Josh Eilert Texas Tech Preview
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00:00 Okay, members of the media, welcome.
00:04 Let's begin our zoom conference today with West Virginia men's basketball coach Josh
00:08 Eilert.
00:09 Coach, we'll turn it over to you for an opening statement.
00:12 Yeah, good.
00:13 Good morning, everybody.
00:14 Just looking forward to a, you know, a Saturday here in Morgantown, looking forward to a great
00:22 crowd here to support a team that certainly needs all the support they can get.
00:28 Got a great opponent coming in, highly respected coach and Grant McCaslin.
00:35 Always respected how he's handled his programs and built his programs and excited to have
00:40 them back in Morgantown.
00:43 Thanks, coach.
00:46 Our first question comes from Greg Hunter.
00:49 Josh, you obviously got real good offensive production from Kerr and Raekwon, especially
00:54 in the second half in your last game.
00:57 How do you keep them moving in that direction and how do you re-engage Jesse?
01:02 You know, it's just a mentality.
01:03 I mean, I think we've, you know, discussed this over and over.
01:08 We just need more balanced scoring.
01:10 We need, we need, you know, everybody involved.
01:13 You know, it was great to have that type of scoring production out of two of the guys,
01:17 but probably needs to be, you know, for us to be consistently successful, it's probably
01:21 got to be three or four and a little more balanced.
01:24 But those guys came out and credit to our guys coming out in the second half and having
01:29 a different mentality in the second half.
01:32 You know, we certainly had our opportunities to win that game and, you know, make winning
01:37 plays down the stretch, whether it be at the free throw line or a big rebound or whatever
01:41 it may be.
01:42 That was, you can point your finger at a lot of different situations, but at the end of
01:47 the day, we didn't make winning plays.
01:49 What was it that Jesse struggled with in the last game and was maybe a double on him?
01:53 Opening up room for Kerr and Raekwon?
01:57 You know, Jesse more than anything, he just needs to work, you know, especially his balance.
02:02 You know, he, I think he was forcing a lot of things, you know, he, he, he needs to slow
02:06 down a little bit in the post and, you know, get his, get to his spot, get to his balance,
02:12 you know, and, and slow down his game.
02:14 You know, you look back at a lot of his, his shots and his shot attempts there late, he
02:21 wasn't even hardly getting, you know, he was, he was hardly getting his eyes on the rim
02:26 and shooting that ball on the turn without, you know, having the patience that he needs
02:31 in the post.
02:32 So we, we spoke a lot about it this week and, and hopefully, you know, he, he, you know,
02:39 has a different approach coming into this game on Saturday.
02:43 Next question goes to John Antonik.
02:45 What are some of the challenges you're going to face here on Saturday with Texas Tech?
02:50 What do you like about them?
02:51 What are some of the issues they cause?
02:54 You know, they're solid defensively, you know, they really get up in you and, you know, force
02:59 the issue defensively.
03:00 Joe, we all know who Joe Toussaint is and, and how he plays.
03:04 He's a bulldog out there on the floor defensively.
03:07 So he's gonna, you know, I'm sure he's going to come in with, you know, that chip on his
03:11 shoulder, coming back to Morgantown and, and try to wreak havoc.
03:15 So we got to take care of the ball, you know, especially, you know, you can't, you got to
03:20 be good with it.
03:21 And, you know, we, we only turned the ball over six times against Kansas State, but it
03:25 wasn't too recently on that double road trip.
03:27 You look back at the Iowa State game, we turned over 23 times and they had 29 off our turnover.
03:33 So we did a lot better job of, you know, shoring that up on a one game, one day turnaround.
03:40 But you know, we have to be more consistent.
03:43 So, you know, they're really good.
03:46 They're a slower paced team, really share the ball, run their sets, you know, they don't
03:52 get in too big a hurry.
03:54 So you know, they're one of the better teams that take care of it and sharing it and, and,
03:59 and slowing it down and getting what they want.
04:01 Especially from an offensive standpoint, they try to get whatever mismatch they want and
04:06 try to, you know, look at who's, who's subpar defensively, and they'll try to get that match
04:13 and exploit it.
04:14 So we're doing everything we can defensively or to try to slow that down from their perspective
04:21 to understand that that's what they're trying to get to.
04:25 Guard heavy to right now, pop Isaacs obviously is a guy that you're familiar with from last
04:29 year, it looks like from their leading scores, four of the top five are guards.
04:35 Yeah, they're they're guard heavy for sure.
04:37 You know, they had a critical injury.
04:40 And Warren, Warren Washington, we're not sure whether he's going to be playing or not.
