West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Scrub]

Yea I’ve seen enough of Cooper. Seems like a very nice guy but just isn’t getting it done.

I wouldn't give up on him yet. His all-conference point guard and leading returning scorer (Bailee Smith) has been shelved all year with injuries. His second-string point guard--and only returning ball-handler with any game experience (Lucarelli) is now also shelved with some kind of leg injury after only playing half a year. So he's having to play with an untested 3rd & 4th string ball-handler in a conference that regularly applies ball pressure (often full court). His all-conference shooting guard (Thomas) missed the first half of the year with an injury and is only now rounding back into form.

That's a tough place to be right now. I'd actually say that for as successful as they've been this year under the circumstances, Cooper has done an admirable job keeping them as successful as they are. The fact that amidst all of that turmoil they still got a regional ranking means that Cooper has done one of his best coaching jobs yet. Due to the inexperience at the PG position, they average an absurd number of turnovers and they've found ways to win despite. It's been a gutty performance from these ladies all season long. I say hats off to Cooper for keeping this crew together as well as he has.

[Scrub]

Fun game to be at way to pull one out of your butts

Out of their butts indeed. They were dead in the water and then that "tie-up call" on the baseline happened with about 30 seconds left in regulation and turned the tide. I'm not sure that was the right call--I'd say the Hilltoppers benefitted from some home-cooking on that call. That allowed them to escape into OT. But hats off to the Toppers for taking advantage of the "fortunate bounce" and taking control (without the services of Butler) in the OT period. Big game from Mont--he really stepped up when needed.

[Columbuseer]

I wouldn't give up on him yet. His all-conference point guard and leading returning scorer (Bailee Smith) has been shelved all year with injuries. His second-string point guard--and only returning ball-handler with any game experience (Lucarelli) is now also shelved with some kind of leg injury after only playing half a year. So he's having to play with an untested 3rd & 4th string ball-handler in a conference that regularly applies ball pressure (often full court). His all-conference shooting guard (Thomas) missed the first half of the year with an injury and is only now rounding back into form.

That's a tough place to be right now. I'd actually say that for as successful as they've been this year under the circumstances, Cooper has done an admirable job keeping them as successful as they are. The fact that amidst all of that turmoil they still got a regional ranking means that Cooper has done one of his best coaching jobs yet. Due to the inexperience at the PG position, they average an absurd number of turnovers and they've found ways to win despite. It's been a gutty performance from these ladies all season long. I say hats off to Cooper for keeping this crew together as well as he has.

Wlu women are loaded with deadly 3 pt shooters.
i think they need to improve in basic one on one defense fundamentals.
Watch the head of some wlu women on defense when opponent starts to drive. The first move should be to slide laterally to cut off the opponent's oath. Instead, one sees the wlu women's head drop vertically, as they have to drop into a crouch to contract their quadriceps in order to move laterally. That 1/2 second delay allows opponent to get their shoulders past them to gain advantage.

IMHO that is an area for coaching improvement.

[Layton]

The ladies were a tough watch yesterday on defense. Fairmont just kept isolating and driving right to the hoop and we didn’t seem to adjust at all. Although I’m a much bigger football guy than basketball guy when it comes to knowledge so I’ll defer to other’s opinions. One tourney appearance in 6 years at WL is a really tough look especially since he took over when things were humming. It’s hard to not have a lot of basketball success on the hilltop. I understand injuries happen but they are still pretty loaded and have had some really really bad losses this year

Is he too nice? I don’t know him or have seen how he coaches in practice

[Columbuseer]

A Dummy's Observations on Fairmont at WLU 2/18/23 WLU 119 – Fairmont 113

Summary:
This was a game of two evenly-matched WLU and Fairmont teams who play at maximum effort on offense and defense. Fairmont’s record is very misleading, as their losses have been by no more than 5 points in regulation, or they have lost in overtime.
Tale of the Tape (Season)
Fairmont WLU
Points 94 101
FT % 78% 74%
FG % 51% 49%
3FG% 40% 39%
Turnovers 15 12
Assists 19 23
Assist/TO ratio 1.29 1.97
Fairmont Strategy

• Fairmont is a senior-laden team, with 4 of 5 starters being seniors. Fairmont has outstanding 3-point shooters, and is #10 in D2 at 40.23%.
• Shoot the 3 effectively. Leave Sanders or Parris in corner against pressure for open threes after breaking the press.
• Jump the passing lanes on ball rotations on the perimeter to get steals in half court. Frostburg had success doing this in the last game as well as Fairmont in the first meeting.
• On drives, jump the passing lanes on the likely kick-out pass when WLU player drives and is in the air.
• Keep WLU off the offensive glass and win the rebounding battle.
• Double team Butler in the lane to prevent inside moves.
• Avoid the WLU blackouts.

