West Virginia looking to control what they can control
West Virginia head coach Josh Eilert understands that his team simply has to control what they can control down the stretch run of the season.
The biggest area that falls under that umbrella comes in the form of valuing the basketball. Over the last three losses the Mountaineers have given up nearly 75 points off turnovers. Many of those have come in live ball situations which has led to easy baskets on the other end of the floor for the opposition.
“That’s our execution or us being sped up and making bad decisions,” he said.
The Mountaineers are trying to maximize their potential down the stretch and finish with confidence, which means eliminating some of the issues that have plagued this team. Eilert admits that his team has been sloppy at times with the basketball, but others have shown the ability to take care of it.
It’s not an issue that is always on the play of the guards, as sometimes it comes down to effort, cuts and timing in terms of running the offensive sets and getting open.
“We certainly need to value the basketball better and work for that absolute best shot,” Eilert said. “These live ball turnovers in the last three games has certainly killed us.”
Turnovers weren’t necessarily a major issue in the last meeting with UCF with only 11 miscues in a game where the Mountaineers fell 72-59 on the road. But the biggest problem came in dealing with the Knights' physicality as their pressure sped up West Virginia and forced them out of their offense.
Often the Mountaineers bailed on their actions on the offensive end and simply didn’t execute. That led to them putting their heads down and driving to the basket into shot blockers.
“When in reality we needed to move the ball,” Eilert said.
Given the quick turnaround, West Virginia is looking at the issues that popped up during that first meeting and is focusing on cleaning things up on offense. It’s hard enough to win in the Big 12 Conference, but especially when you allow games to become even more challenging.
That will place a focus on running offense and driving the basketball and kicking it to open shooters.
“It can’t be us against us. It has to be us against them,” Eilert said.
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