West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[boatcapt]

Both are hard games for different reasons. Toppers wouldn't be favorites against either. Much will depend on which WLU team shows up. If the team that showed up today, they will be hard to beat...If it is the team showed up against Malone or in their three regular season losses, it will be hard for us to beat eather.

But if I had to pick, I'd say I'd rather play Hurst.

[Layton]

Hillsdale it is

[Scrub]

Both are hard games for different reasons. Toppers wouldn't be favorites against either. Much will depend on which WLU team shows up. If the team that showed up today, they will be hard to beat...If it is the team showed up against Malone or in their three regular season losses, it will be hard for us to beat eather.

But if I had to pick, I'd say I'd rather play Hurst.

Well said, Boat. I agree that the Toppers are a clear underdog on Tuesday night. I don't mind having a shot at Hillsdale. Hurst has seen WLU before and knows how to handle it. My only hope (likely in vain, but a guy can hope) is that WLU's speed and pace will shock Hillsdale and they get down early. Their methodical offense won't be able to be as patient if they're down. But the Toppers are going to have to bring their A-game on Tuesday--that's for sure.

[Columbuseer]

Imho Keys for wlu

-push, push, push the ball in transition. We must run them until they drop. Bigs tend to foul when you make them move in open court
- make guards work hard and keep them from throwing over us in the trap
- rotate the ball and get a great shot
- shoot over 40% from three
- our bigs must avoid foul trouble
- hit the glass hard. Position more important than height
- be ready to pass the ball on a drive when bigs defend the shot. Malones butler hurt them doing that.

Remember Malone beat them.

[Layton]

I snagged three tickets, they sold out in one minute!

[Columbuseer]

Congrats! That was quick!

[boatcapt]

Imho Keys for wlu

-push, push, push the ball in transition. We must run them until they drop. Bigs tend to foul when you make them move in open court
- make guards work hard and keep them from throwing over us in the trap
- rotate the ball and get a great shot
- shoot over 40% from three
- our bigs must avoid foul trouble
- hit the glass hard. Position more important than height
- be ready to pass the ball on a drive when bigs defend the shot. Malones butler hurt them doing that.

Remember Malone beat them.

+1

We have to "stick with the plan" and remember that the game is 40 minutes long. Keep "choppin' wood" so to speak. Against a good rebounding team like Hillsdale, shooting % is sooo very important. That said, our inside players need to fight and scrap for every rebound they can get. The temptation when you get an offensive rebound is to put it back up...probably a better idea against Hillsdale to kick it back outside for a new play. If/when we drive inside, got to fight the temptation to finish with some sort of highlight reel layup. Hillsdale collapses their D well and with those tall trees inside, you are probably going to get blocked...drive, pull the D to you and kick to the open man.

This game is tailor made for trading 2 for 3. When Hillsdale makes a 2, get the ball in quickly, and attack in transition looking to get an open 3. To make this work effectively, we need to shoot 40+% from 3...for some unknown reason, we seem to struggle doing that sometimes.

An additional potentially critical metric...Free Throw shooting! We need to shoot at least 70% from the charity stripe. Those "free" points could be the difference between moving on and going home.

[Columbuseer]

Be interesting to see if hillsdale plays zone. If they do, rasile may play a pivotal role. Patrick at top, Dalton on wing, Zach in corner. Can't guard all three.
Rumors of curry like accuracy and range for zach. We have seen glimpses in past games, such as 6 for 6. You don't become 2nd highest scorer in ohio history at >3000 points without good mechanics.

[Columbuseer]

Observations from a Dummy: WLU vs Charleston

Sheer tenacity and effort won the game for WLU. We got most 50-50 balls, and we had guys getting put-backs on their teammates' misses. Case in point: Patrick intercepts a pass and takes off down the court. If there was ever a time for someone to take a breather, it would be to watch Patrick sprint down the court to finish at the rim in transition. Instead, there were not one, but two teammates sprinting with him. Patrick missed the highly contested shot, but WLU was there to get the rebound. Impressive! We got most 50-50 balls too.

