West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[boatcapt]

This team is so hot and cold shooting. Huge variance between nights when they are on and nights when they are off. They have massive swings...ex. Sore to 53% from 3 against Concord to 30% against Glenville to 43% against Frostburg and slam back down to 30% against Fairmont. A 23% variance in a 10 day period over four games! Over those same four games, WLU is shooting 41% from 3...makes you think that WLU is scorching the nets but clearly from a game-to-game/consistency stand point, they are NOT scorching the nets!! Also worth noting that on most nights, most teams don't have the ability to stop Butler and on our "off" shooting nights we can ride him to a W...but clearly, SOME teams do have the horses to limit Butler.

[Scrub]

But another thing I noticed from the box score--and your recap didn't necessarily mention this, Columbuseer--is that their assists were way down yesterday as well. Against Frostburg they had assists at some absurd rate (something like 30 assists on 45 made buckets). Against Fairmont, they had what I presume to be a season low 15 assists. They were on the wrong side of the Assist-to-Turnover ratio for the first time all season. I have to assume this means they were not moving the ball well and got sucked into one-on-one AAU hero ball. I can't confirm this--as I mentioned, I was unable to watch the game. But the season low in assists is bothersome and might, in fact, impact the wild swings in shooting percentage. When the ball moves, the shooter is more open. When the shooter shoots uncontested he makes at a higher rate. It might be that simple, Boat. It might not be that they're streaky shooters; it might be that when they stick to the system and move the ball, shooters are more open and shoot for higher percentage. When they don't move the ball and take contested shots, the percentages go down.

[boatcapt]

But another thing I noticed from the box score--and your recap didn't necessarily mention this, Columbuseer--is that their assists were way down yesterday as well. Against Frostburg they had assists at some absurd rate (something like 30 assists on 45 made buckets). Against Fairmont, they had what I presume to be a season low 15 assists. They were on the wrong side of the Assist-to-Turnover ratio for the first time all season. I have to assume this means they were not moving the ball well and got sucked into one-on-one AAU hero ball. I can't confirm this--as I mentioned, I was unable to watch the game. But the season low in assists is bothersome and might, in fact, impact the wild swings in shooting percentage. When the ball moves, the shooter is more open. When the shooter shoots uncontested he makes at a higher rate. It might be that simple, Boat. It might not be that they're streaky shooters; it might be that when they stick to the system and move the ball, shooters are more open and shoot for higher percentage. When they don't move the ball and take contested shots, the percentages go down.

Could be. But whatever is making it happen, it's clear that it is a thing. As March ticks closer and the level of competition ramps up, we need to eliminate these massive shooting swings. A WLU team that shoots 41% from three with a 3 or 4 percentage swing from night to night would be extremely hard to beat...A WLU team shooting 41% from 3 but with a 23% swing from night to night becomes much more beatable.

[Columbuseer]

But another thing I noticed from the box score--and your recap didn't necessarily mention this, Columbuseer--is that their assists were way down yesterday as well. Against Frostburg they had assists at some absurd rate (something like 30 assists on 45 made buckets). Against Fairmont, they had what I presume to be a season low 15 assists. They were on the wrong side of the Assist-to-Turnover ratio for the first time all season. I have to assume this means they were not moving the ball well and got sucked into one-on-one AAU hero ball. I can't confirm this--as I mentioned, I was unable to watch the game. But the season low in assists is bothersome and might, in fact, impact the wild swings in shooting percentage. When the ball moves, the shooter is more open. When the shooter shoots uncontested he makes at a higher rate. It might be that simple, Boat. It might not be that they're streaky shooters; it might be that when they stick to the system and move the ball, shooters are more open and shoot for higher percentage. When they don't move the ball and take contested shots, the percentages go down.

Good points on assist to TO ratio. Many of our assists are either catch and shoot threes or interior passes. Zach is our only player who maintains accuracy on quick catch and shoot.( like sanders and parris). Our other shooters need more of an open look. They disrupted both by slowing down ball movement around perimeter, thus preventing the open look. They also collapsed inside and deflected interior passes.

