West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

I count three games last year were at least one WLU player did not eclipse 20 points. Typically Bolon was at the stop of the scoring heap.

Read an interview with/about Aiden. Paraphrasing here but he said he had D1 offers but that they wanted him to hit the weights and become bigger to earn playing time. He said that he was not interested which kind of indicates to me that he believes he is a "turn-key" product as is.

That was a good interview.
Aiden is ultra-talented. We just need to give him time to adjust.

I thought your previous assertion was that one person, specifically Aiden, had to score 20 points most nights even as a freshman. Even Dalton did not score 20 points in 11 games last season. Statistical averages can be deceiving. Also, one has to consider the number of shots each player took. Dalton took his fair share.

WLU had 8 players who scored 15 or more points at least once during the season, so that, in addition to their individual offensive efficiency stats, supports the assertion that wlu is loaded with scorers. This is a great advantage when one is having an off night.

[boatcapt]

the wlu style does not depend on one person getting 20 a night. Definitely not a shortage of scorers. Lol.

Aiden definitely has a long-term high ceiling. But there is an obvious adjustment from high school to college and to the wlu style. Wlu has talented, experienced players already on the wlu roster.

A plug and play replacement for Dalton is a tall order indeed. The open question for me is who on the roster can get offensive rebounds like Dalton? It requires great desire and effort as well as early anticipation of the shot. Nearly all of the offensive rebounders ahead of him in the national rebounding rankings were significantly taller than he.

To go way out on a limb, my sgt schultz guess is that Viktor could start in place of Dalton, as he is taller and a better three point shooter. Watched him get 34 against eventual elite 8 truman state. But he faces the same adjustment period as the other newcomers.

I count three games last year were at least one WLU player did not eclipse 20 points. Typically Bolon was at the stop of the scoring heap.

Read an interview with/about Aiden. Paraphrasing here but he said he had D1 offers but that they wanted him to hit the weights and become bigger to earn playing time. He said that he was not interested which kind of indicates to me that he believes he is a "turn-key" product as is.

[Columbuseer]

Hopefully he is cerebral enough to understand that the team has a better chance of winning if he scores 20+ most nights. With his already well honed D1 skill set and high basketball IQ, he seems to be the clear plug and play replacement for perenial All-American Dalton Bolon.

the wlu style does not depend on one person getting 20 a night. Definitely not a shortage of scorers. Lol.

Aiden definitely has a long-term high ceiling. But there is an obvious adjustment from high school to college and to the wlu style. Wlu has talented, experienced players already on the wlu roster.

A plug and play replacement for Dalton is a tall order indeed. The open question for me is who on the roster can get offensive rebounds like Dalton? It requires great desire and effort as well as early anticipation of the shot. Nearly all of the offensive rebounders ahead of him in the national rebounding rankings were significantly taller than he.

To go way out on a limb, my sgt schultz guess is that Viktor could start in place of Dalton, as he is taller and a better three point shooter. Watched him get 34 against eventual elite 8 truman state. But he faces the same adjustment period as the other newcomers.

[boatcapt]

He is too cerebral, mature and unselfish to worry about stats. He just wants to win.
IMHO, this is a very deep, experienced team. It is 15 deep, a problem most coaches would love to have.

Do u redshirt folks because there are not enough minutes to go around , even though redshirts are talented players? Or go with 3 platoons? Have to wait and see.

Hopefully he is cerebral enough to understand that the team has a better chance of winning if he scores 20+ most nights. With his already well honed D1 skill set and high basketball IQ, he seems to be the clear plug and play replacement for perenial All-American Dalton Bolon.

[Columbuseer]

With skills like his, anything less than All-American (not Freshman All-American) needs to happen his Freshman season. Anything less than 20 PPG (.450 from 3), 7 RPG, 4 APG and 2 steals PG will be a disappointing.

He is too cerebral, mature and unselfish to worry about stats. He just wants to win.
IMHO, this is a very deep, experienced team. It is 15 deep, a problem most coaches would love to have.

Do u redshirt folks because there are not enough minutes to go around , even though redshirts are talented players? Or go with 3 platoons? Have to wait and see.

[boatcapt]

With skills like his, anything less than All-American (not Freshman All-American) needs to happen his Freshman season. Anything less than 20 PPG (.450 from 3), 7 RPG, 4 APG and 2 steals PG will be a disappointing.

[Columbuseer]

FYI Newcomer profile - Aiden Satterfield

High School:IMHO Notes:
- Unusually complete player who can score inside and out, dribble, pass, and rebound.
- High motor who runs court really well
- Makes good decisions in real time in transition
- Unselfish
- Some d1 schools wanted him to bulk up and change his body in the their strength program in order for him to fit their style, but he did not prefer this scenario, given his current skill set.
- He continued to hear from WVU and Lincoln Memorial even after committing to WLU.
- With WLU style, he does not have to remake his body in order to play, as bulk is not a prerequisite to playing time.
- Just needs time to adjust to speed and talent of the college game

IMHO Long-term Assessment:
- Combination of skill and length could make him a matchup nightmare
- Ceiling extremely high

[Columbuseer]

Impressive in it's own right is the #3. Only worn by two players since 2009...Dave Dennis and Will Yoakum (current). Both won national All-Freshman honors.

Number factoid...WLU had no players sporting single digit uniform numbers in 2010-11. Don't see that very often if ever now days.

