Originally posted by boatcapt
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Yep. Hillsdale did us a favor by eliminating them last year. Hillsdale did not match up well with west liberty. Having a 6-8 guy guard Patrick at the top of the key did not end well for hillsdale.Originally posted by IUPalum View PostLeave a comment:
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I wish that I were as confident as you. IMHO, we need to replace Marlon Moore (Mr. March), Viktor and Will Yoakum with comparable bigs. A very tall order.Originally posted by IUPalum View Post
Playing for national title depends so much on matchups and who is hot and who is cold on a given night.
Not to mention there is always that huge barrier to the Elite 8 in that well-coached power in the PSAC.... Mercyhurst.
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Bad News for WLU Opponents - Another deadly shooter joins the Hilltoppers next year
FYI Luke Denbow joins WLU next year.
With their strong center lost for the season, Ashland is playing with a small guard lineup.
Situation: With the conference title on the line, Ashland is down 3, with about 10 seconds left. Mansfield misses a FT, and Denbow rebounds. Great coaching move by Ashland NOT to call time out as Mansfield would have probably intentionally fouled Denbow following the time out to seal the victory.
Denbow brings the ball down the court with the defense retreating and retreating. He calmly shoots a contested deep NBA three point jump shot with 1 second left and drains it to force OT. Subsequently, Ashland won in OT to clinch their conference title. He took the shot, despite have an off FG shooting night (most of his points came on FTs.).
His 27 FTs ties for 6th in Ohio history for number of FTs made by player in a game. Also, his 20 FTs in a row is 6th all time.
Here is the video of the sequence. Ice water in his veins.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1494924264541204481Leave a comment:
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Interesting to note that once Sarson went down with what looked like a pretty serious ankle sprain (left the floor via a crutch at the end of the game), Yoakum spent the second half running with the first 5 in Sarson's spot (and Webb slotted back into the second 5). So perhaps Yoakum's getting back up to speed will be timed well for him to step in and give Howlett the minutes he'll be losing if Sarson is shelved for longer than a game or two.Leave a comment:
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Observations on West Liberty Versus Notre Dame College Won 105-88 2/23/22
Notre Dame Collage (NDC) Strategy- They have recruited very good one-on-one players who can also shoot the three. They have 4 players who shoot over 38% from three.
- When they break the press in transition, they will attack the rim or shoot the open three-point shot, if available.
- They move the ball well on offense, attacking their opponent with drives, trying to draw additional help defense, so that they can kick out for three.
- If they get a mismatch on a defensive switch, they will attack this mismatch and try to score or draw a foul
- They want to limit turnovers and win the rebounding battle.
- Because they move the ball so well, if they are hitting their threes, they can be a dangerous team.
NDC had success with their strategy, for the most part. They shot very well from three-point range. However, they had a flurry of turnovers at the beginning of the game and also at times in the second half.
WLU Keys to Victory- Viktor made some incredible passes for assists, along with others. He was dissecting the NDC defense.
- Marlon was getting incredible rebounds and was a defensive force!
- NDC had no one who could stop Bryce, Patrick, or Malik. To their credit, WLU did not take forced shots and shared the ball.
- WLU had an amazing 1.86 assist to turnover ratio.
- WLU pressure was intense and relentless, resulting in live ball turnovers and scores. They started to wear down NDC in the last 8 minutes of the game, expanding the lead to 27 points with 3 minutes remaining.
- WLU was shooting 2-pt goals at an incredibly high 73%, with Patrick, Bryce, Malik and others scoring inside. This high % offset excellent three-point shooting of NDC (47%). WLU was averaging 1.57 points per FGA, which is more indicative of a red-hot three-point shooting team than one that shot a mediocre 36%.
- just a three-point reliant team.
Statistic WLU Opponent Advantage To: Team WLU NOTRE DAME (OH) Date 2/23/22 2/23/2022 Score 105-88 WLU w/l W L WLU FG 40 29 WLU FGA 67 67 = FG Pct 60% 43% WLU 3FG 9 9 = 3 FGA 25 19 WLU 3 FG PCT 36% 47% NDC FT 16 21 NDC FTA 22 28 NDC FT PCT 73% 75% NDC Off Reb 9 15 NDC Def Reb 26 21 WLU Tot Reb 35 36 = Reb Per Game 38.6 34.1 WLU PF 22 16 NDC Assist 26 12 WLU TO 14 22 WLU Blk 5 2 WLU Stl 11 8 WLU Pts 105 88 WLU Avg Pts Per Game 100.5 79.6 WLU Steals per Forced TO 50% 57% NDC Assist to TO Ratio 1.86 0.55 WLU Assist per FG 65% 41% WLU Points Per FGA 1.57 1.31 WLU Points Per Possession 1.28 1.02 WLU Num Possessions 82 86 = OppDefReb 21 26 NDC Off Reb Effic 30% 37% NDC Forced TO 22 14 WLU Game num 27 27 = Two Pt FG % 73.8% 41.7% WLU Effective Shooting % 66.4% 50.0% WLU Last edited by Columbuseer; 02-24-2022, 08:34 AM.Leave a comment:
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Will redshirted his first year so this is his 5th year. He was freshman of year in mec and all conference last year even though he was injured after 12 games. I have no information on his intentions. I admire him for working so hard in rehab just so he can contribute in any role to the team. Right now, his mind knows what to do but his body can't catch up (players over 40 can relate lol). If it is just rust, watch out! His shot is still there.Originally posted by Scrub View Post
IMHO one needs 3 d1 level players for a decent chance at a national title. After Will got hurt, we only had two.