Fairmont had some success in implementing their strategy

• Fairmont had 11 steals in forcing 15 turnovers, an amazing 73%, nearly all occurring in the half-court defense. They kept the turnovers close, only 17 to WLU’s 15.
• Fairmont had an effective FG% of 60% to 56.4% for WLU and shot their average at the FT line.
• Fairmont was effective in double teaming Bryce initially, for they have no one who can handle him 1 on 1. However, he still had an effective FG% of 69%.
• Both teams limited each other to mini-runs – no famed WLU blackouts.

Keys to the WLU victory

• Despite a decent, but slightly below average FG and 3FG %, WLU made an incredible 32-35 FTs, or 91.4%, which offset FSU’s effective FG% advantage of 60.3% to WLU’s 56.5%
• WLU shared the ball very well, getting good looks at the basket in most cases with assists on 55% of their made FGs.
• WLU put significant pressure on Fairmont, which resulted in foul trouble for Sanders. At first glance it did not have an obvious impact… until one looks at:
  • the second chance points (WLU 20 FSU 10),
  • fast break points (WLU 27 FSU 14)
  • Offensive rebounds (WLU 15, FSU 9).
  • Three FSU players fouled out, and two others had 4 fouls, which is often caused by fatigue resulting in being a step slow and making questionable decisions.
  • WLU’s quick guards became a step quicker and were getting good looks close to the basket or getting fouled. Cmont Montague had an effective FG% of 100% and 30 points.
• IMHO the fatigue factor became even more evident at the end of the game and OT period. FSU had trouble getting the ball inbounds in the last minute, which led to the jump ball with 8 seconds left in regulation (video shows it was a good call).

• All players at WLU were sprinting back on defense, rather than galloping as in some previous games. This reduced Fairmont’s easy baskets that occurred in the first game.

Areas for Improvement

• Players are still getting burned by staring at the ball on defense and not being in position to see both the ball and their opponent. They need to stay focused.
• Players need to correct their half-court passing, as opponents have been successful jumping the passing lanes. This is happening on passes on the perimeter as well as kickout passes from a player in the air to a player who is at 3-pt range. These issues resulted in most of WLU’s turnovers. The receiver of the pass needs to move to meet the ball and the sender has to add more velocity or change their angle of the pass to be more of an acute angle rather than flat pass that is roughly parallel to the end line.

[boatcapt]

BIG win for the Toppers v Fairmont to clinch the MEC regular season crown! As has been clear this entire season, we are going as far as our big three will carry us.if they all are "on," we have a chance against anyone.

Question will be will they all come up big in every game in the post season AND can we get the occasional big game from someone in the next seven? If we do, we have a legit shot at a deep run.

[Columbuseer]

4 wlu player earn Academic All District basketball
Bryce Butler
Steven Cannady
Zach Rasile
Ben Sarson

Congratulations!
https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...ct-honors.aspx

[Layton]

Did Sampson play? I don’t remember seeing him

[Columbuseer]

Did Sampson play? I don’t remember seeing him

He played 2 minutes. Imho, wlu was trying to keep best 3 pt. shooters on the floor to counter fairmont. He is a diamond in the rough, as the wlu style is far different than his prior experience. With his athletic skills, once it clicks, he could be a matchup nightmare! We have seen glimpses in other games.

[Columbuseer]

FYI NCAA stats west liberty as of Feb 22 2023 after NDC Game
Improving in FT%, steals, and offensive rebounding
Improving in turnovers per game, which is amazing given the pace of play and additional possessions.



1st- 3pt attempts per game 33.5 Nova SE is #36 at 25.9
1st- Assist to turnover ratio 1.97 Nova SE is #4 at 1.71
1st- 3pt made per game 12.8 Nova SE #13 at 10.5

1st - assists per game 23.0 Nova SE is #2 at 22.9
2nd- scoring 101.1 Nova SE is #1 at 105.4

3rd -Turnover margin 8.0 Nova se is #1 at 10.1
3rd- Forced turnovers 19.69 Nova se is #1 at 23.44
3rd - Scoring margin 18 Nova se is #1 at 28
4th - Steals per game 10.8 Nova se is #1 at 12.3


20th - FG % 49.33 Nova SE #2 at 52.16%
30th - Offensive rebounds per game 12.54 Nova SE #3 at 14.76
35th - 3 pt % 38.23 Nova SE #7 at 40.43%

42nd – Turnovers per Game 11.7 Nova SE 141st at 13.3
93rd - FT % 73.85
149th- Rebound margin 0.9

[Columbuseer]

FYI

A Dummy's Observations on WLU at Notre Dame College 2/22/23 WLU 100 - NDC 57
Summary:

NDC is a dangerous team, especially at home, as they have defeated WLU there in past seasons. They defeated Charleston by 13 and defeated Youngstown State. They are a young, talented team, with 3 sophomores and 2 seniors/grad students on the starting 5. They are strong 1-on-1 players, which is both a blessing and a curse. NDC might be an elite team next year, as they get older. They have the second leading scorer in the MEC according to the announcers.

WLU had just clinched the MEC championship and #1 seed with classic win over Fairmont, so there was a possibility of a let-down. The gym was nearly full, with 900 in attendance, including many loud WLU fans.

