--West Virginia head coach Josh Eilert said Akok Akok is stable and texted his teammates.
--Credit George Mason they were ready to go and this was a dog fight. A lot of things they need to clean up but they got a good test going into the first game. Eilert said that thanks to the fans that came out there was around 9,000 fans. There was a discussion to end the game after what happened to Akok but Eilert made sure they were in a good space to finish the game and they decided to do that.
--Jesse Edwards got the ball late because Eilert wanted to win and he was the best option. He has to stay on the floor and it's his worst nightmare to have his two bigs in foul trouble. They used Quinn Slazinski at the five and they hadn't done that in practice.
--It gives perspective to what's going on with what happened to Akok. Akok is in a good place so they continued playing.
--West Virginia played a lot harder in this game although they made a lot of the same mistakes. Eilert credited playing in front of the crowd and they were competing out there. They'll hit some and go over the film tomorrow to recover and get healthy before the season opener due to how the depth is.
--Ofri Naveh is a special kid and a special basketball player. He has one of the best basketball IQ's as a freshman and asks really good questions. Eilert checks with him every day to make sure he is in a good head space with what is happening back home.
--It's supposed to be the secondary defender in a lot of ways with the block and charge situation and will have to analyze that and dissect it.
--Eilert said they watched a lot of film on Naveh and you had to take a leap of faith with some guys. He didn't think at his size he would be as effective as he is but he is very active and has a high IQ which has allowed him to find his footing.
--Ball movement was good but they need to get to the right spacing. They played unselfish and shot selection was good and worked as a team. Rebounding is a concern. Eilert wants to play fast and get easy buckets, but not give up offensive rebounds.
--Eilert was a video coordinator when he first got here and he took a lot of mental notes on what he wanted to do when he became a head coach and Da'Sean Butler added to that. They have a playbook that they're probably only a third into it. The biggest thing they gave up with the spacing was the offensive rebounding. He loved Tom Izzo's spacing as an influence. You take pieces you see and try to make it work with your personnel.
--Credit George Mason they were ready to go and this was a dog fight. A lot of things they need to clean up but they got a good test going into the first game. Eilert said that thanks to the fans that came out there was around 9,000 fans. There was a discussion to end the game after what happened to Akok but Eilert made sure they were in a good space to finish the game and they decided to do that.
--Jesse Edwards got the ball late because Eilert wanted to win and he was the best option. He has to stay on the floor and it's his worst nightmare to have his two bigs in foul trouble. They used Quinn Slazinski at the five and they hadn't done that in practice.
--It gives perspective to what's going on with what happened to Akok. Akok is in a good place so they continued playing.
--West Virginia played a lot harder in this game although they made a lot of the same mistakes. Eilert credited playing in front of the crowd and they were competing out there. They'll hit some and go over the film tomorrow to recover and get healthy before the season opener due to how the depth is.
--Ofri Naveh is a special kid and a special basketball player. He has one of the best basketball IQ's as a freshman and asks really good questions. Eilert checks with him every day to make sure he is in a good head space with what is happening back home.
--It's supposed to be the secondary defender in a lot of ways with the block and charge situation and will have to analyze that and dissect it.
--Eilert said they watched a lot of film on Naveh and you had to take a leap of faith with some guys. He didn't think at his size he would be as effective as he is but he is very active and has a high IQ which has allowed him to find his footing.
--Ball movement was good but they need to get to the right spacing. They played unselfish and shot selection was good and worked as a team. Rebounding is a concern. Eilert wants to play fast and get easy buckets, but not give up offensive rebounds.
--Eilert was a video coordinator when he first got here and he took a lot of mental notes on what he wanted to do when he became a head coach and Da'Sean Butler added to that. They have a playbook that they're probably only a third into it. The biggest thing they gave up with the spacing was the offensive rebounding. He loved Tom Izzo's spacing as an influence. You take pieces you see and try to make it work with your personnel.
