Ross Hodge press conference summary post Mississippi Valley State
West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge addressed the media following the match up with Mississippi Valley State and here is a summary of what was said.
–Hodge said he was appreciative of the crowd tonight and there were a lot of people doing a lot of different stuff and he felt it was a good crowd given the circumstances. That’s what makes this place special and this job special.
–Hodge felt his team did a good job honoring the game and played it the right way. They played unselfish basketball and outside a little stretch he felt they played a solid game.
—Chance Moore wasn’t feeling great so it was in his best interest not to put him out there. He had been a full participant in practice and just wasn’t feeling good enough. No concern long term.
—DJ Thomas and Amir Jenkins played with confidence and it was awesome to see. Those two did a good job in the first half and then the veteran took over.
–Hodge said that his team is getting more comfortable and has put in work when it comes to three-point shooting and understanding the shots he wants them to shoot. Hodge said there isn’t a number you quantify on three-point shots per game but a lot of it is who you’re playing and taking what they’re giving you. They have an unselfish group and the post players are good passers and good ball movers. When you make shots it makes everything easier.
–Players will go home for a few days until Dec. 27 and it’s nice to spend time with your loved ones. You feel a lot of pressure to do things for the people you love the most and he said if you want to do something special put your phone down and give them your undivided time. There is nothing more valuable than time. You don’t get to buy more time.
—Harlan Obioha is so big but at times he goes too fast. He had to get him to slow down and not go too quick at times.
—Treysen Eaglestaff was decisive and aggressive. It was good to see that from him.
–From an analytical standpoint you look at points per possession when a team is comfortable holding the ball longer like what happened tonight.
–They got much-needed practice time this week and had hard, physical practices and even a couple days coming back they’ll have some of that. It’s more of a mental break coming up than a physical break. This past week they were able to have really hard, really physical best on best practices.
–Hodge said you try to improve and get better and you’re running a marathon at a sprinter’s pace. You have to be committed to getting better and then the rest of the things organically take care of themselves. These guys are smart and they don’t have to be told each game matters and what it means but he’s really thankful to be in an incredible league with many challenges but many opportunities. He wants them to just keep getting better and play better and coach better as a staff. If you start getting outside of that you worry about too much stuff outside of your control. Hodge expects really good teams, really good venues and coaches in the Big 12. He hasn’t done it obviously but he has seen it and there’s an excitement to it.
–Hodge said he has experience traveling during his time as a junior college coach. There will be some difficult travel but thankfully they won’t be on any buses.
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