Eilert and West Virginia men's hoops search for new mentality
Aggressive defense, physicality, offensive rebounding and disciplined basketball are all qualities of West Virginia men's basketball in the past, but this season interim head coach Josh Eilert and his players are looking to reclaim that spark.
Eilert has begun his first season at the helm for West Virginia and it's been a rocky start for his group with a 3-4 record, including a buy-game loss to Monmouth, a four-point win over Bellarmine, two losses at the Fort Myers Tip-Off and most recently, a defeat at the hands of hall of fame head coach Rick Pitino and St. John's.
There have been multiple factors that have hindered aggressiveness for the Mountaineers, first of all of course being a lack of depth. The Mountaineers are regularly fielding only eight athletes in a single game, missing three players due to NCAA eligibility issues, suspension and injury.
Despite bouts with the NCAA for athlete eligibility and other issues hindering numbers on the bench, Eilert knows a mentality change is needed and it starts with going back to his team's reputation of fighting.
“Keep fighting. We’re not about to back down, keep fighting. We’ve got challenges but I’m not going to make excuses. Keep fighting and figuring out a way, there’s help coming, and there will be to a certain extent but it’s not here yet. So, we’re not a victim, the situation is what it is, we’ll go out there and battle every possession,” Eilert said.
The first-year interim coach honed on this phenomenon and lack of aggressiveness against the Red Storm on Dec. 1, when the Mountaineers struggled with only 12 second-chance points and 24 points in the paint, numbers that were doubled by St. John's in the 79-73 defeat. West Virginia also surrendered 18 offensive rebounds.
"It felt like in a lot of ways, St. John's was hungrier than we were. They came in here and they wanted it and they played with that tenacity that we didn't have that approach," Eilert said. "We were more of a finesse and they were more of a grit and grime and it came up with every rebound and 50-50 ball."
A short-handed rotation paired with a lack of depth in the rotation has had a snowball effect on Coach Eilert's team, affecting rebounding most importantly among a variety of issues.
"You try to clean the glass up with the guys we got out there and they fought like heck," Eilert said. "They were out there fighting but they're outmanned in a lot of ways with size and strength and fresh legs."
For Eilert, the duality of this issue comes with how teams approach his team and play against his squad, seemingly throwing bodies out on the floor to play with more physicality and be aggressive knowing the lack of depth.
"They [St. John's] can be as aggressive as possible knowing they've got a deep bench," Eilert said.
This constant pressure put on the players by their opponents creates a balancing act between belligerent defense and staying out of foul trouble, something that plagued the Mountaineers against St. John's.
Related: Recapping the Josh Eilert Radio Show: 12/4
Star center Jesse Edwards fouled out of Friday's contest, while forward Josiah Harris recorded four fouls and forward Quinn Slazinski picked up three fouls of his own.
Harris said that he and his teammates must be conscious of staying out of foul trouble while still maintaining a defensive presence and being pressured in a specific game.
"Of course we've got to be conscious but it hurts having little depth of the roster right now, and picking up those fouls hurt us," Harris said.
Edwards, as a primarily interior player, understands the balance that comes with playing more aggressively and avoiding a foul call.
"There's always a balance. Trying to be aggressive and then trying to make sure you don't have any contact that can get a call," Edwards said. "When they make it a physical game, they try to force you into that. Everything is a little bit harder, so teams can try to take advantage of that when some players are in foul trouble."
To combat the issues facing this team, Harris believes that his team needs to get back to its aggressive mentality and make a personal conviction to change the mindset.
"It's just got to mean something to us and we have to just take it more personal," Harris said. "We're going to use it as fuel to the fire for the rest of the season but we just have to have more of a dog mentality."
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