West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I attended game 1 this year vs Kutztown, and remember posting that team didn't look great, gonna be a down year, etc... Then they beat West Chester, which I didn't expect, and then they rattle off wins in every game but three...and on the cusp of the Elite 8. Very impressive with this team. And we've all said, next year is the supposed year. Goes to show you how heart hustle and togetherness can overcome adversity at times...Great great coaching job by Ben.

No to D1. Why would any one---players, fans, etc---want to go D1? You want WL to be the 150th best d1 basketball school, instead of a team that's been in every TOP 25 Pool for 8 years runnning????? PLayers chose to come to WL instead of playing D1, so they could be the best at D2, not to be a zit on the a$$ of D1. D2 basketball is pretty awesome...

For tonight's game...Mercyhurst pace does concern me... I've always maintained any team that tries to run with WL usually loses...(NDC and Fairmont are the exceptions recently)...But anyone who has beaten them, has done it by slowing the pace..Charleston has done it...IUP in the regionals...But you need Talent to do that too..and I think Mercyhurst slows it tonight, but WL prevails because players and talent will win, not systems...

WL 79-65 prevails...

Next interesting question, does the D2 "reseeding" committee, pit WL vs Nova SE?? Wouldn't that be an interesting game...Neither coach would want to play it, but the players would....

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I attended game 1 this year vs Kutztown, and remember posting that team didn't look great, gonna be a down year, etc... Then they beat West Chester, which I didn't expect, and then they rattle off wins in every game but three...and on the cusp of the Elite 8. Very impressive with this team. And we've all said, next year is the supposed year. Goes to show you how heart hustle and togetherness can overcome adversity at times...Great great coaching job by Ben.

No to D1. Why would any one---players, fans, etc---want to go D1? You want WL to be the 150th best d1 basketball school, instead of a team that's been in every TOP 25 Pool for 8 years runnning????? PLayers chose to come to WL instead of playing D1, so they could be the best at D2, not to be a zit on the a$$ of D1. D2 basketball is pretty awesome...

For tonight's game...Mercyhurst pace does concern me... I've always maintained any team that tries to run with WL usually loses...(NDC and Fairmont are the exceptions recently)...But anyone who has beaten them, has done it by slowing the pace..Charleston has done it...IUP in the regionals...But you need Talent to do that too..and I think Mercyhurst slows it tonight, but WL prevails because players and talent will win, not systems...

WL 79-65 prevails...

Next interesting question, does the D2 "reseeding" committee, pit WL vs Nova SE?? Wouldn't that be an interesting game...Neither coach would want to play it, but the players would....

My God, yes. That would awesome to watch.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Are any of you jabroni's coming up tonight? I'll probably walk over and catch the game.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Are any of you jabroni's coming up tonight? I'll probably walk over and catch the game.

Kind of a long walk for me...I would have had to left last Tuesday to make it up there for tonights tip!!! I'll be on line watching the really, really good IUP feed (I'm serious about that!). Yea, it's student announcers and sometimes they do make mistakes (Kept referring to VA State as WEST Va State!!), but all in all they do a pretty good job.

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I'm not attending...I wish, but i'm running a hoop practice for daughter..

Those IUP announcers are BAD....compared to the WL pro's on their feed...

One keeps calling the other one "Pardner"....Not once, but all game long!

[Sportsnut]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Beautiful facilities, no wonder you have good teams!

[Scrub]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Those IUP announcers are BAD....compared to the WL pro's on their feed...

One keeps calling the other one "Pardner"....Not once, but all game long!

There's no question that WLU's broadcast is a bit better . . . because they hire a professional to run play-by-play and work the students in as color commentators and sideline reporters. So, in comparison to a professional, yes, the IUP kids aren't good. But if you compare them to other students doing a broadcast like that, I have to agree with Boat. I was very impressed at their work (all things considered).

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

There's no question that WLU's broadcast is a bit better . . . because they hire a professional to run play-by-play and work the students in as color commentators and sideline reporters. So, in comparison to a professional, yes, the IUP kids aren't good. But if you compare them to other students doing a broadcast like that, I have to agree with Boat. I was very impressed at their work (all things considered).

I would like to differentiate their "quality" in the WLU/VA State from the IUP/Hurst game. Obviously they are the IUP crew and IUP students so some homerism is to be expected but they were WAY over the top during the broadcast. Don't know which one it was but every time IUP scored a basket he would say that IUP was getting hot and going on a run! It was comical to listen to and got to the point that I could predict the next line as the ball dropped through the net...Oh well, their students and they obviously love their school and team. At least there was nothing like "and boom goes the dynamite's"!!! Hate to think what I would have been like if I had broadcast my college games!!!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

IUP has probably one of the best play-by-play guys in the country in Jack Benedict -- but he only does the radio broadcast. He's called IUP games for 50 years. He's basically the Dean of D2 broadcasting.

