Mountaineers Now Postgame Show: H-Town Beat Down
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 Welcome into the Mountaineers now post game show presented by Country Roads
00:13 air duct cleaning take me home to comfort and
00:15 well this one wasn't a comforting one Chris it was a blowout in H town 89 to 55.
00:21 West Virginia falling quick look here at the numbers.
00:25 Rayquan battle one of his off days actually his first as a Mountaineer he
00:29 was only scored four points in the on the day was one of nine from the field of
00:33 three from three point range Pat Sumnick actually led the way for
00:37 West Virginia 12 points five board six of a shooting and a familiar name.
00:42 For Mountaineer fans LJ Cryer the former Baylor bear who's tortured the Mountaineers
00:47 over the years goes over to Houston puts up 20 points seven of 12 from the floor.
00:52 This one was just over from really the minute this one tipped up into the air
00:57 Chris I don't really know that many gave West Virginia a chance to think the ESPN
01:01 BPI so they had a 1.1% chance to win this game but
01:06 I actually thought they were gonna hang around a little bit for this one but
01:10 they just came out flat and look lost from the very get go.
01:13 >> Yeah battle getting in a foul trouble early didn't help anything and
01:17 then obviously missing Jesse in the middle is really a problem.
01:23 So I mean, you just kind of these games is just kind of is what it is.
01:26 You just kind of chalk it up to this is a new team.
01:31 Have you had to all play together?
01:32 I think that's what their fifth game with Kurt and Noah and fourth game with battle.
01:40 So I think everybody just kind of needs to hope and
01:43 have some optimism that when Edwards comes back and
01:46 about a month into it when he comes back, you're preparing for big turn.
01:51 Big 12 tournament and just hope that you can make a run in there to get in the NCA
01:55 because those are the working ground to get to that point.
01:59 But yeah, there's a lot of work to be done.
02:01 Herd Island post game he obviously said that they didn't execute what they
02:06 practice going into the game didn't execute the game plan.
02:09 And a lot of that just had to do with Houston's defense.
02:11 They stay on you the physical.
02:14 One of those teams that the one of the worst things in all sports is they could
02:19 call foul each and every down on the floor.
02:21 Well, if it's foul, it's foul call it.
02:23 But I mean, that's just not how the game works.
02:26 But they're tough defense way.
02:27 I think they force a bunch of turnovers.
02:29 You can look at their schedule and say it's suspect.
02:31 I don't think they're the third ranked team in the country, but
02:34 to be determined it's so early in baseball play.
02:37 Can't really make a lot of the non conference.
02:39 They did go and Xavier to win.
02:41 Yes, Xavier is not what they usually are.
02:43 They did be the good Dayton team.
02:45 And someone another I guess if you want to call it G5 but not really in basketball.
02:50 You could say there's really about eight power leagues in college basketball.
02:54 So it's kind of got to chalk these up.
02:56 Take them on the chain as you can.
02:59 West Virginia is isn't like the downfall of the basketball program.
03:02 They'll be back quickly.
03:03 They can teams will get their shots when they can because we'll be back.
03:07 They'll be back next year whether it's out or not.
03:09 They'll have a whole off season to prepare with one another and
03:12 not doing things on the fly like they are now.
03:14 So it's unfortunate for everybody kind of involved.
03:18 But I think there's still optimism as the season goes once Jesse gets back and
03:23 they can kind of figure out how they're all gonna play together.
03:25 Cuz right now playing this guard three, four guards at a time,
03:30 just not having much success.
03:31 These guys just aren't, you know, bad.
03:33 I couldn't take his guys one on one, but they're throwing up their kind of lean and
03:37 double teaming them kind of saw that today.
03:40 At times he was triple teamed.
03:42 >> Yeah.
03:42 >> He just got to keep his head up, make passes.
03:45 You kind of mentioned it just wasn't his day today.
03:48 Wasn't his day passing the ball, wasn't his day shooting the ball,
03:50 wasn't his day doing anything correctly.
03:53 >> You know what this kind of reminds me of to some extent,
03:57 maybe not as bad as what they were a couple of years ago.
04:02 But when Iowa State went like two and 22, and everyone's like,
04:06 Iowa State's gonna be bad for the next few years.
04:09 Gonna take them a while to get them turned around.
04:11 TJ Oetzelberger comes in and immediately flips that thing.
04:16 The very first season he's, or the very next season.
04:19 And all of a sudden, they've been one of the top teams in the Big 12 ever since.
04:22 I'm not saying this team is as bad as that Iowa State team is,
04:26 cuz I clearly think they're not.
04:28 And I don't know how quickly this thing will turn.
04:30 But in this day and age with the portal and all these moving parts,
04:35 I think you can make these things much better than you maybe were able to eight or
04:41 ten years ago.
04:41 Now, you're gonna have to replace guys,
04:43 because some of these guys aren't gonna be here next year.
04:45 And with the new coaching staff coming in,
04:48 you're probably gonna lose some guys anyway.
04:50 But yeah, I'm with you on that.
04:52 I don't think this is something that's gonna put the program back three or
04:55 four years.
04:56 It's just getting to the finish line at this point.
04:59 When you're five and nine, unless you run the table here,
05:03 [LAUGH] just waiting out the rest of your games,
05:06 you're not making the NCAA tournament as an at large bit.
05:10 You can maybe lose one other game, but you're gonna have to really just
05:15 kind of prepare yourself to get to the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City and
05:20 just hope you strike magic, right?
05:23 I mean, that's your best bet at this point.
05:25 >> Yeah, they can probably finish 19 and 14 or something,
05:28 still have a chance just depending what wind you pick up along the way.
05:32 I mean, you look around every night,
05:35 teams are losing to what they call inferior teams, right, the mid majors.