04:46 But certainly between pop Isaacs and Joe Toussaint and, and one of the key, key guys, not to
04:54 mention Walton, Walton, shooting as good as anybody in the league, it almost 50% from
05:01 three.
05:02 So he they're doing a lot more with him.
05:06 The transition from Mark Adams to Grant McCaslin, you know, grants running them off a lot of
05:11 action and trying to get him a lot more touches.
05:15 So he's forcing his shot a little more than he did in the past.
05:19 He was more of a standstill guy.
05:20 But now they're running them off a lot of action to get him more involved this year.
05:25 So but you look at their box scores, and they're very, very balanced team.
05:30 So you know, there's 567 guys, right in that, you know, look at it.
05:38 About almost six guys, seven guys are double figures scoring are right there.
05:44 Close.
05:45 Questions for Coach Eilert, please use the raised hands feature.
05:51 We will go back to Greg Hunter.
05:53 Just just sort of a year as a whole, it's hard to believe that, you know, it was in
05:59 the summer when you got appointed, but now you only have two home games left, three regular
06:03 season games left.
06:04 Just reflect on how quickly it's gone and what you thought of everything as it's gone
06:09 by.
06:10 Yeah, it was it was it was a flash that, you know, every turn you had a different challenge.
06:20 So we're trying to you just get up each and every day and take the opportunity you're
06:25 given and try to make the most of it.
06:27 So you know, everything went really fast this this year, especially when, you know, the
06:33 summer really didn't exist because it was just such a, you know, you're trying to do
06:37 everything you can to, you know, put together a really good roster that can compete night
06:43 in night out in this in this league.
06:45 So we certainly had our challenges and we met them head on.
06:51 You know, it's certainly not where we'd want to be from a record standpoint.
06:55 But you know, I love the fight that we had in the second half against Kansas State.
07:02 That's the type of resilience and type of mentality I want our guys to play with each
07:07 and every day, regardless of, you know, the win loss record.
07:11 I don't think that win loss record defines myself, my staff, our guys.
07:18 And that's my message to them moving forward.
07:21 You can't let that define you.
07:22 Let's just take the opportunity that we have each and every day and make the most of it.
07:27 So obviously some of these challenges are unprecedented, but just just being a head
07:31 coach, are there aspects that you didn't realize when you're a seat or two away?
07:37 Yeah, there's certainly there's a lot more behind the scenes things that you're dealing
07:42 with, dealing with from a day to day standpoint that maybe as an assistant coach or as a support
07:50 staff member, you don't realize the head man is dealing with.
07:53 So you know, it's from from the outside looking in, you probably see the challenges, but there's
08:00 probably tenfold the challenges, you know, that you see from the outside looking in.
08:05 And, you know, you just try to do the best you can represent the university, the state
08:12 as well as you can with high integrity, high character, and go about your business each
08:17 and every day.
08:18 And that's you know, we're about nine months into my 10 month contract.
08:23 And it's a short window to figure out what you can do to absolutely be the most successful
08:30 team that you can possibly be, but also lead the program in the right direction.
08:38 Next question goes to Justin Jackson.
08:40 Hey, coach.
08:41 Good morning.
08:42 Good morning.
08:43 Hey, with with Isaacs, you know, last year as a freshman, you know, kind of a dynamic
08:50 player.
08:51 You know, he's taken a lot of deep shots and, you know, sometimes he was maybe kind of go
08:58 off script a little bit with him.
08:59 Is that still the book on him?
09:02 Or is he do you see a lot of maturity in his game from last year to this year?
09:07 There's very much a lot of maturity.
09:09 And I think there was a lot more pressure on him last year to be that guy.
09:13 So you know, he was a freshman.
09:16 There was two, two freshmen in the starting lineup.
09:18 If I remember right, Lamar Washington was also in the starting lineup.
09:22 He's not getting nearly the time.
09:24 But you know, pop was sharing the point guard duties.
09:29 And they had a really young backcourt and and with adding Joe with a you know, with
09:35 his experience and whatnot, it's kind of bright, taking a lot of pressure off pop and put him
09:41 in a position where he's more a natural, you know, shooting guard where where he's, you
09:47 know, really cleaned up his game in terms of, you know, being more efficient.
09:52 But that was more probably looking back at it by necessity and with the way he played
09:57 last year.
09:58 So he's certainly more of a, you know, more more of a, you know, solid piece to the puzzle
10:07 rather than the piece to the puzzle, which he probably felt like he had to be last year.
10:15 Let's go to Bob Hertzel.
10:18 Yeah, Josh.
10:20 So through all this, have you been able to keep any normalcy reality in your life?