This is a better crew calling the web broadcasts this year. It's real hit or miss. They've had some doozies in the past. But, they are students and it is harder than it seems. Master the basics. Get the names right. Pronounce them right. Let's face it ... the only people actually watching this stuff online are big fans and know the names. You butcher every other name on the roster and you lose a lot of credibility immediately. Do the homework.

But, yes, the difference between having professionals call the game and students is night and day.

At this level some of the broadcasts are actually pretty comical. Gannon goes with a one-man booth and the kid might as well be on the bench. He yells at the refs during the broadcast, etc.

Slippery Rock had a very good student crew this year. The lead guy will have a future in the business.

All in all, though, these web feeds are 100 times better than even just a few years ago. They used to skip constantly, freeze up, poor camera work, fuzzy, etc.

IUP's actual video feed is excellent. They have multiple camera's changing the shot, close-ups, etc. There are still some that have one camera up on Row 60 that just goes left to right and right to left all night.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Please government...protect us from ourselves!!! Your illustration about Big Tobacco is instructive. Govt and law suits have been trying to kill it off since the 60's but in spite of the law suits, restrictions, constant negative press and graphic warning labels, it still keeps going. Different issue but...One of the things I find amusing is the pervasive opinion that smoking tobacco is bad for you but smoking marijuana is good for you!

Anecdotal stories aside, there is overwhelming statistical evidence that tobacco can kill you. Tobacco paid scientists to falsify data. Anyone who had been around someone with copd will likely never smoke as it is like constant suffocation.
Agree with you on marijuana. European studies link it to schizophrenia and ironically violence!

[Topper912]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Have you guys ever looked at the attendance or arenas for low level D1? Our basketball program would compete for the auto bid in first year if we were in a conference like the NEC. Yes I'd rather make the Sweet 16 in D1 as opposed to win the D2 National Championship. Possibly would rather win 1st round D1 tourney game than win D2 NC. Heck even making the D1 tourney would be up there with winning the D2 NC.

The highest average attendance in the entire NEC is Wagner with 1,450/game. There's 44 D1 teams who average less than 1,000/game which is also counting students. It's obvious West Liberty doesn't count students based on how much our arena holds and our reported average attendance. I have no doubt we average over 1,000/game. There's around 50 programs who's arena holds less than 3,000. There's around 20 programs who's arena holds less than 2,000. We could easily expand to over 3,000 by replacing the portable chair backs with bigger ones on the one side opposite of the main entrance.

Stetson- 202/game
New Hampshire - 383/game
Stetson- 418/game


In a perfect world a couple of the top programs from this region (MEC/PSAC maybe 1-2 from CAA) would get together and move up to form a new D1 conference. Let the football programs either be non scholarship or remain at the current 36 scholarship limit we already have in D2. This would keep the costs WAY down.



http://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/change_sport_year_div

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Anecdotal stories aside, there is overwhelming statistical evidence that tobacco can kill you. Tobacco paid scientists to falsify data. Anyone who had been around someone with copd will likely never smoke as it is like constant suffocation.
Agree with you on marijuana. European studies link it to schizophrenia and ironically violence!

Point I was making is that seemingly everyone has been gunning for big tobacco and it just keeps humming along inspite of the multi billion dollar settlements and the warning stickers on every pack. People continue to do it and new ones even start knowing that it has a pretty good chance of either killing them or making their life miserable.

I note with irony that I'm typing this while smoking a nice fat stogie!!!

[Layton]

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I'm not an basketball expert by any streatch of the imagination. But I have refered two players to WLU (one under the Crutch regime and one under Ben). BOTH times I got a reply from Ben within 30 minutes saying he had watched the guys film and wanted to talk with him. Neither player ended up going to WLU (one took a low level D1 offer and the other cat apparently didn't have the grades to qualify and is now flipping burgers). But it's just illustrative of how WLU operates. Ben doesn't know me from Adam but he was more than willing to take a look at and talk to any player from anywhere if he thought they might help the program.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Not 100% sure, but I think it is because he is not technically "redshirting" in the traditional sense. WJU is making him sit out a year away from basketball due to transfer restriction.
Alessandro is a traditional redshirt situation.