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00:00 >> Yeah, first of all, I just wanna thank Mountaineer Nation and our fans and
00:05 everybody that showed up on the weather wasn't the best by any means.
00:10 And we still got 11-5 here for a team that needs all that support each and
00:16 every night because it really goes a long way with our energy and our program.
00:22 So first and foremost, credit to those fans and thank you so
00:26 much for being here and continuing to back us through this season.
00:31 So, hard fought victory, I think the buy in for us defensively and
00:37 some changes schematically was probably the key.
00:42 And our guys did a heck of a job in the last couple days and
00:46 made those changes and locked in on it and
00:50 had a lot to do with coming out with a victory tonight.
00:54 >> So Josh, some of those changes obviously must have been defense, but
00:57 just talk about the defense overall.
00:59 You've made, it's been a struggle this year, best game so far.
01:03 Did you like what you did defensively for some 22 turnovers?
01:06 >> Yeah, I didn't realize we turned them over 22 times.
01:10 That's gotta be the most all year by far.
01:15 And it wasn't pressure by any means.
01:17 It was, I told those guys, if we don't get spread and
01:23 take a different approach and not get so spread and have each other's back,
01:27 we can put as much ball pressure as possible if we pack it in a little bit.
01:31 So they bought into it and the credit to our staff.
01:36 Our staff really put together a real good game plan in terms of
01:41 implementing it on a short notice and excellent job by them and
01:48 owning the defensive end and locking in and selling it to our guys.
01:52 So credit to them and credit to our guys for buying in and locking in on it.
01:59 >> It was a very physical game.
02:00 How did you push the button?
02:02 What button did you push to get that out of the game?
02:06 >> I don't remember pushing a button, but whatever it was.
02:12 I certainly wanna, the message I had for two days,
02:18 I think came out of one of my assistants mouth when we're making some of these
02:23 changes, it's gotta be us versus them.
02:25 It's gotta be us versus them.
02:29 And I kept on reiterating that terminology through the two day process.
02:34 That our defense, we gotta feel that help side.
02:40 We gotta feel that from a ball pressure standpoint that
02:46 everybody's got each other's back.
02:48 And with some of the changes, you're gonna give up a lot more threes.
02:53 But going into the game, you probably looked at the first two games in
02:57 conference play, we were probably giving up close to 45 points in the paint.
03:02 And wasn't exactly stellar, but we only gave up 28 in the paint tonight.
03:07 >> I was just gonna ask about that.
03:10 I don't know how much you can get into what the defensive changes were, but
03:15 when you were coming up with them,
03:17 was it with that in mind, stopping those runs at the rim?
03:21 >> Then the isolations in the post.
03:23 You get too spread and you get the wrong matchup when you don't have
03:29 a true five out there, it becomes very hard to mitigate.
03:33 So yeah, we knew in the game of basketball,
03:38 it's always when you're game planning, you try to figure out what you're gonna live
03:42 with, and sometimes that might be a skip past three or
03:49 a mid-range shot and run somebody off line, whatever that may be.
03:53 But that's kind of the way we had to look at it.
03:56 It's like, okay, if we're gonna shore up the points in the paint,
03:59 we're gonna have to live with something.
04:00 And consequently, I know they got several of them late, but
04:04 they hit nine threes on us.
04:05 So there's always a weakness in every scheme defensively and
04:11 they shot the ball well.
04:13 And credit to probably one of the best pure shooters I've seen in the game.
04:19 And there's certainly a reason why he's got to where he's at,
04:23 with fifth in all time and three point makes.
04:26 He's a pure shooter and an ace miss, so he's a special player.
04:31 >> Josh, can you talk about Pat's performance tonight?
04:34 I mean, it just seemed like he had a look in his eye.
04:36 >> Yeah, I just keep on trying to feed that fire.
04:39 I told someone over at a radio show or something that he's had a couple
04:44 good games in a row and we keep on building on that.
04:47 And he's carrying himself differently.
04:49 You could see the confidence in his eyes.
04:51 And he's working as hard as anybody to take advantage of some of
04:56 these one on one opportunities when he's got space in practice.