Our half court defense was outstanding:

1. We had an offensive rebounding % of almost 40% to only 17% for UC, who is a much bigger team. WLU was willing to mix it up on the glass, regardless of their size disadvantage. Some of UC's more athletic players appear to feel more comfortable standing out around the 3 point line.
2. We held UC to 0.98 PPP. WLU had an incredible 1.26 PPP against a top 20 team.
3. WLU had 1.11 assist to turnover ratio to 0.92 for UC, who normally takes very good care of the ball.
4. WLU held UC to 20% from three while we shot a typical 37%. Owen's threes forced McManus to leave the paint which opened the lane for drives and offensive rebounds.

This game really illustrated how effort and teamwork can overcome size and athletic disparities.
Great win!

Statistic	West Liberty Regular Season	CHARLESTON (WV)
POINTS	82	63
FGM	32	22
FGA	64	48
FGPCT	50.0%	45.8%
3FGM	9	4
3FGA	24	20
3FGPCT	37.5%	20.0%
FTM	9	15
FTA	11	21
FTPCT	81.8%	71.4%
REBOUND OFFENSIVE	13	5
REBOUND DEFENSIVE	24	20
REBOUND TOTAL	37	25
ASSISTS	10	11
TURNOVERS	9	12
BLOCKS	2	2
STEALS	7	5
Num Possessions	65	64
Points per Possession	1.26	0.98
Assists per 100 Possessions	15.4	17.2
Assists / FG Made %	31.25%	50.00%
Assist to Turnover Ratio	1.11	0.92
Turnovers per 100 Possessions (< better)	13.8	18.8
Opponent Defensive Rebounds	20	24
Offensive Rebound Efficiency %	39.4%	17.2%
Effective FG %	57.0%	50.0%
Effective FG% Difference (team- Opp.)	7.0%	-7.0%
FGA % Diff ((team FGA-Opp.FGA)/Opp.)	33.3%	-25.0%
Forced Turnovers	12	9
Opponent Possessions	65	64
Forced Turnovers % of Opp. Possession	18.8%	13.8%

[IUPbigINDIANS]

WTF happened to your football team? 70-7?

[Columbuseer]

WTF happened to your football team? 70-7?

I don't follow WLU football. Maybe they were trying to lull NDC into a false sense of complacency?
:-)

IMHO, if you cannot beat teams at their game, then change the game.
WLU needs to bring Kevin Kelly from Pulaski Academy (PA) in Little Rock, Arkansas to WLU as a consultant to teach them his style. They are the football equivalent of the WLU style in basketball.
What do they have to lose?

PA played a private VA school near Richmond who had at least 7 D1 players (it is a football magnet high school) and destroyed them, with only two players over 220 lbs. They are playing two classifications above their enrollment and have won 8 state championships with their style.

The had a 150 lb linebacker from Japan, who was a destroyer on defense, both in the run and pass. Amazing player who is probably better than anyone on WLU's defense today.
"Futa Shinkawa finishes his career 7th in state history with 392 tackles. In his career, he had 61 tackles for loss, 23 sacks, and 11 QB hurries. Also, 3 interceptions, 13 pass breakups, and 11 QB hurries, Also he forced 5 fumbles, recovered 3 fumbles, and blocked a field goal"

Plus, PA does not recruit. Like WLU basketball, data analytics support the efficacy of the Pulaski Academy style.

Their games can be watched on demand on youtube.

[Layton]

Headed up in a little bit, hope we leave with a big W!

[TopperAlum2015]

Headed up in a little bit, hope we leave with a big W!

[Layton]

[boatcapt]

WTF happened to your football team? 70-7?

We have a HC who doesn't seem to be particularly concerned with winning. Hard to believe that there was a time when WLU's football offense was the equivalent of WLU's basketball offense.