West Virginia interim head coach Josh Eilert spoke on West Virginia’s performance in their 62-58 win over Bellarmine.
This was the first game for the Mountaineers following their trip to Fort Myers last week. Eilert said that the team returned Wednesday night and had Thursday off before getting back to practice on Friday.
“We had Thursday off, Thanksgiving off,” said Eilert. “We had a nice team meal, did some bowling and what not, and I told them to get their rest. Thursday didn’t really feel like an off day for them, it didn’t feel like it for me. It was such a quick turn and Friday we’re practicing at noon. We didn’t get two consistent practices. We had a kind of a slow start to Friday’s practice and then we finished strong. We flip flopped the next day, yesterday, so we started strong and it tailed off. I told those guys, we had a heart to heart, we’re going to have to have a consistent approach to practice and preparation so we can be more efficient.”
One thing that has been the talk of this West Virginia team is the depth on the roster at the current moment. With Kerr Kriisa, Akok Akok, and RaeQuan Battle all unavailable at the moment, the Mountaineers have been running a rotation of eight men, which Eilert says does make him think more strategically when using timeouts to ensure the team is fresh.
“Q [Quinn Slazinski] took the one in the first half which was a smart one, I was about to do the same thing and I’m okay with them having that freedom when they feel that exhaustion. I’m okay with them taking a timeout because we have plenty down the stretch, but I really do have to think strategically in making sure we’re fresh out there.”
One name mentioned was Josiah Harris who has not gotten a shot to fall since the Mountaineers faced off against SMU last Monday, but Eilert feels the sophomore “will have a breakout game sooner or later.”
“I think he’s taking good threes and they’re going to fall for him. We as a coaching staff, we went through a lot of sets in shoot around and I think he was 10-for-10, I really do, he was making every shot. I don’t know what flipped the switch when it came gametime, but we told you have to get out of your own head, keep repping those shots because we’re gonna need you to make them, we’re going to need you to step into them with confidence and make them. He’s going to have a breakout game sooner or later. I have full faith in Josiah and what he brings to the table, so I’m not worried about that.”
The Mountaineers are in action again on Friday against St. Johns as part of the Big 12-Big East Battle. Tip-off for that game is set for 7:00 and can be seen on ESPN2.