05:02 And we saw the opportunity in game, we could go to him and
05:06 he took full advantage of them when we set them up.
05:11 So credit to him, he's been balling for us and he's locked in and
05:15 that's what we need at a top to bottom for us to be successful.
05:20 >> Your opponents have been trying to get the ball out of Karras hands, obviously.
05:23 So do you change the way the offense is set a little bit to maybe try to get him
05:27 to draw things, to create some opportunities for other people to set and
05:32 run it or is it just his ability to attack that?
05:36 >> As you saw, I ran three different guys out there at point at any given time.
05:41 So Kirk can play off the ball and sometimes that's even beneficial for
05:45 you because he can make the right pass on the turn.
05:48 And to get him get some movement and
05:51 then get him on the backside to make that pass or so.
05:55 But he's really good at taking care of the ball and getting double teams.
05:59 But we just in the last few games, we haven't punished people for
06:04 the double teams and that's why they continue to go to it.
06:07 And we talk about hockey assist and short rolls and we weren't short rolling and
06:12 we weren't making that extra pass and ball kept on sticking.
06:15 So we hit home with our guys the last couple days that we need to be way more
06:22 balanced and that ball is gonna move and we continue to work the offense and
06:27 work the offense.
06:28 I said, even going to the game, I told him,
06:32 I can live with a shot clock violation if you guys just run so
06:34 much offense and just keep on passing it.
06:37 I'll take that turnover.
06:38 But we really shared the ball and
06:43 we were way more team oriented on the offensive end of the night.
06:48 And so there's some changes offensively and some things we cleaned up, but
06:53 probably credit our defense in terms of how we won this game.
06:56 >> Your changes defensively,
06:58 was this something you had tried at some other point during the season or
07:02 was this completely new or?
07:03 >> For the most part, it's really tweaking a few things schematically.
07:09 It's not a whole lot different than what we've played in the past, but
07:12 we're just putting a lot more help side into the equation.
07:19 >> Coach, there have been a lot of close games that you guys have fallen on
07:23 the wrong side of this year.
07:26 Obviously the free throws late, did that kind of creep in your mind that here we
07:30 go again, any sense?
07:32 >> Yeah.
07:33 >> [LAUGH] >> It did.
07:35 Hopefully I didn't wear it on my face, but
07:41 it certainly, what do we leave 14 on the table and
07:48 probably some more in terms of one on ones.
07:51 I don't know how many one on ones we missed front ends.
07:53 But yeah, I mean, as a coach, you see those not falling late and
08:00 then you see a Smith's come down and hit the shots he's making.
08:03 Yeah, it was on my mind.
08:07 You try to just figure out how to put a clean slate but
08:12 and clear your mind in those situations.
08:15 But yeah, we wear some of those losses and they keep on carrying with us and
08:22 the season a couple of these games, two or three of these games go our direction.
08:26 And we put them in the right win loss column.
08:29 We probably have a lot more confidence right now.
08:34 But regardless, I keep on telling these guys,
08:36 I feel like we're kind of like the shooter in a slump.
08:39 So we gotta see one go down.
08:42 We gotta see one down and we can go down for us and
08:45 we can build on it and get that confidence rolling.
08:48 So hopefully that's the game that they realize that we're just as good as anybody.
08:55 We play each and every night if we play that way and we play that well together.
08:58 >> I'm sorry, if you look at really until like the last maybe three or
09:04 four minutes of the game when Aisman starts getting hot,
09:07 you guys are one of the line a lot.
09:09 Really up until that point, it was kind of one of those ugly,
09:13 muddy it up kind of games.
09:15 And I'm wondering, is that the style that you kind of want?
09:20 Cuz I know you had some ideas with offensively coming into the season.
09:23 >> It's kind of the style that the league plays.
09:25 >> Yeah.
09:26 >> The first 14 games after the Saturday, the first Saturday to Wednesday,
09:35 all 14 games have been played in the league.
09:37 And like I told him, I said that the average margin of victory is six.
