there or worse, we have a set defense and, and they're not coming downhill, you know,
03:36 off a live ball turnover off the turnover in general. And those numbers are staggering.
03:42 And that's just us trying to control the game and the way we can control it. And that's
03:45 one taking care of the ball, which I keep telling these guys, we have to control the
03:49 game with our offense. And one of that, just getting a really good shot or two, you know,
03:55 getting our defense set because, you know, you know, we executed really well and we didn't
03:59 turn it over. And then the other side of the coin is, is just finishing possessions with
04:04 a rebound. So if first, the first opportunity it against a set defense, you know, our field
04:10 goal percentage defense is pretty good. And that's where we got to get to, to where we're,
04:15 you know, our, our defenses, again, not putting up terrible position and we're checking out
04:19 and finishing possessions.
04:20 Let's go to John.
04:21 You mentioned in your remarks about the disappointing performance down at central Florida, what was
04:29 it to really bothered you with the way you played down there?
04:33 Their physicality, physicality was that, you know, we didn't match that physicality. We
04:38 didn't handle it well. We didn't turn the ball over all that many times, if I remember
04:42 right, you know, by the numbers, take a look at it here, but what was it? You know, we
04:49 had 11 turnovers down there, which isn't a crazy, you know, you won't keep that under
04:53 single digits and single digits. But I think more than anything, their pressure sped us
04:59 up and we bailed on a lot of our actions and we didn't, we didn't certainly execute, you
05:06 know, to the standard that we need to execute to be successful. And, you know, they, the
05:11 pressure bothered us, they sped us up and we kind of put our head down and drove it.
05:15 And when in reality, we should have just moved the ball and kept the ball moving and kept,
05:21 you know, making that extra pass instead of, you know, feeling that pressure and just trying
05:26 to fight it with a dribble.
05:29 One more here real quick on central Florida. They've only won once since they played, you
05:33 guys played them. What have you seen from them of late, particularly in this three game
05:37 losing streak?
05:38 You know, they're going through the same thing, you know, that we're going through trying
05:41 to, trying to grind out wins. And, and you know, the big game that I point to is, is
05:47 that BYU game, you know, they go to BYU and, and you know, they, they, they put an enormous
05:54 amount of points on the board there late and, and they got to the free throw line, I believe
05:59 42 times. And so, you know, they're not, they didn't shoot it all that well until late in
06:05 the game, which they've made some, some, some, you know, tough shots there late in the game,
06:10 but they're fighting their claw and they're doing everything they can to, to, to be successful
06:15 and successful in this league. And we're kind of in the same boat trying to figure that
06:19 out.
06:20 Dustin.
06:21 Hey coach, good morning. How are you?
06:28 Morning, Dustin. How are you?
06:30 I'm fine. Hey, that first game against UCF, I think it was like 37, 38% you guys shot.
06:40 Josiah came off the bench and was the only guy in double figures, I believe I might be
06:44 wrong on that, but now you're coming off a game in which, you know, rake one gets more
06:51 than 20, Jesse gets more than 20. Kind of the first game where they've been able to
06:59 kind of go off at the same time. What can you take from that moving forward as far as,
07:07 you know, how much differently offensively you guys can be as compared to the first time
07:11 you guys played UCF?
07:13 Well, Jesse didn't play in the first game. So we'll have, we'll be playing them with
07:19 our full roster and playing at home. So that certainly should help and it should help from
07:24 the rebounding perspective, should help from the physicality perspective in which way they
07:28 play. So yeah, I mean, more than anything, you look back at all our sets and our execution,
07:35 it might've been one of the worst executed offensive production we ever had. You know,
07:39 like I said, you know, the pressure bothered us, the pressure bothered us and got us sped
07:44 up. So we need to clean up what we can clean, clean up. And it can't be, you know, us against
07:51 us. It's gotta be us against them. You know, and sometimes in that game, it felt like we
07:55 were disjointed in a lot of ways and we weren't on the same page. And that was a credit to,
08:01 you know, how they were playing us defensively. So our mindset's gotta be different going
08:05 into this game and understand that, you know, we're not gonna, we're not gonna drive it
08:09 into those, you know, you know, Diala is one of the best shot blockers in the league. We
08:14 need to drive a kick rather than drive and try to go up through these guys.
08:19 In terms of that Raekwon, Jesse combo there, their output against Baylor, can you move
08:29 forward with that thinking, okay, we, you know, we could get some consistency there
08:34 and now we got to find that third guy or was the Baylor game maybe just like one of those
08:42 nights for those two, if that question makes sense. I mean, no, I think those guys, we
08:46 need consistency out of, you know, four or five guys, right. Just can't be two guys.
08:52 And we need to be, and what, like I said about Baylor from day one, I mean, the reason they're
08:58 so good is they get a consistent offensive production out of, you know, six or seven
09:03 guys and you never know which way it's going to, what they're going to hit you with and
09:08 who's going to hit you from night in and night out. And, you know, we can't be a one or two
09:13 side attack. It's, it's, you know, we got to have four or five different lethal options
09:17 out there. And we have the guys that capable of making shots and, and be in a balanced
09:22 team. And that's where we got to get to. Thank you, coach. Appreciate it.
09:26 Any other questions for coach?
09:31 Go back to Greg.
09:35 Josh, just give me your evaluation on the attitude of this team, especially, you know,
09:41 when they struggle, they kept their heads up.
09:44 Yeah, there's a couple moments in the game, you know, you know, I remember, you know,
09:50 there's 24 minutes left in the game, you know, we're four minutes left to go before halftime.
09:55 And I had a guy, a lot of guys looking down, said, what are we doing? You know, and there's
10:00 a few moments in there, you just kind of got to check them like, and they respond well,
10:05 it's just, you know, we went through a lot of struggles this year, trying to keep everybody's
10:09 head up and, and focused. And for the most part, they've been that way. And they've,
10:15 they've reacted and competed and been resilient. But we got, we got to do a better job managing
10:21 some certain points in the game. And like I told him, you know, I look back at all the
10:26 conference games, you know, we had a long discussion yesterday, look back at it. And
10:31 the way we're starting the second half is critical to our success. And we got to be
10:38 better coming out of halftime. You know, the three, three wins we got in league, we won
10:43 that first four minutes or tied it at least tied it, you know, the the other, you know,
10:49 what are the eight games, you know, we've had in conference play, they the opponents
10:54 won that first four minutes. So the way we're ending the first half, and the way we're
11:00 beginning the second half is going to be critical to our success. And we look back at the TCU
11:05 game, how we kind of manage last, you know, two or three minutes of the first half and
11:09 the BYU game, and how I kind of went from a two or three point game to a double digits
11:17 deficit going into half is critically important. So that's something you know, we've stressed,
11:24 you know, highly in the last day or so and, and trying to figure out, you know, how we
11:28 keep everybody's head on straight, and we continue to fight and compete and try to get
11:34 us another another win, you know, here on Tuesday.
11:36 Great carry.
11:39 Josh, what is Seth's status? Will he be available tomorrow?
11:44 I don't think no, Seth's not going to be here for tomorrow's game. Looking at the services
11:51 here today, and he's still nursing that groin injury as well. So I'm not trying to rush
11:57 him back by any means. And, you know, they had the viewing yesterday and Coach McCabe
12:02 and Kyle Kiesler headed up there to spend some time with him. And, and so, you know,
12:08 it's sad situation for him and his family. And, you know, we'll see him, you know, coming
12:15 up this weekend, but I don't anticipate having him here tomorrow.
12:19 Any other questions for Coach?
12:25 Thanks, everyone.
12:30 Thank you.