Josh Eilert Oklahoma Preview
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00:00 Members of the media, we are ready to start our Zoom conference with West Virginia basketball
00:09 coach Josh Eilert.
00:11 Coach we'll go directly to an opening statement from you.
00:14 Good morning, everybody.
00:15 Just I know it's a blistering one out there and just want to reiterate to our fans and
00:24 thank them for their support on on Saturday.
00:28 You know, we really fed off that energy that they brought and got a great win.
00:33 And like I told our guys, it's not exactly where we want to be at this point in time
00:38 in our season.
00:39 But, you know, we've dealt with all the challenges.
00:42 Let's move forward.
00:43 Let's build on where we're at in the conference season.
00:46 So good top 25 win at home and look forward to another exciting challenge going on the
00:52 road to Norman and playing a really tough opponent, you know, at their place and a tough
00:57 three game stretch between, you know, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
01:01 So we're we practiced yesterday, took took Sunday off, mandatory day off on Sunday and
01:09 practiced yesterday, prepared, started the preparation for Oklahoma.
01:14 Today we'll travel out.
01:16 Looks like we'll be flying out of Pittsburgh today due to the issues with, you know, conditions
01:23 and Clarksburg and and our charter issues.
01:27 So we'll be flying out of Pittsburgh.
01:29 So it's going to make it a little bit longer travel day, but we'll be leaving here at 11
01:33 o'clock and and headed up the road to, you know, charter out to Norman.
01:38 And we plan to practice when we get there this evening and Lloyd Noble.
01:42 So great challenge for us and an exciting opportunity to go out and, you know, a top
01:49 15 program on the road.
01:51 And hopefully we can build off some of the momentum that we we, you know, mustered up
01:56 on on Saturday.
01:57 So they're coming off a couple of losses and I'm sure they're hungry.
02:01 And we talked about the mindset from our standpoint.
02:05 We're not we're not content by any means.
02:08 And that should be the standard in our program moving forward, that we can beat anybody any
02:15 given night if we play together and we play well together and we lock in on the game plan.
02:22 Thanks coach.
02:23 Our first question will go to Greg Hunter.
02:26 So Josh, you mentioned a little bit of the travel issues.
02:28 So I mean, just sort of follow up with that a little bit.
02:32 You had no problems getting out of Harvest Ridge.
02:33 It looks like you're in your office and you have to go gather up some players.
02:38 Some of them probably haven't driven in snow.
02:40 Do you have to go around them up a little bit?
02:42 You know, some of our staff members have four wheel drive trucks.
02:45 I assume if we're having issues right now, hopefully they're out gathering up as we speak.
02:50 I haven't heard of any issues getting in at this point, but certainly wouldn't be surprised
02:55 if we're late getting out of here trying to get everybody here to the bus and ready to
03:00 go.
03:01 And I'm sure that bus ride is going to take some time to get up to Pittsburgh.
03:05 But it is the travels of beasts in this league and is certainly as hard as anybody in our
03:14 program trying to figure out getting places efficiently.
03:18 So nothing you can control.
03:20 So we jump on the bus at 11 and start heading north and fly out of Pittsburgh, fly into
03:26 Oklahoma City and then make that drive from Oklahoma City to Norman.
03:30 So it'll be a long travel day and we'll adjust our practice accordingly this evening to figure
03:36 out, you know, based on, you know, what our legs are like by the time we get to the end
03:41 of the day to get to practice this evening.
03:44 So the second question from that, just road games in general, Big 12 especially, but every
03:50 everybody, you know, road victories are precious.
03:54 You know, you guys obviously have problems at Houston, but you saw Kansas at UCF, Houston
03:58 at Iowa State.
04:00 Why are road wins so difficult to get?
04:04 A combination of things.
04:05 I mean, one of the first things I look at when I look at the, our schedule, especially
04:11 when you look up a matchup, you look at days of rest prior to, for instance, looking into
04:18 the, you know, Kansas place tonight and we play tomorrow and we go head to head on Saturday.