Great find!
I continue to be impressed that we made Elite 8 without Will. Speaks volumes about team depth and interchangeability of wlu players.
Reasonable to think that NWMSU might have been closer, as he is near/at the top in 3 point shooting on the team.

Number factoid made me wonder about which numbers are more popular than others and how it evolves over time. Obviously 23 is quite popular, starting with jordan.

Based on NBA MVPS, here are three notable jersey numbers: 33, 6, and 13.

MVP Awards by number
No.	Total MVPs	Winners
6	8	Bill Russell (5), LeBron James (2), Julius Erving
13	7	Wilt Chamberlain (4), Steve Nash (2), James Harden
21	3	Tim Duncan (2), Kevin Garnett
23	7	Michael Jordan (5), LeBron James (2)
24	3	Moses Malone (2), Kobe Bryant
32	6	Magic Johnson (3), Karl Malone (2), Bill Walton
33	9	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), Larry Bird (3)
34	5	Giannis Antetokounmpo (2), Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon
41	2	Dirk Nowitzki, Wes Unseld

[boatcapt]

Wlu roster is out.
Patrick has been doing some serious lifting, based on his arms.
Elijah looks much stronger too.
Viktor appears to be a legit 6-8.

Aiden Satterfield is #5.
May be just a coincidence, but
Seger #5 - all american
Dalton #5 - all american

Could this be starting a tradition, like wearing #44 in football at Syracuse?

Aiden is ultra talented, per Coach. Have to wait and see. Was not a guarantee of stardom at Syracuse, either.

Impressive in it's own right is the #3. Only worn by two players since 2009...Dave Dennis and Will Yoakum (current). Both won national All-Freshman honors.

Number factoid...WLU had no players sporting single digit uniform numbers in 2010-11. Don't see that very often if ever now days.

[Columbuseer]

Wlu roster is out.
Patrick has been doing some serious lifting, based on his arms.
Elijah looks much stronger too.
Viktor appears to be a legit 6-8.

Aiden Satterfield is #5.
May be just a coincidence, but
Seger #5 - all american
Dalton #5 - all american

Could this be starting a tradition, like wearing #44 in football at Syracuse?

Aiden is ultra talented, per Coach. Have to wait and see. Was not a guarantee of stardom at Syracuse, either.

[Columbuseer]

He must have violated coach's directions??!!

LOL. Good one.

All kidding aside, the wlu offense spreads the defense, which opens up myriad options, because the lane is not congested. It makes effective help defense problematic, for the player spacing makes it vulnerable for the kickout pass for an open three.
On the current team, Bryce and Marlon have great footwork in the lane and Bryce is honing that soft jump hook, ala Seger.

[boatcapt]

Seger Bonifant - all time d2 career leader in 3pt % at 52.5, which is incredible and much better than 46% all time leader in d1. Two-time national player of the year.

By his soph. year, he knew he had to expand his offensive game, for defenses were keying on him. Starting in his junior year, he displayed a great back to the basket inside game. It culminated in his senior year against Lincoln Memorial in the final four, where he got 44 points against a future NBA invitee, most of them inside the paint. One of the best games by two teams that I have seen.

Future players should watch replays and study his technique.

He must have violated coach's directions??!!

[Columbuseer]

Seger Bonifant - all time d2 career leader in 3pt % at 52.5, which is incredible and much better than 46% all time leader in d1. Two-time national player of the year.

By his soph. year, he knew he had to expand his offensive game, for defenses were keying on him. Starting in his junior year, he displayed a great back to the basket inside game. It culminated in his senior year against Lincoln Memorial in the final four, where he got 44 points against a future NBA invitee, most of them inside the paint. One of the best games by two teams that I have seen.

Future players should watch replays and study his technique.

[Columbuseer]

I wish Corey Pelle could teach his unique ability to score from behind the backboard and also facing toward the opponent's basket. He was very comfortable scoring from that unusual location. Most folks have to turn and face their goal.

At halftime at charleston civic center maybe 4 years ago, a program number was called for a half court shot for a chance to win a resort vacation.
this guy comes out in jeans, a lumberjack shirt and work boots. I thought "no chance" that he even comes close... he calmly walked up and let it fly... nothing but net for the win!
found out later it was Corey Pelle lol!

[Columbuseer]

I'm pretty sure it couldn't be taught, but one of the "skills" I was always most in awe of was Alex Falk's body control when finishing at the rim. He had an uncanny ability to redirect all his energy to a different finishing point after already leaving the floor. He would recognize where the block was coming from and change his body position midair to avoid the contact and get the ball up on the glass. Unbelievable. He still might be my favorite all-time Hilltopper.

Good points. Alex's motor and IQ was off the charts. National player of the year. Would be interesting to study how he did it.

If I had to guess, I would suspect he saw the block coming and slightly changed the vector or angle of his jump ever so slightly as he lifted off the floor. This would enable him to change his flight vector to give him room to shift his body and gain sufficient clearance to avoid the block.

Although more relevant for avoiding charges, I once had problems stopping my forward momentum when running on a fast break and doing a jump stop in the lane. I discovered that if I landed leaning backward at a 45 degree angle on the jump stop and then exploded off the floor in that direction, it offset the forward momentum, resulting in my body being stationary and my body was perpendicular to the floor as if I had been taking an on balance, stationary jump shot. Avoided many charging calls and bad, off balance shots. Later I learned that it was just Newtonian physics.