This year Nova SE has 3 Bevo Francis top 50 players to two for WLU.Leave a comment:
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Just saw in the game notes for tonight's game that it's senior night on the hilltop. They're planning to honor 3 players: Viktor, Marlon Moore, and . . . Will Yoakum. Will is only listed as a Junior (due to the COVID freebie year), and he's obviously already been on the hilltop for 4 years, so it's not noteworthy that he's finished his degree. But it is noteworthy that he's apparently choosing not to pursue a Master's and play that last year (like Bolon did last year, or like Audrey Tingle is doing this year for the women's team).
Any speculation? Is his knee just shot at this point and he knows he needs to hang it up? Do we not have the Master's program he would want, and he'll use one more year of eligibility elsewhere (again like Bolon did)? Does he want to try his hand at a low D1 instead?
Dang shame that we never got to see the heights of Will's ability here. The greatness we saw in the two healthy years he did play was absolutely awesome. And I know I was dreaming of what heights he might be able to reach as he continued to develop over his final two years (until those final two were marred by injury).
[The analog for any IUP readers might be that Yoakum, and his neon bright future that never fully materialized, is a bit like the Demo situation up in Indiana.]Leave a comment:
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Hilltopper fans might remember this name: Sincere Carry dropped 42 points in a D1 game last night. What if, what if, what if!Leave a comment:
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- Decreases in stats are to be expected when you play a top 20 team.
- West Liberty is in the top 3 nationally in 7 categories!
- West Liberty is in the top 10 nationally in 10 categories!
- 90th percentile in 13 categories!
- Assists are #2, at 20.5 a game, which is an indicator of how much they share the ball, especially when one considers the scoop and scores on steals, which are generally not applicable for assists
- Assist to turnover ratio is an amazing 1.68, considering the rapid pace of play and the increased number of possessions in a game. Against Fairmont, there were 94 possessions!
Date National Ranking West Liberty rank Value 2/20/2022 Scoring Offense 1 100.30 2/20/2022 Scoring Margin 1 21.00 2/20/2022 Assists Per Game 2 20.50 2/20/2022 Steals Per Game 3 11.00 2/20/2022 Turnover Margin 3 7.00 2/20/2022 Turnovers Forced 3 19.19 2/20/2022 Assist Turnover Ratio 3 1.68 2/20/2022 Three-Point Field Goals Per Game 6 11.10 2/20/2022 Field-Goal Percentage 8 51.14 2/20/2022 Three-Point Attempts 9 745.00 2/20/2022 Offensive Rebounds per game 11 13.42 2/20/2022 Free-Throw Attempts 20 551.00 2/20/2022 Free-Throw Made 23 395.00 2/20/2022 Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage 24 38.66 2/20/2022 Blocked Shots Per Game 39 3.90 2/20/2022 Rebound Margin 41 4.70 2/20/2022 Total Rebounds per game 43 38.77 2/20/2022 Free-Throw Percentage 139 71.69 2/20/2022 Defensive Rebounds per game 165 25.35 2/20/2022 Field-Goal Percentage Defense 210 45.79 Leave a comment:
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West Liberty Shooting is EliteAbstract- Some teams tout their great 3-point shooter.
- Since everyone has West Liberty shares the ball and has the green light to shoot the open three, it is rare that just one player can average 5 threes a game for a season.
- WLU has one player averaging 53%, which would place him at #1, two more over 46% which would place them in the top 10, and another over 40%.
- WLU has one player ranked 18th in overall FG % at 62.26% and another at 107th place at 51.34%.
- Overall, WLU is just under 39% and is ranked 24th in the nation in 3-point percentage (as of 2/2022). They are ranked #8 in overall FG % at over 51% (as of 2/20/22).
- WLU has to become more consistent in FT %, as it has already cost them some games.
Top Individual Three-point shooting %. Main point is that WLU is loaded with elite shooters in both 1st platoon and 2nd platoon. In fact, the platoon lines are not clear cut, as after the first shift of each half, WLU is mixing players from both platoons for the rest of the game to take advantage of their particular skills.- 53% on 51 attempts
- 50% on 6 attempts (too small a sample size)
- 47% on 110 attempts
- 46% on 94 attempts
- 40% on 48 attempts
- Team Average is 39% on 725 attempts
- 62% on 299 attempts
- 55% on 31 attempts
- 53% on 141 attempts
- 52% on 163 attempts
- 51% on 150 attempts
- 51% on 356 attempts
- Team average is 51% on 1805 attempts
- 68% on 146 attempts
- 65% on 299 attempts
- 64% on 121 attempts
- 61% on 141 attempts
- 60% on 150 attempts
- 60% on 31 attempts
- Team average 59% on 1805 attempts
Free Throw Shooting- 83% on 6 attempts
- 76% on 21 attempts
- 75% on 65 attempts
- 75% on 4 attempts
- 73% on 56 attempts
- Team average 72.5% on 528 attempts
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Wlu signee Luke Denbow leads his shorthanded ashland arrows to conference championship, 79-74 over Mansfield Senior. When Dante and Luke are on the floor next year, it will be showtime in terms of assists and open court magic!
The Arrows just absolutely refused to lose tonight & came away OCC CHAMPS! On his last night in Arrow Arena senior Luke Denbow
shot 87% from the free throw line, sinking 26 of his 30 FTs! Yes, You read that right. He led all scoring w/ 38, grabbed 12 boards, & had 6 assists.
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