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00:00 I guess I wasn't easy, was it?
00:04 Yeah.
00:06 First thing that comes to mind, a tale of two halves.
00:09 Nothing was easy in that first half.
00:11 And like I said on the radio, I mean,
00:13 we got guys breaking out of our offense.
00:16 And I want to use selfish, but I don't want to use selfish.
00:20 I think they mean well.
00:22 But sometimes a little bit of frustration, a little ball
00:25 pressure, and I think they think they got to put their head down
00:28 and drive it, when in reality, a lot of times,
00:31 the pass is the best option.
00:33 So credit to our guys.
00:35 I told them they had an immense amount of resiliency, resolve.
00:40 Just like the George Mason game, we had some adversity,
00:43 and we stepped up to the plate and figured out a way to win.
00:47 So, Josh, players are just saying,
00:49 halftime isn't played awful, but only down six.
00:53 So you get encouragement, even though you
00:55 didn't play well the first half?
00:57 Yeah, 4 for 32.
00:59 And I told them, there's no way you
01:02 can shoot any worse than that.
01:05 And I've been in this building and seen a lot of games
01:07 here as part of the staff.
01:09 And I kept on thinking back to that Cincinnati game, where
01:12 we set a field goal percentage low.
01:14 I think it was like 20% for the game.
01:16 So we were right on track to get there in that first half.
01:21 I think we shot 14%.
01:22 So I told them, I said, you guys start to step up and shoot
01:26 the ball with confidence.
01:28 And I've seen it the last couple of days.
01:29 It seemed like everybody was hitting front rim.
01:31 We weren't really getting over the rim.
01:33 And maybe it's legs.
01:35 And I've been very concerned about trying
01:38 to make sure we keep these guys fresh, because we really do
01:40 have a short bench.
01:42 And something I'll have to be mindful of in the coming days.
01:45 Josh, I don't have the final box,
01:47 but Jesse gets a double-double.
01:51 And I'm guessing he probably maybe took the fewest shots
01:55 of all the starters tonight.
01:57 Just your thoughts on that, and how do you get that to evolve
02:01 as the season goes on with him?
02:03 Well, they did what they had to do defensively,
02:06 because they knew their inadequacy in terms of--
02:12 we had the advantage with Jesse down low.
02:14 Now, did we have the advantage if he made the right play
02:19 and got in the right people's hands?
02:21 I think he got to a point where he's forcing some things.
02:23 And sometimes Jesse's just going to have to play the part.
02:28 And he sees a double coming and make the right pass.
02:31 And I probably forced a little too hard.
02:34 But I wanted to get him as many touches as I could.
02:38 But you said, how many field goals did he shoot there?
02:44 Seven?
02:45 Yeah, we got to get him more shots one way or another.
02:49 But we certainly have a short bench.
02:54 And we've been playing with a lot of different rotations
02:57 in the last few days to try to figure out
02:59 some chemistry on the offensive end.
03:01 But I didn't think it was going to be that bad in the first
03:03 half.
03:04 But I feel like everybody locked in and figured out
03:07 a way to execute the sets in the second half, which
03:10 really made a difference.
03:11 Josh, obviously, you're going to tell them, hey, keep shooting.
03:14 Shots are going to fall.
03:15 But was it important that they were saying the same things
03:18 to themselves coming off the court at halftime
03:20 that they had already figured out that same message not
03:23 to get their heads down?
03:25 Yeah, I mean, confidence is so big in basketball.
03:28 It can make or break you in so many ways.
03:30 And I'm not the type of coach that's going to wear them down.
03:34 And I mean, I'm going to try to build them up as much as I can.
03:38 And I think there's an immense amount of pressure
03:42 on those guys.
03:43 And I hate to use the word selfish, like I said earlier.
03:46 But they're trying to break off the offense.
03:48 And things work a heck of a lot better
03:52 when everybody's on the same page and execute the sets
03:55 the way we draw them up.
03:57 Josh, before the game, I noticed that whole front row
04:02 window behind your bench looked like your family and friends
04:05 and grandfathers and everything else.
04:08 You hugged every one of them.
04:10 You kissed most of them.
04:12 What was going through your mind at that point in time?
04:14 I mean, first debut here in the Lakers.
04:18 Everybody kept on telling me.
04:19 I kept on hearing the same message.
04:21 Sit back and enjoy it.
04:22 Take in the moment.
04:24 Smile a little bit.
04:25 And it's hard to do.
04:27 It's easy to say.
04:28 It's hard to do.
04:29 I can smile a lot better now.
04:32 And I get that kind of sense of relief
04:34 and got that first one under my belt. But yeah, it was special.
