West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Layton]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

They took wild-ass threes because of the stifling D WLU was playing...They couldn't get a clean look. Took horrible shots because that was all that was available.

Looks like Watson was given the game off to "contemplate" what it means to play within the WLU system!!! Wonder if he will figure it out or if he will require an extended period of "quite meditation" sitting on the bench??

I know the sports information department were very high on him at first because he was originally one of three potential all star candidates in the media guide but they later had me swap him for Eric which was obviously a smart choice. Bolon and Brady were the other two.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I agree...they stiffened up the Defense, but it also means, WVW took some wild-ass threes at the end that were horrible shots, when game was still in doubt!!

They took wild-ass threes because of the stifling D WLU was playing...They couldn't get a clean look. Took horrible shots because that was all that was available.

Looks like Watson was given the game off to "contemplate" what it means to play within the WLU system!!! Wonder if he will figure it out or if he will require an extended period of "quite meditation" sitting on the bench??

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I've said that we'll have to see how that plays out at the end of the season. WLU now has one more loss than they typically would have at this point in the season and will have one additional loss when it comes playoff seeding time.

[Chuck Norris]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Last night's game should put the "WLU don't play no defense" crowd to bed once and for all. Tied at 62 with over 8 1/2 minutes to play, WLU clamped down the D and allowed WVW to score 9 points for the rest of the game to claim a 9 point W.

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I agree...they stiffened up the Defense, but it also means, WVW took some wild-ass threes at the end that were horrible shots, when game was still in doubt!!

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Last night's game should put the "WLU don't play no defense" crowd to bed once and for all. Tied at 62 with over 8 1/2 minutes to play, WLU clamped down the D and allowed WVW to score 9 points for the rest of the game to claim a 9 point W.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Glenville may lead the country in points scored and points given up when it's all said and done. A pretty rare accomplishment.

Bowie scored 111 on them ... IUP held Bowie to half that number.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I would say in blow out games, and WLU plays a lot of them, your defensive focus kind of changes and a team starts playing for the doors. In this game, WLU was up so large so quickly that you almost missed the "good defense" part of the game. WLU had a 25 point lead 7 1/2 minutes into the game but to get there that quickly, they held Glenville scoreless for over 4 minutes to take an 8-8 tie to a 33-8 lead. From that point on, they started trading 3's for 2's until the clock hit 0:00 and they could go home...

Oh and FYI, Glenville is 3'rd in the country in scoring averaging 111 PPG.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

That's true, Boat. But the ease with which Glenville was beating the press and getting good shots against the first team is concerning. Yoakum as the middle man in the first team's press will have to be more active in slowing the runout as the season goes on. Glenville got a lot of really good looks against the first team's press.

Granted, they missed a lot of those good looks because of either tired legs from beating the press and/or rushing the shot knowing a speeding defender would be hustling behind them--both good outcomes of the press. However, they also made their fair share of those open looks which put Glenville over the 100 mark. Howard Smith's 19 points were almost entirely on open 3's off the press against the first team. (Can't really figure out why he didn't start or play more minutes for Glenville).

We all fall into the trap of focusing on some aspect of a game (or season) that we wished WLU did better or differently. Over the years, we have wished for WLU to get a "true big", schedule harder OOC opponents, have more defensive intensity in blowouts, etc... Most of the time, these wishes go unanswered and I would probably say, that's probably a good thing. If I was really a gifted analyst of team needs and dynamics, I'd probably be a HC...fact that I'm NOT probably tells you everything you need to know about the value of my opinions!!!

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Interesting that Watson didn't first check into the game until 11:30 of the second half. Clearly, Mr Watson and Ben are not on the same sheet of music concerning what Ben is looking for Watson to do. Clearly Watson is a gifted athlete and scorer but he doesn't seem to get how WLU plays. Ben clearly tried to send Watson a message by sitting him until halfway through the second half...Equally clear the Watson did not get the message.

Given Ben's post game comments which were clearly pointed directly at Watson, I wouldn't be surprised if Watson get's the opportunity to sit on the bench for the whole game v WVW tonight.

Hope Watson get's it because he clearly is a talented player.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

When you score 87 points in the first half and are up by 57 in the second half...you approach defense a little differently than if the game is 70-70.

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Really, the story of this game was assist-to-turnover ratio (33:7). They were sharing the ball in mid-season form. In that particular way, I thought the Freshman Hill really grew up over the past few games. He didn't necessarily light up the stat sheet in the scoring column, but on every possession he was making a smart extra pass that resulted in so many of those open looks. He finished officially with 8 assists, but even more of the open looks were created by his smarts and vision (if basketball gave double-assists like hockey his stat sheet would have been a lot more stuffed). Hill was really impressive last night.

Interestingly, in the post-game presser, Howlett subtly called out another of the new faces. The quote was something like: "We didn't shoot a contested three all night until Watson entered the game." I suspect he was both highlighting the great ball movement that dominated the first 3/4 of the game and sending a message to one of his new guys about the expectation of a WLU point guard. If Watson--an undoubtedly talented kid with moves for days--is going to see time in the rotation this year, he's going to have to start sharing the ball. One-man iso stuff just isn't the West Liberty way.

Welcome to the board, Scrub...Good Analysis...I like Hill's game...Pretty nice composure for a true frosh!

Always like when we add another WL follower...

[Scrub]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

When you score 87 points in the first half and are up by 57 in the second half...you approach defense a little differently than if the game is 70-70.

That's true, Boat. But the ease with which Glenville was beating the press and getting good shots against the first team is concerning. Yoakum as the middle man in the first team's press will have to be more active in slowing the runout as the season goes on. Glenville got a lot of really good looks against the first team's press.

Granted, they missed a lot of those good looks because of either tired legs from beating the press and/or rushing the shot knowing a speeding defender would be hustling behind them--both good outcomes of the press. However, they also made their fair share of those open looks which put Glenville over the 100 mark. Howard Smith's 19 points were almost entirely on open 3's off the press against the first team. (Can't really figure out why he didn't start or play more minutes for Glenville).

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Ummmmmmmm, West Liberty hasn't lit it up on the defensive end either. They've given up over 100 in 3 of 4 games. Just sayin...

Are you suggesting that when a team scores 87 points in the first half and is up by 57 in the second half they are going to have the same defensive approach and intensity as when the game is 70-70 and there is 3 to play?? Come on man...

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Really, the story of this game was assist-to-turnover ratio (33:7). They were sharing the ball in mid-season form. In that particular way, I thought the Freshman Hill really grew up over the past few games. He didn't necessarily light up the stat sheet in the scoring column, but on every possession he was making a smart extra pass that resulted in so many of those open looks. He finished officially with 8 assists, but even more of the open looks were created by his smarts and vision (if basketball gave double-assists like hockey his stat sheet would have been a lot more stuffed). Hill was really impressive last night.

Interestingly, in the post-game presser, Howlett subtly called out another of the new faces. The quote was something like: "We didn't shoot a contested three all night until Watson entered the game." I suspect he was both highlighting the great ball movement that dominated the first 3/4 of the game and sending a message to one of his new guys about the expectation of a WLU point guard. If Watson--an undoubtedly talented kid with moves for days--is going to see time in the rotation this year, he's going to have to start sharing the ball. One-man iso stuff just isn't the West Liberty way.