Tale of the Tape (Season)

NDC WLU

Points 81 100

FT % 76% 74%

FG % 44% 49%

3FG% 36% 39%

Turnovers 14 12

Assists 14 23

Assist/TO ratio 1.0 1.97

NDC Strategy

· Play tight defense

· Minimize turnovers against WLU pressure

· Use motion offense with multiple screens in rapid-fire succession to free up their talented players to finish at the rim. Get Jaedon Willis open looks as he is averaging 21 points per game, 40% from three and 89% of FTs.

· Try to draw fouls and get WLU in foul trouble. Make FTs.

· Shoot the 3 effectively. Three starters shoot over 40% from three.

· Deny Rasile open looks from three.

· Keep WLU off the offensive glass and win the rebounding battle.

· Double team Butler in the lane to prevent inside moves.

· Avoid the WLU blackouts.



NDC had little success in implementing their strategy

· Both teams were shooting below average.

· NDC made Butler give the ball up in the first half, for when he started his post move on the defender, a double team from the forward would rapidly appear.

· NDC only shot 55% FTs. Willis, an 89% FT shooter, made only 50%.

· They committed 12 turnovers in the first half alone, and 22 for the game. WLU scored 31 points off turnovers, to only 4 for NDC. WLU scored 20 fast break points, to only 5 for NDC.

· They had trouble getting good shots on offense and did not draw many fouls on WLU.


Keys to the WLU victory
· IMHO, hard-nosed half-court defense and relentless pressure won the game for WLU. They held NDC to 0.69 points per possession, which is incredibly low, as under 1.0 is excellent defense in the WLU style (WLU was 1.20 points per possession for the game).

· NDC was having their best players curl around multiple screens in rapid succession and WLU was seamlessly switching, giving no advantage to the NDC player. NDC had to force up difficult shots. WLU performed a very good scouting operation on NDC.

· When the second platoon entered at the 17-minute mark of the first half, their incredible pressure and energy was starting to affect NDC mentally and physically. They turned an 4-4 tie into a 16-11 lead. When the first platoon reentered, NDC was softened up and starting to lose focus. Gradually, WLU built the lead up to 17, before NDC narrowed the gap to 12 at 44-32 at the break. IMHO, NDC played their starters too long without a rest. That usually does not bode well in the second half.

· From watching past WLU games, the half-time intermission provides a brief respite from fatigue that typically lasts until about the 15-minute mark of the second half. WLU increased the lead to 18 in the first 2 minutes of the second half. NDC answered, cutting the lead to 51-40 at the 15:44 mark.

· Then the roof fell in. WLU went on a 31-1 run. At 8:30 remaining, the score was 82-41. Cognitively and physically, NDC was exhausted from the relentless pressure. They were throwing the ball to invisible players out of bounds, getting 5-second calls, and their shots were not even close. They did not contest rebounds. They could not make free throws. These are typical indicators of extreme fatigue.

· The first platoon called it a night at the 6:20 mark with the score 89-46. The lead grew to 49 at the 2:27 mark, at 100-51. WLU went cold and final score was 100-57.

· WLU corrected several issues from previous games. WLU greatly improved their half-court perimeter passing from the Frostburg and Fairmont game. WLU did a great job of avoiding back door cuts by NDC, with great defensive positioning. I can only remember one charging foul, and it was a close call. In addition, WLU was rotating the ball so fast on offense that it was wearing out NDC from chasing the ball rotations.



Areas for Improvement

· It is hard to find significant issues, given how well they are sharing the ball and playing defense. No one takes a bad shot. Perhaps one minor area is that some of our younger players are driving to the rim and kicking the ball out for a three, while not recognizing that they have wide-open layups. No one is at the rim and they are 3 feet away. On the other hand, it causes the defense to have to sprint to close out the shooter, which increases fatigue.

[Layton]

No way we are going to let these bums clown us again.

[Layton]

Crisis averted

[Scrub]

Can we talk about the fact that 3 guys who officially have "Junior" status on the roster walked in tonight's Senior Night ceremony (including Bryce Butler)? Anyone know what's going on?

Obviously, Cannady & McKinney are finished--no more eligibility. That's who was expected to walk today.

But Butler, Montague, & Sampson also walked. Have they already declared their intent to go D1 with the last year (like Bolon & Robinson) or are they heading down to Ft. Lauderdale (like Yoakum)? Cannady & McKinney are losses for sure, but if Howlett has to replace Cannady & McKinney AND Butler, Mont, & Sampson, the recruiting task just got a lot steeper.

[Columbuseer]

All who walked are graduating.
Montague and Cannady - masters degrees
Sampson and Butler - bachelors degree
not sure whether malik got bachelors or Master's.

For the three with eligibility remaining , we will likely know their plans after NCAA tourney.

There is no shortage of players who want to play this style.
The 2 guard recruits are among the top 30 players in ohio (all positions). I will be surprised if they redshirt.