Ross Hodge press conference summary 10-16
West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge addressed the media at a press conference Thursday and here is a summary of what was said.
–Hodge said he doesn’t put a lot of stock into preseason polls. He’s had times his teams surpassed and failed to meet expectations you can just control what you can control.
–There was no discussion about getting rid of the preseason polls in basketball like there was football among the league’s coaches.
–Hodge said KenPom will always factor in historical data with their rankings. You can’t really control it but it’s a barometer of where you’re starting at least and if you can take advantage of your non-conference schedule you can take advantage of it.
–You’re looking forward to playing somebody else and when you take it one step further whether it’s the exhibition or the opener just getting the crowd involved and playing in front of them. There’s not one person that has played in here that doesn’t mention the musket being shot before tip-off and then they talk about how hard of a place it is to play.
–Hodge does like what they were able to get in the non-conference. Moving forward they want some retention on the roster. They were pleased with how they were able to get and seeing how it would play out.
–Ironically everyone is important in the program. They all have equal value but different roles. Everybody is valuable. If you’re going to play some level of value outside of that your strength coach and trainer might be the most important people because they’re around the guys more than anybody else. Coach Jason Martinez is somebody that he believes is the best in the country. He does think it’s very important to support him the best he can and has a ton of trust in him.
–Hodge said that Harlan Obioha came in 305 and he’s 267 now. He has incredible hands and really good feet. He has soft hands and he is a really good passer and a good facilitator. They need him to be a little more aggressive because he likes to pass when he has good position in the deep post. He can do it for longer stretches. He is light and can move. He can pick and pop to pass. He has improved his three-point shooting but it’s not something they would ask him to do a lot of so the ball doesn’t get stuck with him.
–There was a Texas connection with Buzz Williams to get Maryland. He was a GA when Johnny Estelle was at Navarro J.C. Buzz was a student assistant at Navarro.There were a lot of connections with a lot of people and with the location thought it would be easy travel and a good game and they will return it to their place next year.
–Combination of both with projecting and rewarding people who are doing what you ask them to do and doing it at a high level. You want to make sure you’re looking at lineups you’re going to use down the road in these scrimmage situations.
–Obioha is a very intelligent player. It’s a good problem because everybody has played with black holes that once they get it down there they won’t kick it out. Sometimes being too unselfish you can become selfish so you have to show them on film.
–The backup center is Brenen Lorient, DJ Thomas and Jackson Fields with the fours and the fives and it gives you different ways to play. Hodge said Fields gets the pins out on the 20th next week then it becomes how you can strengthen it and get him back comfortable. One silver lining is it was his left hand so he has been able to run, shoot and participate in non-contact.
–You want players to get into some sort of rhythm in these scrimmages but it’s about being able to present the team so they’re used to receiving and retaining information. They both communicate a little bit and largely coaches are creatures of habit. If you’re not all the way prepared you’re not just stepping out there giving no chance. You both want to get something out of it in the scrimmage.
–Hodge said that these scrimmages are getting out whether you want it to or not. They hard a harder time at North Texas getting marquee scrimmages and exhibitions so they didn’t want to get it out because of respect. Last year they scrimmaged SMU and he remembers telling his staff not to let it out.
–Hodge said they will do a scout for this scrimmage like a normal game. You want to prepare the players not just for this game but for the season. To establish a routine and introduce film watching and personnel, etc so they get the ebb and the flow.
–Hodge said you get anxious as preseason goes along and it doesn’t leave until the end of the season.
–Yusuf Ali there were some people he was close to that was close to him. When they were trying to figure out how to round out the staff and the weaknesses. He really aligned with those core values of what they believe in but also can really expand internationally. He’s got great relationships within the United States, Canada and nationally he is really respected. He does a great job building relationships and connecting with people.
–More than likely the scrimmage will be two 20-minute halves where you start the score over each half and maybe an additional for some guys that didn’t get to play.
–The box scores don’t tell the whole story from these scrimmages. Three years ago they played Mississippi State and they lost by one. You walked away feeling pretty good and you get a box score and the starting center had 11 fouls which probably would have drastically changed the outcome. More than anything you always want to win it doesn’t matter what you’re doing. You want to win but personally what he would like to see is making sure they have tight huddles in free throw situations, bench is supporting each other and can you match the physicality, when the ball is on the floor can you come up with it? If you’re seeing those things then it was a good day.
–Hodge said that there’s so many questions still surrounding the House Settlement and what third party entities are going to be able to do beyond revenue sharing. They’re still trying to figure that out and find out what are the real numbers. Looking at teams in the Big 12 there is a wide variety of it and he doesn’t know if it’s going to be able to remain and trying to get some parameters of cap circumvention. Defining that helps with the question of what you need moving forward.
–Haven’t thought about the game day traditions but he is a traditionalist so he isn’t going to come in and upset the apple cart. He is a caretaker of this program and fortunate to be in this position. Anytime you can tie the past to the present it helps the future.
Offer Alert–
Fall camp is here and there’s no better time to sign up with us to get all your WVU intel! Sign up today – $1 for the first week, plus a complimentary year of access to The Athletic included. Join – http://gowvu.us/Join
__________________________________________
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan
•Like us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