04:39 Yesterday, I had a table for 20 in all the areas
04:42 with every single one of them was an Eilert.
04:44 So I got a big Catholic family.
04:48 And they're excited to back me.
04:51 And so two of my cousins and their families
04:54 and one of my brothers came up and made a weekend of it
04:57 to support me.
04:58 And it means so much to me that they made that effort
05:01 and somebody to celebrate with tonight.
05:05 Big table was a big bill, right?
05:07 Yeah, it was a big bill.
05:09 People picked it up.
05:10 I did.
05:11 When you go through that, you got your family there.
05:17 You're flying high.
05:19 This is my first game.
05:20 And what was the first half like?
05:23 I mean, nothing--
05:24 I wasn't flying high in the first half by any means.
05:26 I was sitting there looking up the ceiling a couple of times
05:29 like, what did I get myself into?
05:32 But like I told the guys, I mean,
05:34 we couldn't have shot it any worse in the first half.
05:37 So a lot of averages came into play.
05:43 So we shot it better.
05:44 And I don't know what we end up for the game.
05:46 But even our rebounding was a little better, 46 boards.
05:51 And so the majority of our goals came true.
05:55 I mean, we really took care of the ball.
05:57 I always tell these guys, when we keep it under nine,
06:00 we're in good shape.
06:01 So with a backup point guard, two backup point guards
06:04 with Kobe and JB, we only turned it over seven times
06:07 against a very good defensive team in Missouri State.
06:10 And that's where they hang their hat.
06:11 And they really gave us trouble.
06:13 So credit to them and their program.
06:16 They really gave us a rock fight there.
06:20 Players are saying after the game,
06:21 they gave you a Gatorade shower or water.
06:24 Yeah.
06:27 I had to change my shirt.
06:28 It was more of a Gatorade.
06:30 It was more of just Gatorade.
06:31 I mean, I couldn't see there for a couple minutes.
06:35 It was special.
06:37 I love each and every one of these guys.
06:38 And they're a reason they're a part of our program.
06:41 And I have an immense amount of trust in them.
06:45 And I hope it goes both ways.
06:47 And I think it does.
06:48 And we keep on building that chemistry
06:50 and keep moving forward.
06:52 So I'm excited about our guys and our roster and our staff.
06:56 And I think we're going in the right direction.
07:00 We've had some bad luck.
07:01 And things haven't went our way.
07:03 But I say bad things come in threes.
07:06 I think it came in about a dozen for me.
07:09 So I hope that turns around and we start riding
07:12 the tide the other direction.
07:14 Josh, down just 6 to 1/2.
07:17 I think you guys probably say you didn't play very well.
07:19 But that's reasonable under Nari.
07:22 A lot of free throws, but any reason for that?
07:24 Or any contributing causes to being down just 6?
07:28 I mean, they had their problems scoring too.
07:32 They certainly shot it a lot better in the second half.
07:34 But they had their problems scoring.
07:36 And no, it was hard to sit there and look
07:44 at that offensive production that really wasn't adequate.
07:48 And I keep on saying our offense has changed.
07:50 And we're way more efficient.
07:52 So I thought I was going to have to eat my words.
07:54 But we turned it around in the second half.
07:57 When you look at the box and what Seth gave you,
08:01 like 98% of that was the first seven minutes
08:04 of the second half.
08:07 He's obviously a streaky shooter over his career.
08:10 But how do you get what he did in those seven minutes
08:12 and spread it out over 40?
08:15 I probably-- I'm going to take credit for his bad shooting
08:18 in the first half.
08:19 And I thought a lot about my dad.
08:21 And he'd be really proud.
08:24 And he'd be here.
08:24 I lost him six years ago.
08:27 It wasn't long after that, Seth lost his dad.
08:29 And I told him before the game, I said, Seth,
08:32 your dad would be mighty proud of you.
08:34 And so he got a little emotional.
08:37 I got a little emotional.
08:38 I said, coach, you can't do that before the game.
08:42 So I'll take credit for the way he shot in the first half
08:46 just because I put that on him.
08:48 But I did want him to know how proud his dad would be of him
08:53 and how far he's come.
08:54 And he's had some resiliency and stuck through it.
08:57 And now he's one of the guys we're going to rely on.
08:59 Ofri, you got some good minutes tonight.
09:02 The players talked about him being
09:03 like a veteran in the freshman body.
09:06 Could you talk to what he brings to the team a bit?
09:08 No, he's been awesome.
09:09 He certainly didn't have his best game out there tonight.
09:11 He made a few mistakes.
