Eilert Knows It’ll Take More Time for West Virginia to Mesh

West Virginia interim HC Josh Eilert talked again about how the team needs to mesh and play more together following the returns of Kerr Kriisa, Noah Farrakhan and RaeQuan Battle. Since the trio returned to the floor for the Mountaineers in mid-December, the entire team has needed to take on different roles from the original group that could play in November.

“It takes time to mesh. It takes time to build that chemistry,” Eilert said on Monday. “You know I was probably naive enough to think that we were just going to float three guys into the equation and it’s all going to work out perfectly.”

“That takes time. A lot of times teams bring in a lot of transfers and there are a lot of new personalities, new faces. They work together all summer and they might go on a foreign tour but they’re all there from day one,” Eilert added.

West Virginia has won one game vs. Toledo since the trio returned and lost big man Jesse Edwards, who suffered a fractured wrist against UMass on Dec. 16. Edwards is projected to return within the next two weeks during Big 12 play. Battle (21.5 ppg), Farrakhan (14.2 ppg) and Kriisa (9.4 ppg, 5.8 apg) have all put up great numbers since their returns but haven’t really clicked on the floor together. The trio has a lot of talent and is arguably one of the most talented backcourts in the conference. Each of their play styles requires the ball in their hands, which can create trouble for some off the ball. Then factor in someone like Quinn Slazinski, who also needs the ball to create his own shots.

When the three were making their returns, Eilert did mention that Kriisa, Farrakhan and Battle all had been involved during practice and even helped scout teams.

Kriisa and Farrakhan will be suiting up for their sixth game with the Mountaineers while Battle is going for game No. 5 against Kansas State on Tuesday night.