West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[TopperAlum2015]

Can only speculate for now, but now that we know who is moving on to Evansville for the Elite 8, it looks like WL may end up with the #7 seed against #2 West Texas A&M. NW Missouri St with the #1 Seed against #8 Daemen; following their upset of St. Thomas Aquinas. The #3 through #6 seeds may be a little more up in the air. Thoughts?

[boatcapt]

Can only speculate for now, but now that we know who is moving on to Evansville for the Elite 8, it looks like WL may end up with the #7 seed against #2 West Texas A&M. NW Missouri St with the #1 Seed against #8 Daemen; following their upset of St. Thomas Aquinas. The #3 through #6 seeds may be a little more up in the air. Thoughts?

NCAA gonna do what the NCAA gonna do...With no explanation given!

[BuffaloChip]

Can only speculate for now, but now that we know who is moving on to Evansville for the Elite 8, it looks like WL may end up with the #7 seed against #2 West Texas A&M. NW Missouri St with the #1 Seed against #8 Daemen; following their upset of St. Thomas Aquinas. The #3 through #6 seeds may be a little more up in the air. Thoughts?

I agree about WT vs WL. I think WT should be the 1, but we all know how the NCAA kisses NW's butt till it's raw. Haha!

WT / WL ought to be one of the premierly interesting quarterfinal games in quite a few years. I don't see how our little guard team from the Panhandle of Texas will be able to stay up with the storied coach and WL team.

Mines at the 3, Flagler the 4, Truman the 5, Lincoln the 6. My guess.

[Columbuseer]

Observations from a Dummy: WLU vs Hillsdale

Hillsdale was a very well-coached team with very talented, unselfish players and the GMAC player of the year.
They were just not built to combat the unique style of WLU (few teams are). Luckily, WLU was at their defensive best.

The outcome of this game was determined by:
1) WLU pace and pressure - they wore out Hillsdale, which affected their shooting and their rebounding. When Hillsdale needed to ratchet up the pressure, there was nothing left in the tank.

2) Inability of Hillsdale to leverage their big men for easy scores.

3) WLU matchup issues

1. Patrick versus Brown - took him to the rack at will and forced him out of the game with 2 fouls
2. Marlon intimidating Cartier without fouling him - Great discipline. Blocked several shots and made him work extremely hard
3. Dalton shooting over Yarian, which forced him away from the boards

As a result of the matchup issues and fatigue

1. WLU controlled the boards, and Hillsdale got few 2nd chance shots. Hillsdale, for all their size is soft on offensive rebounds, ranked 209th versus 6th for WLU. In defensive rebounds, WLU is 12th and Hillsdale is 49th.
2. Both teams average around the same in 3 pt % for the season, around 36-37%. But in this game, WLU made 42% while Hilldale only shot 25%.
3. A telling number indicating fatigue was FT %. WLU hit 82% exceeding their 75% average, while Hillsdale shot only 38%, while their season average was 72%.

Areas for Improvement

1. In the second half, we had about a 4 minute stretch of bad possessions when we were up 17. Guys were taking difficult shots or taking shots out of their "sweet spot" with no one under to rebound. Had we kept rotating the ball, we could have pushed Hillsdale past the tipping point of fatigue and gone up by 30. Instead they cut the lead to 10, which should have been less of a lead if they had not missed some easy chances. We have to stay in the moment and play like the game is tied and try to get the best possible shot. If we don't, Evansville will be a day trip.

2. We have always think team with our emotions. These technical fouls are selfish and indicate that the focus is on "me" rather than team. Opponents will always try to bait players to get an edge.

3. Saw some lack of situational awareness in terms of taking shots instead of running clock.

Statistic	West Liberty Regular Season	HILLSDALE COLLEGE
POINTS	78	61
FGM	27	25
FGA	61	58
FGPCT	44.3%	43.1%
3FGM	10	4
3FGA	24	16
3FGPCT	41.7%	25.0%
FTM	14	7
FTA	17	18
FTPCT	82.4%	38.9%
REBOUND OFFENSIVE	8	5
REBOUND DEFENSIVE	36	29
REBOUND TOTAL	44	34
ASSISTS	13	15
TURNOVERS	13	13
BLOCKS	7	3
STEALS	9	9
Num Possessions	73	74
Points per Possession	1.07	0.82
Assists per 100 Possessions	17.8	20.3
Assists / FG Made %	48.15%	60.00%
Assist to Turnover Ratio	1.00	1.15
Turnovers per 100 Possessions (< better)	17.8	17.6
Opponent Defensive Rebounds	29	36
Offensive Rebound Efficiency %	21.6%	12.2%
Effective FG %	52.5%	46.6%
Effective FG% Difference (team- Opp.)	5.9%	-5.9%
FGA % Diff ((team FGA-Opp.FGA)/Opp.)	5.2%	-4.9%
Forced Turnovers	13	13
Opponent Possessions	74	73
Forced Turnovers % of Opp. Possession	17.6%	17.8%

[boatcapt]

I agree about WT vs WL. I think WT should be the 1, but we all know how the NCAA kisses NW's butt till it's raw. Haha!

WT / WL ought to be one of the premierly interesting quarterfinal games in quite a few years. I don't see how our little guard team from the Panhandle of Texas will be able to stay up with the storied coach and WL team.