09:12 But I know I can count on Ofri.
09:16 I've talked about it several different times.
09:19 He really does have a high basketball IQ, especially
09:22 for a freshman.
09:23 One of the highest I've seen come through here
09:25 as a freshman.
09:26 So once his body continues to develop,
09:30 he's going to be a very special player.
09:32 He's already a special player.
09:33 But as long as he has that growth mindset
09:35 and continues to get better, he might
09:37 be one of the best to ever play here as we move forward.
09:40 That's a big thing to say.
09:43 But that's how much I believe in him.
09:45 Along those lines, Seth gets hurt at the end there.
09:47 I think you have a timeout left to put Ofri in.
09:49 Do you think at all about if you give Seth 90 seconds,
09:51 he can get back in?
09:52 And you had Ofri triggering on the inbound too, which--
09:54 Yeah, I mean, he was cramping for several minutes prior to.
09:59 I think he kept on-- he fought through it.
10:02 But that one was the big one that hit him.
10:04 So I didn't think he was going to be very effective.
10:06 So it made sense to get Ofri in there.
10:09 Defensively, what did you think of your defensive effort?
10:12 Offense struggled in the first half, better in the second.
10:14 But what did you think of the defense overall?
10:16 For the most part, good.
10:18 The biggest problem we had was coming out of timeouts.
10:21 And I told those guys in the locker room afterwards,
10:24 we got to lock in on these timeouts.
10:26 We got to be on the same page.
10:28 I think we threw a 2-3 zone out there at one point,
10:30 and there's four guys on the same side.
10:32 I'm like, what are we doing?
10:34 So I think it got lost in translation,
10:37 because we did try to switch the defense several times
10:39 to keep them off guard.
10:41 But we lost track of some guys, and they made shots.
10:45 And credit to them, they made them.
10:47 Is part of that just figuring out how to run everything?
10:51 I mean, I know you had the not-so-secret scrimmage
10:54 in an exhibition game or whatever,
10:55 but you still got to figure out how everything works
10:59 and go through that as a staff.
11:01 Is that part of the learning process?
11:02 Oh, yeah.
11:03 We're learning.
11:05 I'm learning as the new head coach.
11:07 My assistants are all fairly new assistant coaches.
11:10 But we're all on the same page.
11:12 We just got to make sure we're communicating very well
11:15 with these guys.
11:16 So we're coming out of these timeouts,
11:17 we're all on the same page.
11:18 But they're building their chemistry.
11:20 We're building our chemistry as a staff each and every day.
11:24 I think everybody has an immense amount of trust and belief
11:26 in each other.
11:27 We just got to keep that going and keep that growth mindset.
11:30 Coach, obviously, you're--
11:32 Obviously.
11:34 Obviously, the situation Kobe was in,
11:38 eight points, four assists, zero turnovers.
11:40 Just what did you see out there?
11:42 What did you think with everything that he was--
11:45 Their strategy was to back off of Kobe.
11:47 And they were going to make Kobe beat us in the first half.
11:49 And so they were sagging off him and jamming everything up
11:54 in the paint.
11:54 But Kobe took good shots.
11:57 I don't think he's probably been in a position
12:00 to where he had to be the guy.
12:03 So he had to step up and make those.
12:04 Now, first half and second half, for Kobe,
12:07 was a tale of two halves.
12:09 Kobe really got more aggressive.
12:10 And I put him in a position to be more aggressive
12:12 and take it downhill at the rim and take advantage of his size.
12:16 And that's what we tried to do to begin the game.
12:18 But it didn't really work out as well for us.
12:21 I thought we would.
12:22 I thought we could isolate him and put him on a smaller guard
12:25 and score that early and get him going.
12:28 So it didn't quite work out the way I planned.
12:30 But that's kind of how it works in coaching sometimes.
12:33 Could you speak to the importance of this film
12:35 breakdown as you guys move forward?
12:38 Yeah, we got a quick turnaround.
12:40 We'll have tomorrow off.
12:42 We have to take tomorrow off.
12:44 We have no choice.
12:45 And then we got a two-day prep for Monmouth.
12:48 So we'll watch some of that.
12:51 But I think, for the most part, they know what they did wrong.
12:57 And you could tell by the difference in the two halves.
13:00 They know what they did wrong.
13:01 They just didn't execute.
13:03 They broke the offense.
13:05 So we'll break some of it down.
13:07 But more so than not, we're probably
13:09 going to move on to Monmouth and get ready for Monmouth.
13:13 Anything new with the Cook or Raekwon?
13:17 Nothing I can report at this point.
13:21 Coach, thank you.