[Layton]

Only slightly kidding about the open WVU job but WVU hasn’t had much success in the Big 12 without the press. I’d definitely add him if I were Huggs and he wanted to. But as a selfish WL fan I hope not

Unlike Crutch I do think Howlett has D1 aspirations eventually. Too young to stay D2 forever with that much success

[IUPalum]

Only slightly kidding about the open WVU job but WVU hasn’t had much success in the Big 12 without the press. I’d definitely add him if I were Huggs and he wanted to. But as a selfish WL fan I hope not

Unlike Crutch I do think Howlett has D1 aspirations eventually. Too young to stay D2 forever with that much success

Huggy's biggest problem right now is that he's not much of an offensive minded coach. He needs a half court offense since he doesn't have the bodies for his press. This all started downward when he lost Oscar.

[Ship69]

Huggy's biggest problem right now is that he's not much of an offensive minded coach. He needs a half court offense since he doesn't have the bodies for his press. This all started downward when he lost Oscar.

If you're going to run a press, it takes a full commitment to recruiting for it as a coach. At our level, West Liberty and East Stroudsburg have obviously had a good deal of success doing just that. But it only works if you usually have talent and speed at least the equivalent of your opponent and probably superior depth as well. Meet an opponent with experienced guards and overall quickness, and the press can get exposed very quickly.

[Columbuseer]

If you're going to run a press, it takes a full commitment to recruiting for it as a coach. At our level, West Liberty and East Stroudsburg have obviously had a good deal of success doing just that. But it only works if you usually have talent and speed at least the equivalent of your opponent and probably superior depth as well. Meet an opponent with experienced guards and overall quickness, and the press can get exposed very quickly.

Great points. For that reason, imho if d2 coach in this style moves to D1, it has to be as a head coach and not as an assistant.

[IUPalum]

If you're going to run a press, it takes a full commitment to recruiting for it as a coach. At our level, West Liberty and East Stroudsburg have obviously had a good deal of success doing just that. But it only works if you usually have talent and speed at least the equivalent of your opponent and probably superior depth as well. Meet an opponent with experienced guards and overall quickness, and the press can get exposed very quickly.

I'm sure Huggy Bear knows what he is doing. He's been doing this for decades.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I'm sure Huggy Bear knows what he is doing. He's been doing this for decades.

Grand Valley State HC just left a Top 3 D2 football job to be the special teams coach at Wisconsin.


Never know. Money talks.

[Ship69]

I'm sure Huggy Bear knows what he is doing. He's been doing this for decades.

He does, but he's currently 0-5 in the Big 12, which probably is the best roundball conference in the country this year. Sometimes you have to adjust what we're doing. Ship has played almost exclusively man-to-man for years, but I don't think a little zone would be out of place with East Stroud this season. They have a couple of players we just can't match up with very well.

[IUPalum]

He does, but he's currently 0-5 in the Big 12, which probably is the best roundball conference in the country this year. Sometimes you have to adjust what we're doing. Ship has played almost exclusively man-to-man for years, but I don't think a little zone would be out of place with East Stroud this season. They have a couple of players we just can't match up with very well.

That doesn't necessarily mean zone. There are ways to control mismatches without zone.

[Ship69]

That doesn't necessarily mean zone. There are ways to control mismatches without zone.

If you have a severe mismatch, you're either going to be doubling up or playing some sort of trick defense if you're not playing zone.

[Layton]

They hired a guy from Cincy today. Although I’d be surprised if there wasn’t more staff turnover in the off-season. I’d put the odds of him hiring Howlett very low but I think it’d be smart. They’re on track to have 3/5 very bad seasons the past 5 years. He’s very close to retirement

[Columbuseer]

They hired a guy from Cincy today. Although I’d be surprised if there wasn’t more staff turnover in the off-season. I’d put the odds of him hiring Howlett very low but I think it’d be smart. They’re on track to have 3/5 very bad seasons the past 5 years. He’s very close to retirement

IMHO they have completely different philosophies- postionless basketball versus center, power fd, small fwd, shooting guard, and point guard concept. If d1 were to make a run at Howlett, it would be as a head coach. Maybe low to mid major team.