09:42 And then the winners are on average scoring 71 and losers on average are scoring 65.
09:47 I was like, guys, we're giving up 85 points a game after two games.
09:51 So we can pinpoint some things on the offensive end and
09:56 tweak some things and be more efficient there.
09:58 But at the end of the day, in this league, you gotta hang your hat on defense.
10:03 And it's really, really hard to give up two and
10:07 try to get three quick on the other end to have that mentality and win games.
10:11 You're not just gonna outscore people.
10:13 So the chemistry and the changes we made on the defensive end,
10:17 that's probably the reason we won.
10:19 But also the buy-in offensively to get better looks and
10:24 not be so quick with our shot selection.
10:29 >> Josh, you added somebody to the roster.
10:32 Had that transpired?
10:33 He come to you, you went to him?
10:35 And what couldn't Aiden eventually provide?
10:38 >> Well, I met Aiden probably over a year ago.
10:42 I was out on the recruiting trail out in Kentucky and
10:46 I met him and I saw him play for the first time when I was scouting someone else.
10:54 And they introduced me to him because he was committed to West Virginia to play
10:59 football, and he's a good basketball player.
11:03 And he was a tough-minded, strong guard and he competed.
11:08 And he was such a nice young man and I carried on that relationship with him.
11:14 And I told him when I get to Morgantown, come by the office and
11:18 if you need anything, let me know.
11:20 Happy to help in any way.
11:22 And he took me up on that.
11:24 He showed up in the fall and stopped by and introduced himself to the staff.
11:28 And I told him, I said, if you wanna get a run in,
11:32 I know he loves the game of basketball, come by and jump in open gym with our guys.
11:37 And so he played a couple opportunities he took to play with our guys and so
11:41 our guys knew him.
11:42 And he'll text me from time to time throughout the season and
11:49 stayed in touch.
11:51 And once then when football was over, he hit me up and said,
11:55 would you mind can I take you up on that offer coming in and joining the team?
12:00 And I said, sure, love to have you.
12:03 And he's just a high character kid and a guy that wants to compete every day.
12:07 And we're really happy to have Aiden in whatever capacity that may be.
12:11 >> Did Coach Brown just sort of work it out?
12:14 >> Yeah, we had a couple conversations even in the fall about it before he jumped
12:19 into open gym and he was good with it.
12:22 And I certainly wanna make sure that was good with Coach Brown.
12:27 And football is his priority and it'll continue to be his priority.
12:31 But if he can help us and he wants to be involved,
12:35 I'd love to have him each and every day.
12:37 And so with Aiden, we're 1-0, so it's going in a good direction.
12:41 >> [LAUGH] >> Josh, in a tight game like this,
12:43 there's hundreds of plays almost that seem to be key,
12:48 that keep changing as it goes on.
12:50 Sometimes some of them are overlooked.
12:52 >> What was A.Cook's blocked shot and the three-pointer he made?
12:57 I mean, I thought they made a big difference in the game.
12:59 >> Yeah, huge difference, huge difference.
13:02 And I gave all those guys a hug and I was so happy for all of them.
13:06 And the celebration was fun.
13:09 And when I gave Cook a hug, he was smiling ear to ear and
13:12 he said, defense is fun, isn't it?
13:15 So he can make a lot of money in his career, wherever that may be,
13:20 just with that niche, he can really affect shots.
13:25 And he's playing out of position too right now and he's not happy with it.
13:30 But I wouldn't say he's not happy with it, he'd rather be playing his position,
13:35 but he's doing everything he can to help us win.
13:38 And he's not a five man by any means, but
13:45 we only had Jesse to start the year and we didn't have depth there.
13:48 So losing Jesse and then having Cook and Pat do everything they can for
13:54 us to shore that up and guard those fives in our league,
13:59 it's a challenge for both of them.
14:02 Pat's a lot bigger and stronger, but Cook's got that quick twitch and
14:06 can change shots down there.
14:08 But yeah, I love guys like that as a coach,
14:13 you want guys that have that approach, defense is fun.
14:17 It's gonna help us going down as we head into league play and
14:24 get deep into league play.
