West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[boatcapt]

Columbuseer would certainly be a "heady" player! (But I'm not sure how well he could box out)

Joe would run the "picket fence" with Columbusser doing his best Merel Webb imitation and popping from the corner of the key to claim a PSAC offensive avalanch like 60-58 victory!

[Scrub]

Joe was one more injury away from signing Columbuseer to play power forward.

Columbuseer would certainly be a "heady" player! (But I'm not sure how well he could box out)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

He's an "MEC big." And as you know, "MEC bigs" would play the 2 spot in the PSAC. : )

Well, unless you count Shawndale guarding the post earlier this year. Maybe he was warming up to transfer to the MEC!

Joe was one more injury away from signing Columbuseer to play power forward.

[Scrub]

Lol ... I thought Kenzie was a guard. He's pretty small to be a post player?

He's an "MEC big." And as you know, "MEC bigs" would play the 2 spot in the PSAC. : )

Well, unless you count Shawndale guarding the post earlier this year. Maybe he was warming up to transfer to the MEC!

[Columbuseer]

WL can be dangerous in March. They are getting better and better, as many predicted. New players have internalized the style. We now have at least 3 players who can beat many players off the dribble, but will share the ball. So when the defense spreads to stop the three there is no help defense and we take them inside for layups.

We now are getting more points in the paint than from three. But they are layups by our guards not traditional post moves.

WL would have 6 players in top 70 nationally in 3 pt % if they had enough attempts, and two in the top five nationally. So pick your poison. Bolon is averaging a double double the last 10 games. WL averaged 1.40 pts per possession against fairmont who is a good defensive team.

The constant pressure gets inside your head and disrupts team play as opponents get frustrated and quit thinking team. Dyer was driving Bonner nuts. Dyer now has 5.95 assist to turnover ratio.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I agree with you that FSU looked pretty scattered yesterday. In the first match-up, Kenzie Melko had the game of his life, so the "bigs" looked a lot more organized by virtue of his having a big day. I do think FSU played pretty good on-ball defense--i.e., they seemed to make it a bit uncomfortable on WLU's guards, but that high pressure also left backdoors open without Kenzie's post presence making much of an impact yesterday. We'll see which version shows up in the conference tourney!

Lol ... I thought Kenzie was a guard. He's pretty small to be a post player?

[Scrub]

I agree with you that FSU looked pretty scattered yesterday. In the first match-up, Kenzie Melko had the game of his life, so the "bigs" looked a lot more organized by virtue of his having a big day. I do think FSU played pretty good on-ball defense--i.e., they seemed to make it a bit uncomfortable on WLU's guards, but that high pressure also left backdoors open without Kenzie's post presence making much of an impact yesterday. We'll see which version shows up in the conference tourney!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I might agree with this point. But I'm not sure I can put my finger on it. Do you have a sense of why that might be the case, IUPbig?

No clue. But, something looks different (better).

That said, when you plays teams that will force WL in to a slower pace (IUP or Mercyhurst), Boswell may be better in those types of games).

[Scrub]

WL looked night and day better. BTW, I think WL is much better with Boswell not in the lineup.

I might agree with this point. But I'm not sure I can put my finger on it. Do you have a sense of why that might be the case, IUPbig?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

So what does WLU's thumping of Fairmont, in Fairmont mean in the scheme of this season mean? Coming into this game, Fairmont was one of the hotter teams in the Atlantic posting a 9-1 record over the last 10 games and six straight W's. They also had an early season W over the #2 team in the region Shippensburg.

Was it simply a W over a good team or does it indicate more than that?

I thought WL played exceptionally well and Fairmont played exceptionally poor. The end result was actually closer than the game felt. It felt like WL won by 40 points.

Fairmont's post players were very weak. As a whole they didn't look like a polished team at all -- temper tantrums, horrible ball-handling, no inside game, etc. I've watched FSU three times this year and have no idea what its identity is. Yesterday they just looked lost.

It could be just one game. They may look different in Round 3. But, yesterday, they didn't look at all like an NCAA team.

WL looked night and day better. BTW, I think WL is much better with Boswell not in the lineup.

I was suprised FSU tried to get in that 100 mph game yesterday. They don't have the horses.

[boatcapt]

So what does WLU's thumping of Fairmont, in Fairmont mean in the scheme of this season mean? Coming into this game, Fairmont was one of the hotter teams in the Atlantic posting a 9-1 record over the last 10 games and six straight W's. They also had an early season W over the #2 team in the region Shippensburg.

Was it simply a W over a good team or does it indicate more than that?

[boatcapt]

Right. But having Guillozet in the barn wouldn't necessarily have precluded Howlett from recruiting Yoakum.

Don't think Guillozet's transfer drove the Yoakum recruiting. But it did free up a spot on the roster and it can be argued that among the three freshmen brought in that year (Saben, Moore and Yoakum), Yoakum needed the most work.

[Scrub]

And then the next year we landed Will Yoakum who is the #2 scorer and rebounder on the team and leads the team in 3 pt shooting percentage (.514 from 3 point range is insane!), raw shooting percentage (.599) and free throw percentage (.857).

Right. But having Guillozet in the barn wouldn't necessarily have precluded Howlett from recruiting Yoakum.

[boatcapt]

Congrats to him. When u think of those 2 classes, wl really hit some home runs in evaluating talent:
justice and Dennis in one class, followed by bolon, clay, and Dyer in the second class.

One has to be a basketball purist to appreciate what Dyer does. Last week he had an assist to turnover ratio of 6.00 for the season. That is insane. he creates chaos on defense too.

And then the next year we landed Will Yoakum who is the #2 scorer and rebounder on the team and leads the team in 3 pt shooting percentage (.514 from 3 point range is insane!), raw shooting percentage (.599) and free throw percentage (.857).

Interesting note, if Quinn Hiles gets three more steals over the last three regular season games, every WLU player will have 10+ steals!

[Columbuseer]

Saw that our old friend Clay Guillozet joined Dalton Bolon on the Top-50 Player of the Year watch list. Man, would that guy look good in black and gold right now!

Congrats to him. When u think of those 2 classes, wl really hit some home runs in evaluating talent:
justice and Dennis in one class, followed by bolon, clay, and Dyer in the second class.

One has to be a basketball purist to appreciate what Dyer does. Last week he had an assist to turnover ratio of 6.00 for the season. That is insane. he creates chaos on defense too.