05:39 There's gonna be a lot of blemishes on a lot of resumes out there, so
05:43 I don't necessarily think you have to go crazy, but you have to pick up some wins.
05:47 A game like this doesn't matter in the scheme of things, but yeah,
05:52 you're gonna have to collect some wins.
05:55 And only losing four more games probably in conference play at best five,
06:00 that's a heck of conference resume in this league.
06:03 If you were able to pick up some wins in the Big 12 conference tournament,
06:07 all of a sudden you can start looking, hey, look at us, look at us.
06:11 Again, cuz there's a lot of teams out there that's gonna be vying for
06:14 larger bids, that's gonna have some tough marks on their record.
06:19 So nothing's lost here, they just gotta get Edwards back.
06:24 You guys kind of survive these next couple weeks.
06:27 We've been saying that all year, just survive until you get Kerr back,
06:29 survive and battle.
06:30 >> That's the theme of the season.
06:31 >> I had a surprise with Noah.
06:34 And I think Samson said the best, most snakebitten program in the country right
06:38 now, and it's frustrating for everybody involved.
06:42 But just kind of gotta sit back and say, you know what,
06:46 get yours in now because the Boundaries will be back.
06:49 Ben Baker is a basketball guy, you can kind of look at his hire with Mark Kellogg.
06:54 And say maybe he knows a thing or two about hiring some head basketball coaches.
06:59 It's kind of whether he sticks with Eilert or not,
07:02 but you just kind of gotta trust his decision at this point.
07:04 >> Yeah, when he was in North Texas, he got great McCaslin there, and
07:07 I look where McCaslin's at.
07:09 He's the head coach of Texas Tech.
07:10 So I mean, I think you gotta trust him for sure.
07:14 Back to this real quickly before we get out of here.
07:16 I think the one big issue outside of maybe the chemistry on the offensive end
07:22 has to be the paint defense, right?
07:25 I mean, this has been a constant theme throughout the year,
07:28 whether Jesse Edwards was in the lineup or not.
07:30 Tonight they gave up 48 points in the paint.
07:33 I get they're short on big bodies underneath, but even when Jesse comes back,
07:38 you're still gonna have to deal with that.
07:39 Because like I said, it wasn't the greatest of things when he was in the lineup.
07:42 So what do they need to do to fix that interior defense?
07:47 >> Better communication, better defense in general from individuals.
07:52 >> Talk about it.
07:55 >> Yeah, they're always slow to react and
07:57 some of that has to do with communication.
08:01 It's just we're in an age where kids aren't being taught properly defense.
08:06 I mean, hugs, we've talked about rebounding.
08:11 If you look kind of past Press Virginia,
08:14 what was West Virginia able to do defensively?
08:17 They weren't great defensively and they weren't great rebounding defensively.
08:20 It's just a day and age where kids aren't being taught these things.
08:23 And you don't have guys in the program that stick around for three,
08:26 four years to be taught properly.
08:28 >> Yeah.
08:28 >> It's just most of these guys when they grow up,
08:33 they're not dependent to be the rebounder.
08:36 The guy that has to go tearing through the floor or the top defender.
08:39 They have to be taught that.
08:42 They were always the star, never had to do this, the little thing.
08:45 So when you bring all these stars in from other programs,
08:47 they didn't have to do it.
08:49 You're kind of left with the same result and they're playing catch up all season
08:52 with guys like Houston where you've had guys in that program for
08:57 at least two or three years and bring in a crier who's a veteran who can just
09:00 kind of blend in with ease.
09:02 It's the way it is.
09:03 So that's where you kind of want West Virginia at this point.
09:06 West Virginia has always had success, whether it's football or
09:09 basketball, with program veterans.
09:12 Guys, those undervalued guys coming out of high school and they built them up and
09:16 got them bigger, stronger, and they understood their assignment.
09:19 And they played well together.
09:21 It's gonna be hard to do these days, but with the NIL,
09:24 you can keep that together with the NIL.
09:27 You're starting to see that with football right now.
09:29 So that's where West Virginia needs to go.
09:32 I know coaches have a different philosophies right now to either you're
09:36 all in on Porter or you're either all in on high school guys.
09:39 I guess it's just how you view it.
09:40 But they got a place where it's like with Virginia,
09:42 you're not gonna go get a Hunter Dickinson out of the portal.
09:45 I don't think that they have that type of money just kind of just spend on one
09:48 player for basketball.
09:49 And you're gonna need more than one player.
09:52 So we'll see how it turns out, see how that all shakes out.
09:56 But right now it's a frustrating watch all around.
10:00 >> It definitely is.
10:01 But there's plenty of opportunities, like we said, left on the docket for
10:04 the Mountaineers.
10:05 Three of the next four games are not only at home, but
10:08 three of those next four games are against ranked opponents.
10:11 Now it's not gonna line up where the ranked opponents are all at home.
10:13 But you get the point.
10:15 There's opportunities on the table in a quick turnaround, actually,
10:18 at least a few recently where it seems like they were going one game a week for
10:22 three weeks.
10:23 So West Virginia returns home Tuesday night,
10:26 seven o'clock tip on ESPN Plus against Kansas State.
10:30 They're 10 and three.
10:31 They've got a game, I believe with UCF, is that today?
10:35 Yeah, tonight at six o'clock.
10:37 So their big 12 opener will be underway here in a little bit.
10:41 But West Virginia returns home, trying to get back on the winning side of things.
10:46 And we'll see if they can flush us one and get back on track.
10:49 So for Christopher Hall, I'm Skylar Callen.
10:52 You've been watching the Mountaineers Now postgame show presented by Country Roads
10:55 Air Duct Cleaning.
10:56 Take me home to comfort.
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11:06 Take care.
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