14:26 >> Kind of like the Ohio State game where Ray Quan got in that early foul trouble in
14:30 that game, and yet you guys are playing and then you had to lead.
14:36 Same thing tonight, he gets the early foul trouble and
14:38 then you guys still have to lead at halftime.
14:40 What's the transition?
14:43 I mean, obviously you don't want to tell the kid not to be aggressive.
14:47 And then are you surprised by the way you guys continue to play when he's on the bench?
14:51 >> No, I'm not surprised by it.
14:52 And that's kind of the reason why I changed the lineup today.
14:57 Not only is between Kobe and Noah, they're some of our best defenders,
15:03 but from a rotational standpoint, I mean, Noah didn't do anything wrong by any means.
15:07 But he took on the role and said, yeah, I'm fine coming off the bench.
15:12 And not only does he come in as an extra ball handler if you need to get Kerr out,
15:17 he also is a dynamic scorer if you need to get Ray out.
15:21 So starting all three of those guys,
15:25 we kind of saw that if we had to start our rotations early and
15:30 get those guys out, they all need a blow at the same time, it becomes an issue.
15:35 So he's 100% bought into the team and took that role and said, yeah,
15:39 absolutely, coach.
15:41 And you don't wanna upset anybody that's done nothing wrong.
15:47 But when you approach it like that and you got a kid that's all in about the team,
15:51 and he said, let's do it.
15:53 It makes everything a lot more helpful for a coach.
15:58 >> One more on Aiden for me,
16:01 they let you in the gym because their coach is a pit guy, right?
16:05 >> Yeah, but I mean, he's a great guy and
16:10 he's actually really connected to Aiden, even personally.
16:16 But Jamar Johnson and his coach actually played together.
16:22 So they had that connection as well.
16:26 And we were just out there recruiting last week, so
16:31 got a chance to chop it up with them again.
16:32 But he's just a program guy,
16:35 a guy that's gonna give everything he's got every single day.
16:39 And who doesn't want another strong, defensive minded guy on the floor each and
16:44 every day to turn up the pressure and practice?
16:46 And if that's all he does, that's helpful to us.
16:50 >> Did he play any game?
16:51 I mean, you haven't seen him enough maybe to determine.
16:53 >> We haven't.
16:54 If it works out and everybody's okay with it,
16:58 I have no problem with putting him in if the situation calls for him.
17:02 >> I mean, he's just so far behind in terms of what we've done thus far.
17:07 So it will be, I could see him being a very vital member of our scout team in
17:12 the short term, but trying to learn everything that we have in place right now
17:18 might be a challenge, and especially this late.
17:22 But he is a very bright kid, so we'll see how that transpires.
17:25 >> Josh, Quinn, I think he played the last eight minutes and
17:29 a lot of good things happened when he was in there too.
17:30 Is that first step back toward where you want him to be, where he wants to be?
17:35 >> Yeah, I mean, I need Quinn, and we need him to get that swagger back.
17:42 But having him on the floor, especially he's a really good decision maker.
17:47 Even when shots aren't falling, he can make good decisions with the ball and
17:52 probably our best passer to forward position.
17:55 So you can run a lot of things through him.
17:57 So I feel it's really nice from our standpoint to have Quinn taking that
18:03 ball out when you put the guards in the press break and they can get open.
18:08 So that's very helpful and it was huge down the stretch.
18:12 And I think he missed any free throws, I think he missed a couple.
18:16 But yeah, typically you're gonna trust Quinn to knock all those down at
18:21 the free throw line there late, so.
18:23 >> And then it was brief, you played a cook and Pat together too.
18:28 Situational, is that something you wanted to try out?
18:30 I mean, probably can't do it too much.
18:31 >> We look at that, but the problem is if they both need out at the same time.
18:35 So, Cook's certainly more of a four than Pat is.
18:42 Pat's become, he can shore us up defensively from the five,
18:49 probably easier than a cook can.
18:51 So I have no problem playing them together.
18:53 It's just gotta be right situation rotational with your rotations.
18:59 Thank you.