04:26 So they'll have an extra day at rest prior to playing us.
04:30 So those things come into factor, you know, those are, those are huge in this league,
04:35 especially when you get into mid January, February when rest is as important as anything.
04:41 So you know, anytime you have to spend more time traveling it's certainly a detriment
04:50 to your program.
04:51 So there's nothing you can do about it.
04:53 You know, every team has a different scenario and situation and we know what our travel
04:58 challenges are.
04:59 We just have to live with it and try to manage it the best we can.
05:05 Next question goes to John Antoni.
05:07 Hey Josh, just looking at the Oklahoma here.
05:10 Give me some of your thoughts on them.
05:12 Looks like they gang rebound a little bit.
05:15 They got a good margin there, but don't have a guy with a ton of rebounds spread out pretty
05:20 evenly and looks too like they've got a couple of guys that pass the ball with high assist
05:24 numbers pass the ball.
05:26 Well, what do you see from them?
05:27 You know, top to bottom, they're really athletic.
05:30 You know, they got a lot of pieces from a lot of different places, you know, a lot of
05:34 transfers in there.
05:36 But you know, you know, the other, they're good top to bottom.
05:40 You know, they only play about eight, nine, nine guys at most, but their, their rotation
05:45 is really, really solid.
05:46 And you said, you talked about gang rebounding.
05:50 You know, Moore's as good as anybody is athletic as he is at crashing the glass and creating
05:56 issues for you.
05:57 You know, we look at anybody from the three or four that's putting up that type of numbers,
06:02 rebounding is going to be a challenge for you.
06:05 But yeah, they got, they got good bigs.
06:07 They got two solid bigs between Godwin and, and Hughley, Hughley coming off the bench,
06:12 you know, he was a pit transfer.
06:15 But they got a lot of different pieces, a lot of different pieces.
06:18 They got an organ transfer and Soares and McCollum, you know, from Siena, really good
06:23 player and one probably one of the, you know, the best guards in our league when it comes
06:28 down to it.
06:29 So they're really, they're really, you know, they got a lot of pieces that work really
06:35 well together.
06:36 They work really well together and they really compliment each other.
06:40 And they, it shows on the floor and their success they've had up to this point.
06:45 And one more real quick here at McCollum, he looks like a guy gets on a roll from three.
06:49 That's the guy you got to be concerned about.
06:50 Yeah, that's the guy that you look at kind of like a Smith's that at any given time,
06:55 I can kind of, you know, hit two or three shots in a row and really puts you, puts you
06:59 behind the eight ball pretty quick.
07:01 So you got to, we got to tag him early and often and know where he's at at any given
07:05 time.
07:06 So he's the high volume guy of anybody on their, in their program.
07:11 Justin Jackson.
07:12 Hey coach, good morning.
07:13 Morning, how are you?
07:14 Good.
07:15 Hey, good luck on the travel today too.
07:18 Thank you.
07:19 Take care.
07:20 Yeah.
07:21 When you kind of look at this season and how you've had to kind of tackle it, I mean, obviously
07:28 what you did defensively the last game against Texas isn't what you've always done in other
07:35 games this year.
07:37 The offense you might be running now, you know, maybe wasn't quite the same offensive
07:43 attack that you had, you know, before these guys came in and stuff.
07:46 Can you just kind of talk about how this team is in adjusting on the fly and maybe even
07:52 the coaches too, and, and can you just, you know, how much adjustments have there been
07:57 this year overall?
07:58 There'd been a lot of adjustments and, and, and, you know, we're not gonna, if something's
08:05 not working and we continue to go to it and go to it, that makes zero sense from a coaching
08:10 standpoint.
08:11 And I think sometimes your, your players kind of start to, you know, fall into, you know,
08:17 go and start going through the motions if they don't feel like that you're not doing
08:21 things to change.
08:22 And, and we certainly needed to make some changes to figure out, you know, how we could
08:26 be more competitive, especially defensively.
08:29 You know, we've certainly had to do a lot of things offensively with the changes in
08:35 the roster and the roster management as we got to this point.
