West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

They're trying to bait teams into taking bad shots (i.e., bigs will find themselves open for 3s after breaking the press). When teams take those bad shots (and miss more than they make), it plays right into WLU's hands (cf. the A-B and Frostburg games for bad-shot-apalooza by WLU's opponents). Smart teams with smart coaches have figured out it's best to beat the press, pull it out, and then make WLU defend for 20+ seconds. Glenville did this to perfection two nights ago. WVSU & UC have done this with great success against WLU. And Mercyhurst had no problem pulling it out and grinding (it's what they do anyway).

If teams are starting to figure out the antidote, Howlett will have to add a wrinkle or two to keep it effective.

That's a big part of it. The advantage is there are so few teams with strong enough guard play to deal with it for a whole game. It takes a lot of discipline and self-control. The majority of teams get overwhelmed. If you get sucked in to that 129-110 game ... you'll lose to WL just about every time.

Bonner, Sanders and Vonhandorf really did a good job with it yesterday. If they add 1-2 guys this off-season -- and get that rotation beyond 6 guys -- that could be a national title contender next year. Bonner and Sanders are as good a 1-2 combo as there is around. Younkin didn't play in the second WL/FSU game (concussion). He's pretty impactful for them.

[boatcapt]

Indeed, big performances from Dyer & Hazelbaker to keep this thing close. They had looks all day, while Bolon was often being doubled (or at least hedged) at the 3-point line.

WLU is hunting for that player to step up and replace the replacement (scoring wise) for the loss of Yoakum. From a scoring standpoint, Butler seems to be the guy that has replaced Yoakum, but who is stepping up and replacing the points (and minutes) that Butler was getting pre-Yoakum injury? I'd be comfortable with Dyer handling an increased portion of the scoring load.

[boatcapt]

That's a big part of it. The advantage is there are so few teams with strong enough guard play to deal with it for a whole game. It takes a lot of discipline and self-control. The majority of teams get overwhelmed. If you get sucked in to that 129-110 game ... you'll lose to WL just about every time.

Bonner, Sanders and Vonhandorf really did a good job with it yesterday. If they add 1-2 guys this off-season -- and get that rotation beyond 6 guys -- that could be a national title contender next year. Bonner and Sanders are as good a 1-2 combo as there is around. Younkin didn't play in the second WL/FSU game (concussion). He's pretty impactful for them.

Fairmont is a VERY good team, no doubt. Probably among the top 4 or 5 in the region (in no particular order, WLU, IUP, Hurst, Fairmont, UC or Va State or ??). In the past their issue has been keeping their players and coaches. We'll see if this group is different.

[Columbuseer]

Fairmont is a VERY good team, no doubt. Probably among the top 4 or 5 in the region (in no particular order, WLU, IUP, Hurst, Fairmont, UC or Va State or ??). In the past their issue has been keeping their players and coaches. We'll see if this group is different.

Wondering if some unethical d1 teams might start making a "Sincere" pitch to Bonner to replace Mr. KARMA in their lineup.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Wondering if some unethical d1 teams might start making a "Sincere" pitch to Bonner to replace Mr. KARMA in their lineup.

Bonner and Armoni Foster train together all summer. Both could play up. It's a scary thought for us D2 fans.

[Columbuseer]

FYI Stats on Malone versus Hillsdale
Only watched a few minutes of Hillsdale game.
Some observations based mainly on stats

• look like traditional basketball team with bigs; their Points Per Possession (PPP) was 1.12, which is good for that style of play; WLU is 1.26
• Good 3-pt shooting at 40%, but only took 20 shots on 66 possessions
• Shares the ball with assists on 59% of FG made and 24 assists per 100 possessions
• Takes care of ball with 13.6 turnovers per 100 possessions; but this game was a slow, half court style.
• Typical offensive rebound efficiency for a "big" oriented team at 30%
• Effective offense was 50% which is quite average for a good team

Open Questions:

• Will WLU pressure disrupt them? Will it reduce their shooting % and increase turnovers?
• Without Will, can WLU defend their bigs and stay out of foul trouble? they do a good job of getting ball inside.
• Does Malone have guards who can defend WLU's guards?
• Can Malone stop WLU in transition?
• If wlu guards have to sag in on bigs, will Malone make the kick out three?
• Can WLU win the rebounding battle?

stats	malone
POINTS	74
FGM	27
FGA	61
FGPCT	44.3%
3FGM	8
3FGA	20
3FGPCT	40.0%
FTM	12
FTA	16
FTPCT	75.0%
REBOUND OFFENSIVE	11
REBOUND DEFENSIVE	27
REBOUND TOTAL	38
ASSISTS	16
TURNOVERS	9
BLOCKS	2
STEALS	7
Num Possessions	66
Points per Possession	1.12
Assists per 100 Possessions	24.2
Assists / FG Made %	59.3%
Assist to Turnover Ratio	1.78
Turnovers per 100 Possessions (< better)	13.6
Opponent Defensive Rebounds	25
Offensive Rebound Efficiency %	30.6%
Effective FG %	50.8%

