West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Scrub]

Video is up now. (Not sure I want to look, though--based on the early score)

[Scrub]

No video tonight apparently. Feeling your pain, IUP fans.

[Layton]

He looks really good too, sigh

[Layton]

[Layton]

Except that Hester played with his back to the basket much more frequently. Butler is just as likely to run the point as to come at you from the wing. Butler wishes he could rebound like Hester.

I know Hester pursued a nice, stable career in dentistry, but given that guy's ability to read angles off a backboard, he must have been a physics wiz--maybe could have been an engineer. I never saw a smallish "big" guy rebound with such ability as Hester. Night in and night out he out-rebounded opponents who had 3-5 inches on him. He got every one of those boards with his head and his "want-to." Magnificent to watch.

I based that on them looking alike lol

[Columbuseer]

Except that Hester played with his back to the basket much more frequently. Butler is just as likely to run the point as to come at you from the wing. Butler wishes he could rebound like Hester.

I know Hester pursued a nice, stable career in dentistry, but given that guy's ability to read angles off a backboard, he must have been a physics wiz--maybe could have been an engineer. I never saw a smallish "big" guy rebound with such ability as Hester. Night in and night out he out-rebounded opponents who had 3-5 inches on him. He got every one of those boards with his head and his "want-to." Magnificent to watch.

Great points about Hester and rebounding. Some have said that 90% of rebounds are taken below the rim, which makes anticipation, position, and effort more important than height.

[Scrub]

I thought of a more gifted Hester

Except that Hester played with his back to the basket much more frequently. Butler is just as likely to run the point as to come at you from the wing. Butler wishes he could rebound like Hester.

I know Hester pursued a nice, stable career in dentistry, but given that guy's ability to read angles off a backboard, he must have been a physics wiz--maybe could have been an engineer. I never saw a smallish "big" guy rebound with such ability as Hester. Night in and night out he out-rebounded opponents who had 3-5 inches on him. He got every one of those boards with his head and his "want-to." Magnificent to watch.

[Layton]

Agreed. I've been saying that Butler reminds me a lot of a "Seger Jr." If he reaches half the heights Bonifant did, he'll be a special player. And if he develops all the way to the heights Bonifant did, then look out!

I thought of a more gifted Hester

[Columbuseer]

I agree with everyone about Bryce. He is a really complete player in all phases. He is fearless in taking charges. Not just a 3 point shooter, he has great footwork with his back to the basket. He is a warrior on the glass. Can play every position.

He likely won't match Seger in shooting, as he has the best 3pt % in d2 ( and d1 I think) history at about 52%. But Bryce may exceed him in other areas.

Areas for improvement:

• Improve ft %
• Develop the jump stop on drives and the 8 ft. Jumper to avoid the charge. Patrick has recently added this to his rim runs and it is nearly unstoppable and an automatic two.

[Scrub]

Agreed. I've been saying that Butler reminds me a lot of a "Seger Jr." If he reaches half the heights Bonifant did, he'll be a special player. And if he develops all the way to the heights Bonifant did, then look out!

[Layton]

[Columbuseer]

Unlike many teams (like Univ. of Charleston), WLU does not run many set plays. Their preference, ideally, is to never have to call a set play. The term offensive set has more meaning to the more traditional offenses that are based on set plays (like Charleston). However, no argument that Luke Dyer was a special player.

If we were having significant problems at the PG position, we should have a pedestrian assist to turnover ratio. However, to date, WLU is #9 nationally at 1.69 assist to turnover ratio.
Our points per possession as of dec 6 had climbed to 1.20, which is encouraging given our couple of horrendous shooting games, which is not far off from our typical 1.25.
Another factor affecting the PPP is that we have played really tough teams so far this season with quite a few new players.

IMHO, what we need is better movement without the ball with screens, back door cuts, etc. among all the players. But the movement has to be timed correctly and toward an opening in the defense. It does not help to be moving if one is too early or late to receive a pass. I am confident that it will continue to improve as they continue to play together.

Somehow, we also need to reduce the variation in shooting %, including FT, FG and 3FG. No real data, but it just seems to be abnormally wide swings in shooting %.

[boatcapt]

He's a good get, but that's next season. Need a PG1 for this season!

[Columbuseer]

From your fingertips to Ben's ears, Boat! Seriously, though. This kid's supposed to be the real deal.

He is really talented. Deadly shooter. He can play pg or sg, just like Dante Spadafora or Cmont Montague ( 2nd team gmac as a pg). They all can break down defenses and then dish to a teammate. Congrats to coaches!

[timbertopper]

I understand that we are in love with "positionless" basketball, but this team appears to be in need of a true PG who brings the ball up most of the time AND get's them in a coherent offensive set.

From your fingertips to Ben's ears, Boat! Seriously, though. This kid's supposed to be the real deal.