08:39 And each time we had additions or subtractions, we had to manipulate that offense.
08:44 But for the most part, that's stayed fairly consistent just a lot more wrinkles to it
08:49 and a lot more different actions that went to different people.
08:52 Now defensively, you know, we've, we've, you know, we've kept on throwing that old litmus
08:59 test out there to try to figure out what it is that we need to do to be successful.
09:06 And you know, we haven't been a great defensive team by any means.
09:10 We've had challenges, we've thrown zones out there and done everything we can to figure
09:16 out how we shore that up.
09:18 So I think where we're going, I think we're going in a good direction based on our personnel.
09:22 Now it's something we can kind of hang our hat on defensively.
09:26 And hopefully we can build on that because it is, you know, a pretty big change from
09:30 what we were doing in the past.
09:32 And, you know, I kind of asked this jokingly, but I mean, when you're constantly adjusting,
09:38 tweaking things to the pain in the butt from a coaching standpoint.
09:42 Yeah, it's a pain in the butt from, from, for the entire program.
09:47 Yeah.
09:48 Bottom.
09:49 I mean, as soon as kids start to learn and defense and figure out, you know, this is,
09:54 this is what we're going to do.
09:55 And this is the approach and this is the technique.
09:58 And you know, and then you start to change things and, and some guys pick it up and the
10:03 veterans pick it up a lot quicker and the freshmen and, and so on and so forth.
10:07 And then you got higher IQ kids that, you know, pick it up faster.
10:11 But you know, everybody's got to be connected.
10:14 Everybody's got to be connected.
10:15 So the defensive changes, we've tried to, we've tried to simplify some of them and not
10:20 get too intricate and just put some simple rules and principles in there to, for everybody
10:26 to buy into.
10:27 Now, as we go and as we build, we'll be able to do a better job of, of, of taking some
10:32 things away that ensure up some weaknesses, but credit to our staff, our staff came to
10:38 the table and they presented a different defensive scheme.
10:43 And they said, we all met and figured out, you know, how we can, how we can implement
10:48 it and implement it and effectively on the fly.
10:52 You know, it's, it's hard to do those things when you got two day prep and you don't have
10:55 much of a window to, to make changes.
10:57 So credit to our staff for, for bringing that to the table and, and you know, executing
11:03 it you know, on the floor.
11:06 Go ahead, Bob.
11:09 Okay.
11:10 Gotcha.
11:11 Two questions.
11:12 First, what does it take?
11:15 What do you, in your mind, what do you think it takes for a kid like, like Noah or like
11:25 Pat to, when they're presented with an opportunity to take advantage of it?
11:31 I mean, a lot of times guys go in there and don't do that.
11:36 Noah's always had a tremendous amount of confidence.
11:41 And so that's kind of usually the biggest hurdle.
11:44 And that's probably the biggest hurdle for Pat.
11:46 Pat, just, you know, with limited time, sometimes you can't get, get on a roll, getting that,
11:52 getting that groove, you know, we've, we've been, we kind of forced to force our hands
11:58 to kind of give Pat as much opportunity as possible.
12:01 And then it was up to him to do you know, whatever, whatever he did with it.
12:07 So he really showed a lot of confidence in the last two or three games and then it just
12:12 kept on building, it built from the, I think it started with the Ohio State game and it's
12:18 built, you know, built some of that confidence and it keeps snowballing for him.
12:21 So we're going in a great direction with Pat and Noah, you know, you know, he didn't have
12:26 the best game by any means from a shooting standpoint the other day, but he can still
12:31 contribute in so many ways.
12:32 You know, he led us in rebounding.
12:34 He had seven rebounds the other night and, and I told, told the whole team, you know,
12:40 this is scoring is not the only way to affect the game.
12:44 There's so many ways to affect the game, whether you're making shots or not and credit to Noah
12:48 for, for his mentality out on the floor and going and helping us on the glass.
12:53 So you know, each and every night is going to be different.