[Columbuseer]

	FYI WLU national d2 stat ranking, as of March 8, 2021
	NCAA ranks the 312 D2 schools in 31 national statistics of which only 26 are relevant to the WLU style(See note below)
	WLU ranks:
#1 in Scoring offense at 104.8 pts per game
top 5 in 8 categories
top 10 in 17 categories
top 20 in 20 categories
top 50 in 24 categories, which is over 92% of the relevant 26 stats
	Note: The WL style is incongruous with some statistics, such as fewest fouls, personal fouls per game, fewest turnovers, turnovers per game, scoring defense, etc., which leaves only 26 relevant stats for WLU.
		Date	Stat		Rank		Value
		3/8/2021	Scoring Offense		1		104.8
		3/8/2021	Assists per game		2		19.5
		3/8/2021	Scoring margin		2		23
		3/8/2021	Total Rebounds per game		2		44.58
		3/8/2021	Total Assists		4		370
		3/8/2021	Turnover margin		4		5.2
		3/8/2021	Assist to turnover ratio		5		1.64
		3/8/2021	Offensive rebounds per game		5		15.58
		3/8/2021	Rebound Margin		6		9
		3/8/2021	Steals per Game		6		9.3
		3/8/2021	Total Rebounds		6		847
		3/8/2021	Three-point FG per game		7		11.3
		3/8/2021	Turnovers forced per game		7		17.11
		3/8/2021	Total steals		8		177
		3/8/2021	3-point FG attempts		9		580
		3/8/2021	Total three-point FG Made		9		214
		3/8/2021	Defensive Rebounds per game		10		29
		3/8/2021	Free Throw Made		12		343
		3/8/2021	FG percentage		14		49.9
		3/8/2021	Free Throw Attempts		14		455
		3/8/2021	Total Blocks		25		63
		3/8/2021	Three Point FG Defense		33		31.70%
		3/8/2021	Free Throw Percentage		35		75.38%
		3/8/2021	Blocked shots per game		48		3.3

[Scrub]

Anyone else notice that Malone's starting point guard is named Bryce Butler? That should be fun for Isaac (or whomever will be calling the game on the video feed).

[Columbuseer]

FYI OLSH is in wpial 2a finals, beating Jeannette by about 30. Dante got a bunch of steals and assists; also hit a jumper from 33 ft with a hand in his face at end of half.

[Columbuseer]

FYI Season Stats WLU and Malone

I have shaded the higher relevant stats in green. Note that most of the differences are statistically insignificant.
Key areas of difference are:
1) WLU has 11 more possessions per game
2) WLU has a big edge in offensive rebounding efficiency
3) WLU shoots more threes, leading to 8% great offensive efficiency
4) WLU averages 1.27 Points per possession (PPP) versus an outstanding 1.16 PPP for Malone

Key factors will be:
1) Can WLU speed up Malone?
2) Can WLU force turnovers against a team that does not turn the ball over in a half court game?
3) Can WLU defend rapid ball movement and excellent shot selection of Malone?
4) Is WLU shooting over 40% from three?
5) Can WLU control the boards, especially the offensive glass?

It should be a challenging game.

Tale of the tape - Season to date
	West liberty Season	Malone Season
Games	19	23
Points per game	104.8	82.0
POINTS	1991	1885
FGM	717	709
FGA	1436	1455
FGPCT	49.9%	48.7%
3FGM	214	194
3FGA	580	508
3FGPCT	36.9%	38.2%
FTM	343	273
FTA	455	371
FTPCT	75.4%	73.6%
REBOUND OFFENSIVE	296	237
REBOUND DEFENSIVE	551	643
REBOUND TOTAL	847	0
ASSISTS	370	381
TURNOVERS	226	251
BLOCKS	63	43
STEALS	177	129
Num Possessions	1566	1632
Points per Possession	1.27	1.16
Assists per 100 Possessions	23.6	23.3
Assists to FG Made ratio	51.6%	53.7%
Assist to Turnover Ratio	1.64	1.52
Turnovers per 100 Possessions (< better)	14.4	15.4
Opoonent Defensive Rebounds	387	552
Offensive Rebound Efficiency %	43.3%	30.0%
Effective FG %	57.4%	55.4%
Effective FG% Difference (team-Opp)	8.0%	4.1%
FGA % Diff ((team-Opp.)/Opp)	42.2%	0.1%
Possessions per game	82	71

[Layton]

What an implosion before halftime

[Scrub]

What an implosion before halftime

Credit to Malone. A lot of teams will just fold up the tents after a blackout. Malone withstood about 3 of them and hung around all game. Great effort by the Pioneers.

[Columbuseer]

if wlu keeps regressing to 1-on-1 [lay for 5 mins like they did in first half, they won't win against a championship caliber team.

[Columbuseer]

the technical fouls are selfish and inexcusable.

[Layton]

Definitely give credit to Malone but we should be closing better than that