10:28 And what have been the easy parts of it and the hard parts, I guess, as far as adapting
10:36 to what you had bid off?
10:39 Well, the normalcy, you talk about, you know, what the normalcy is.
10:45 But what I can hang my head on every day is, you know, doing things the right way and and
10:52 carrying myself right away and having height and integrity and character about what I do.
10:57 And, you know, the one thing that's always a constant in my life is my family.
11:02 I got a great wife that keeps me grounded and keeps things in perspective.
11:08 And I got a great family to go home each and every night, too.
11:10 So just thinking about that and, you know, I got a six year old that knows no difference
11:18 between a win and a loss.
11:19 And he's always there smiling and excited to see his dad every night.
11:23 So, you know, they've done a great job of keeping me grounded and always being there
11:29 to support me each and every day, which, you know, sometimes I try not to take too much
11:34 work home.
11:35 But the reality of the job is you have to in a lot of ways.
11:39 So, you know, these challenges have been been hard on everybody.
11:44 I think we did a great job from from day one, navigating everything that we've had to navigate.
11:52 And there's certainly been a lot of obstacles to navigate.
11:56 Thank you.
12:00 The queue is open.
12:01 Any more questions for Coach Eilert?
12:05 Greg Carey.
12:07 Josh, you've talked about the need to not fall behind by such large amounts before urgency
12:13 kicks in.
12:14 How do you get that, I guess, message to better resonate with this group and not play from
12:18 behind so early in games by a large deficit?
12:21 Yeah, I mean, you know, the K-State one, we probably could have changed our defense a
12:27 little earlier.
12:28 You know, they hit 11 threes in that first half.
12:33 And we weren't I think we could point at four or five, you know, you know, chip shots that
12:39 we had right at the rim that we didn't convert on.
12:41 So you pointed the look at 11 threes, they were averaging six threes a game.
12:46 And, you know, you could say, okay, it's part of our defensive scheme, but about half of
12:52 them had had to do with, you know, individual critical errors in our defense, whether it
12:56 be over on balls at half court or, or closing out on on shooters that not even shooters
13:03 that might be a 12% shooter in the corner that we're closing out on that we should have,
13:07 you know, left wide open and begged him to shoot.
13:09 So you know, they made some shots, give them credit, but a lot of it had to do with, you
13:15 know, our critical errors.
13:16 But, you know, we got to come out with a to your question, we got to come out with a lot
13:20 more intense intensity, a lot more, you know, hunger.
13:25 And, you know, I had to have a very, you know, stern message with them at halftime to get
13:30 them to turn that.
13:32 So what that answer is each and every day is it's different trying to keep guys motivated
13:38 and understand that we always have something to play for.
13:42 And we certainly do each and every day, we have an opportunity to represent, you know,
13:47 ourselves and our program and our university.
13:49 So that's the message I continue to hit on hit home on and we're always playing for something,
13:56 or always represent some.
14:00 We'll go to Mike.
14:02 Hey, Josh, kind of playing off that a little bit.
14:05 You've said a couple of times lately that, you know, before games or even during games
14:09 that you've had the harsh words, the stern talking to whatever you said there.
14:13 And there have been responses like both those road games.
14:15 I think you said that you kind of were pretty brutally honest with them, and then they turned
14:18 it around.
14:21 Does that take time to figure out like, like how to how to present yourself there, how
14:25 to speak to the players or to certain players?
14:27 I imagine that's as much as like players learning their coach, too.
14:30 Yeah, I mean, we're all, you know, we're all new to this.
14:34 And sometimes you get you get hung up with the X's and O's and the schematics of how
14:40 you guard in certain teams and and what your approach is offensively.
14:45 And you get bogged down with that.
14:48 And just as a coach, you never want to you never want to have to coach effort.
14:54 But we've you know, certainly there's there's times you have to.
14:58 And we you know, we didn't get the effort in that first half against Kansas State.
15:03 And there's there's also some certainly some other areas, other games that we have got
15:08 the effort that we've had to, you know, throw everything out and and force the issue.
15:15 Like, hey, we just we got to be we got to, you know, have more attention to detail.
15:19 We have to have more fire.
15:20 We have to have more fight.
15:22 So it's, you know, as a new head coach, you know, I'm learning every day.
15:27 It's timing, timing and life's everything.
15:31 And it's not always about the X's and O's.
15:34 Sometimes it's just getting that fire out.
15:40 Any further questions for Coach Eilert?
15:45 Coach, that looks like all we'll have for today.
15:50 Thank you for your time.
15:51 We're good.
15:52 Thank you all.
15:52 Thank you.