12:58 You know, Pat's on a roll right now and we can hang our hat on what he's been doing and
13:04 build on that.
13:05 You know, I get a text this morning that, you know, he's he's, he's come up with an
13:10 illness too.
13:11 So he's going to be checked out by the doctors and the trainers here this morning to see
13:15 what he's got going on and we'll try to isolate him as much as we can as we, as we travel
13:20 to Pittsburgh.
13:21 So it's that time of year, you never know when you're going to get the call in the morning
13:25 that somebody came down with something.
13:27 Sounds like Pat's that guy today.
13:30 Second question about, you mentioned that Oklahoma has one of those shooters that can
13:35 fill it up on you.
13:37 You have not had much success this year with guys like that.
13:41 There's been a bunch of 30 point games thrown at you.
13:46 Does that signify you don't have a defensive stopper?
13:49 How are you going to approach that?
13:52 Well, certainly the way we're playing now, we're not, I mean, it's not like we're playing
13:57 a box and one by any means and we're face guarding anybody.
14:00 So we've got a lot of help side on the, on the backside, but we just have to be very,
14:04 very cognizant of where guys like that are at on the floor.
14:08 I mean, you can't, you can't dig or stunt off those guys and you can't give them any
14:13 daylight whatsoever, you know, and, and direct passes and in the game of basketball, especially
14:18 college basketball, the ones that kill you, the guy's got to have to make tough shots
14:23 over, you know, a contested hand.
14:25 And you know, some of those guys that can fill it up, as you saw with Ace Miss the other,
14:30 the other night, you know, it didn't matter what you contest them or not.
14:34 And if, if they're rolling and sit there hard to stop and, and, you know, it's a shame,
14:40 especially when you, you see those type of performances against your team, whether it
14:44 be, you know, Blake Henson and Pitt and what they do in the next coming games.
14:48 And they might have a go on a scoring drought.
14:51 And just so seems that every time they play the Mountaineers and maybe, you know, those
14:56 guys have their best game, but that's the way you kind of look at it as a coaching standpoint.
15:02 But you know, obviously it has something to do with our defense and we get to figure those
15:05 things out.
15:06 Thanks.
15:07 Kevin Kinder.
15:08 Josh, following up a little bit on your assistant coaches and them coming to you with some of
15:14 the suggested changes, you know, I know Deshaun brought some offensive concepts, you know,
15:19 some things that he had seen in the NBA that, you know, kind of been a little bit, how has
15:23 that, you know, translated to the defensive side and which of your coaches, you know,
15:29 have one of them kind of taken the lead on, Hey, you know, this is how we need to play
15:34 better help defense.
15:35 This is, or these are some of the things, you know, we need to do to shore up defense
15:38 in the paint.
15:39 I would give the majority of the credit to coach McCabe and coach Ruoff, you know, coach
15:44 Ruoff is probably one of the best, you know, I would say he's attention to detail is higher
15:52 than probably anybody in our staff.
15:55 And he has, you know, that's a great, great trait to have when you're coaching defense.
16:02 And I put those guys and Jordan came up with a lot of the concepts as well, and brought
16:08 to the table and we kind of gave a kind of tagged coach Ruoff with that opportunity to
16:13 kind of shore up a lot of this defensive, you know, as a head coach, you got a lot of
16:18 things on your mind, you got, you got, you know, a lot of things going on.
16:21 So when you got good people behind you and you can, you can trust them and, and without,
16:27 you know, putting a official tag, I just said, coach Ruoff, you know, you you're my defensive
16:34 coordinator, so to speak.
16:35 So anybody got questions of what we're doing defensively, go to coach Ruoff.
16:40 So he's taken that role on in the last three, four days and, and has done an excellent job
16:46 with it and will continue to go to him to shore up some of those defensive efficiencies.
16:54 We have time to get in one more.
16:57 Mike Cazaza, your final question for today.
16:59 All right, two, if that's okay.