Mines at the 3, Flagler the 4, Truman the 5, Lincoln the 6. My guess.

I don't see how our little college team nestled in a sleepy little town in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia with a roster consisting of overachieving gym rats who have never won Regonals before could possibly defeat a team from the great state of Texas with a legendary coach that has won National Championships as well as taken multiple teams to the final four.

OK, now that we are finished lying to each other, how do you see the game??

[Scrub]

Seeding is going to be very interesting. NWMo is likely the best team in the country and very deserving of a #1 overall Elite 8 seed. However, they weren't even the #1 in their own regional. Furthermore, Daemen was a higher seed than WLU in its region, but does not appear to have had as strong a season. It'll be very interesting to see how the committee weights its own prior seeds and whether they "reward" a Flagler or a WTAM for making it through as a #1 Regional seed. I suspect BuffaloChip's guess is reasonably accurate. But conspiracy theories aside, Boat isn't wrong that the NCAA sometimes does head-scratching things with these seeds. Can't wait to see.

[IUPalum]

Can only speculate for now, but now that we know who is moving on to Evansville for the Elite 8, it looks like WL may end up with the #7 seed against #2 West Texas A&M. NW Missouri St with the #1 Seed against #8 Daemen; following their upset of St. Thomas Aquinas. The #3 through #6 seeds may be a little more up in the air. Thoughts?

Daemen is going to get mauled by whomever they play!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Daemen is going to get mauled by whomever they play!

They had some major Covid issues throughout the season -- at times playing without up to 4-5 rotation guys. They may just be getting full strength.

[boatcapt]

Seeding is going to be very interesting. NWMo is likely the best team in the country and very deserving of a #1 overall Elite 8 seed. However, they weren't even the #1 in their own regional. Furthermore, Daemen was a higher seed than WLU in its region, but does not appear to have had as strong a season. It'll be very interesting to see how the committee weights its own prior seeds and whether they "reward" a Flagler or a WTAM for making it through as a #1 Regional seed. I suspect BuffaloChip's guess is reasonably accurate. But conspiracy theories aside, Boat isn't wrong that the NCAA sometimes does head-scratching things with these seeds. Can't wait to see.

You think the Regional playoff selections are secret and arbitrary, you ain't seen nothing to compare to the Elite 8 "reseeding." The NCAA says it's based on "ranking" but to the best of my knowledge, they never say WHICH rankings.

[Columbuseer]

Points per possession. - wlu averages 1.27. Against Hillsdale they were 1.07 PPP, which would be outstanding in d1.the decline was due to some forced passes that went awry in the half court offense and some ill-advised shots during their 4 min. Stumbling, bumbling phase in second half. But what is impressive is that they held Hillsdale to 0.82 PPP, which is Frostburg level of play. Speaks volumes about our defense and effects of fatigue. Cartier was signalling to come out at 17:30 mark of first half!

[boatcapt]

WLU has been in 8 of the last 10 Regional Finals, winning the game and Regional Championship on 6 occasions. During it's run of Elite 8 apperances, WLU has lost the E8 game only once.

[boatcapt]

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.

Not entirely true. Infact, PA as a whole does recruit, and on par with many colleges. When you go to their web site, there is an instant "chat" link to connect immediately with a "counselor" (recruiter) about your interest in Pulaski. This counselor is very knowledgable about the various scholarships that students interested in attending PA may qualify for. If you are an athlete, the counselor hints around specific "programs" that are often used to "ease the tuition burden" for athletes. It's almost impossible to get off of the chat with the counselor without receiving an "information package" that includes information on scholarships AND an initial enrollment application.

As far as a coach going on the road and specifically recruiting a player from another HS to come to PA, I agree, that doesn't happen. But I do ascribe to the "If you build it, they will come" theory of recruiting. PA has a great track record of success and putting players into college. Because of that, they don't really need to recruit to have a steady flow of quality players coming through the door each and every year.

[boatcapt]

I agree about WT vs WL. I think WT should be the 1, but we all know how the NCAA kisses NW's butt till it's raw. Haha!

WT / WL ought to be one of the premierly interesting quarterfinal games in quite a few years. I don't see how our little guard team from the Panhandle of Texas will be able to stay up with the storied coach and WL team.

Mines at the 3, Flagler the 4, Truman the 5, Lincoln the 6. My guess.

I don't see how our little college team nestled in a sleepy little town in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia with a roster consisting of overachieving gym rats who have never won Regonals before could possibly defeat a team from the great state of Texas with a legendary coach that has won National Championships as well as taken multiple teams to the final four.

OK, now that we are finished lying to each other, how do you see the game??

Guess we'll have to wait Chip until the National Championship game for our two little sad-sack teams to play!!

[Layton]

Northwest Missouri it is

Looks like one area we can exploit with our pace and press is their bench seems to be short. Only 7 guys play over ten minutes and 6 play 20 or more

[Columbuseer]

definitely not unbeatable. Malik and Luke will be key on defense..
I watched northern state nwmo game. Nsu had them beat and nwmo star hit a contested 25 footer to tie it in waning secs. Won in ot. Refs probably needed a police escort out of no. State arena.