17:02 Josh, you just the roster stuff, some health stuff, travel, illness now, you mentioned
17:11 before, like you guys have gotten through the trouble, I guess, is it, is it refreshing
17:15 just to like focus on big 12 basketball games, knowing that you have pretty much everybody
17:20 there and getting used to it.
17:21 And you know, Jesse's the last piece to fall into place and kind of, I mean, knock on wood,
17:25 I guess here, but it seems like all the big waves are behind you now.
17:29 Yeah, hopefully, they're smoother sailing ahead for sure.
17:33 I really look forward to having that challenge of getting Jesse back into the equation.
17:38 It's a great challenge to have.
17:40 So yeah, but settling into big 12 play and seeing, you know, teams compete each and every
17:47 night, you know, guys that you're going to see ahead, you know, even, even when you're
17:52 scouting Oklahoma and you got Kansas the following game, so you're more familiar with your, the
17:58 teams you're playing night in and night out, because you know, when you're watching Oklahoma,
18:03 you're watching Kansas as well.
18:05 So that's just the way it kind of works.
18:08 And you become way more familiar with each other.
18:11 It's certainly not the way it was in the past where it's a perfect round robin where you're
18:16 playing home and away, but, and there's more teams to scout, but still the same concept,
18:22 you know, you know, your opponent probably better than you do by any means in the non
18:28 conference play.
18:29 And, and that's the same goes for not just the coaching staff.
18:33 It's, it's the players because they, they see these, these guys compete night in and
18:37 night out, and then they have a better understanding of, you know, the tendencies of certain personnel
18:43 as they're coming in when it comes to league play.
18:47 And then, I don't know if this will make much sense.
18:49 You can correct me on this, but is Pat giving you a good enough look at, I know he's not
18:53 a five, but like playing like a five where transitioning Jesse back in, it'll be more,
18:59 it'll be more like what you want to do now than just if you're playing around guards,
19:04 I guess, let me make that less awkward.
19:06 You kind of have a simulable, simulatable Jesse in there now, like it's not a perfect
19:10 match, but you're not doing all the guard stuff first and it's not going to be getting
19:14 Jesse the ball and being effective at, you know, inside out is a lot different than getting
19:21 Pat the ball, Pat operates better with isolation and space.
19:26 Jesse is more of a low post threat, an old school threat that you can throw it close
19:31 and get you a bucket, whether it be on a high, low action or rip screen or whatever that
19:37 may be.
19:38 Pat, you know, as you saw the other night, you know, we kept isolating them with space
19:44 and you know, whether it be a short corner or with a wing, he's pretty good at one on
19:50 one situations when there's a lot of help, but it's not really the case.
19:55 But you know, they're two, they're two different players in a lot of ways.
19:59 And defensively, Pat has done a great job buying in from a, from that standpoint and
20:04 guarding fives, which he certainly is out of position.
20:08 He's more of a four than he is a five, but he's bought in and done a great job shoring
20:12 some of that up for us.
20:14 And, but this is just making Pat more versatile and more marketable going down the road.
20:21 So he's kind of taking that challenge on and, and he's going to benefit, benefit from it
20:27 just as, as much as we will in terms of his progress and development.
20:33 Would it be better for the players though, knowing that they don't have to completely
20:35 abandon the, the idea of having an inside presence.
20:37 Like they, they have a guy there now and they're going to have another guy in a couple of days
20:40 here too.
20:41 It seemed like it just, it helps them mentally turn that corner.
20:44 I hope it's a couple of days, but I don't know if we're quite that close, but yeah,
20:48 that's, it helps.
20:49 Certainly, you know, like I said, they're different, but it's, it's nice to have, especially
20:56 defensively a guy that's can guard, guard the five and we don't have to, you know, rep
21:02 as much of Dublin in the post, which, you know, we're always have that in our pocket,
21:06 but you know, it's not easy to do.
21:09 So if you got a good passing big man, a lot of these bigs in this, in this league are
21:13 great passing bigs.
21:16 Members of the media, thank you for your time.
21:19 Coach Eilert, thank you and safe travels.
21:21 Thank you.
21:24 [BLANK_AUDIO]