West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Fairmont is a very talented team.
Before the game I told a respected high school coach that I was worried about FSU. He said fsu was tired in semis and predicted an easy WLU win. He was very confident.

IMHO they fell victim to the 3 games in 3 days madness of the MEC that results in a war of attrition. It is probably partially due to using a non campus arena with contention from hockey. I like PSAC spacing of games.

Fairmont starters played heavy minutes in 2 previous games.
It showed after first 10 minutes. They were a step slow.
Mangas touch fouled Butler just to stop play to come out of game, which brought a smile to fsu coach's face.



Percent of minutes played in 2 previous games

	Glenville	D&E
01 Dobbs, Zyon	37	30	84%
10 Sanders, Isaiah	37	37	92%
32 Younkin, Seth	19	18	46%
23 Mangas, George	25	27	65%
05 Hale, Fonz	8	26	43%
12 Parris, Briggs	26	26	65%

Compare with WLU

Player	concord	ndc	percent prior to finals
02 Butler, Bryce	20	31	64%
04 Montague, Christian	19	26	54%
24 Sarson, Ben	21	24	56%
05 Cannady, Steve	22	21	54%
01 McKinney, Malik	17	24	51%

[Columbuseer]

Mountaineast.tv has replays of game as well as post game press conferences. Coach May of Concord had interesting observations in his press conference.

paraphrasing: ... WLU comes at you in waves. But they pressure you on offense too. They rotate the ball so that no one can rest on defense ...

We fans often overlook the role of the WLU offense in creating fatigue. Thought it was interesting that he confirmed its role.

[Columbuseer]

To think the lopsided MEC final 112-82 WLU victory indicates Fairmont is overrated would be a serious error in judgment.
Many of the stats were quite good for Fairmont, other than a horrendous shooting night.
the effective shooting % was 45% for Fairmont vs 61% for wlu.
WLU offensive rating was an amazing 148.7 pts per 100 possessions. But Fairmont was quite good at 107.

But some stats were deceptive. Many fairmont offensive rebounds were clustered in groups of 3-5 on 2 or 3 possessions.
three of the 4 made 3fgs occurred in last 2 mins when Fairmont emptied bench and players had fresh legs, down by 41 points.
Turrnovers, and steals were all competitive.

Like NDC and Concord in regular season, Fairmont hit a fatigue tipping point. I look for a much closer game vs VU.

Statistic FSU WLU
Offensive rating (pts per 100 possessions) 107.3 148.7
Assists 13 29
Assist % of FG Made 40.6% 69.0%
Offensive rebounds. 18 20
Def rebounds. 22 28
Turnovers 11 7
Turnover % of possessions 14.41% 9.30%
Assist to turnover ratio 1.18 4.14
3pt % 4-13 30.8% 18-42 42.8%
Three of four of fsu's 3s were made in garbage time in last 2 mins. by fresh subs when wlu had 41 pt lead.
Effective fg% 45% 61%

[Columbuseer]

Against mercyhurst's "vaunted defense",
Wlu offensive rating was 130 pts per 100 possessions.
Against upj it was 142 and against fairmont in mec final it was 148.
We average 122, second only to nova se at 125.

Mercyhurst not built to come back from double figures down late. Like wishbone in football.

[Ship69]

Against mercyhurst's "vaunted defense",
Wlu offensive rating was 130 pts per 100 possessions.
Against upj it was 142 and against fairmont in mec final it was 148.
We average 122, second only to nova se at 125.

Mercyhurst not built to come back from double figures down late. Like wishbone in football.

Mercyhurst's main problems, when they had some this season, were a lack of overall size and depth. UPJ was made to order for West Liberty. Fairmont was not overrated, but they're no West Liberty, I saw Ship play them earlier this year and did not feel at any point that we were outclassed.

[Columbuseer]

Mercyhurst's main problems, when they had some this season, were a lack of overall size and depth. UPJ was made to order for West Liberty. Fairmont was not overrated, but they're no West Liberty, I saw Ship play them earlier this year and did not feel at any point that we were outclassed.

I thought mercyhurst was very well coached, had high bball iq players, outstanding experienced guards and great 3 pt shooters. I agree, lack of depth is what hurt them. They started getting a step slow due to fatigue, which got them in a deficit situation late.

[Ship69]

I thought mercyhurst was very well coached, had high bball iq players, outstanding experienced guards and great 3 pt shooters. I agree, lack of depth is what hurt them. They started getting a step slow due to fatigue, which got them in a deficit situation late.

Your team does have some nice quality depth, and with your style of play it helps in a tournament setting when teams have to play 2-3 games in a short period of time. The championship game definitely will be a clash of styles.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I thought mercyhurst was very well coached, had high bball iq players, outstanding experienced guards and great 3 pt shooters. I agree, lack of depth is what hurt them. They started getting a step slow due to fatigue, which got them in a deficit situation late.

A big factor in the game was MiyKah McIntosh having to sit most of the first half with two fouls. He got those about five minutes into the game when Hurst jumped out to the lead. I’m not saying if he doesn’t sit the game ends differently, but they couldn’t afford to have anyone in foul trouble to have a chance, and especially McIntosh. Not only is he a great defender, he can also be an elite scorer when called upon as you saw flashes of. He only played 21 minutes yesterday. Credit to WL for getting him into trouble. If you don’t have depth it’s eventually going to bite you, and that was the case yesterday.

[Scrub]

Pip is a monster. I can't believe Gary doesn't do more to run through him. He got a few quick buckets on the pick & roll in the first few minutes, but once WLU recognized the play and defended the roll, he really only got his points from stick-backs the rest of the way. If you have a weapon like that, I can't imagine not doing more to utilize it.

[IUPalum]

Pip is a monster. I can't believe Gary doesn't do more to run through him. He got a few quick buckets on the pick & roll in the first few minutes, but once WLU recognized the play and defended the roll, he really only got his points from stick-backs the rest of the way. If you have a weapon like that, I can't imagine not doing more to utilize it.

He has no post moves or they would run offense through him.

[Columbuseer]

One of the advantages of the wlu style is that the second five gets lots of minutes throughout the season. The cumulative experience allows them to be competitive in big games.
Not many coaches would have the trust to sub out 1st team down 8-0 to a team like mercyhurst.
No one avgs. Over 28.4 mins. 11 players avg over 9.6 mins.

[EyeoftheHawk]

He has no post moves or they would run offense through him.

This. Pip is pretty clumsy with the ball. If he has to make his own way to the rim he’s in trouble. Catching it on the way to the rim he’s fine.

[Ship69]

One of the advantages of the wlu style is that the second five gets lots of minutes throughout the season. The cumulative experience allows them to be competitive in big games.
Not many coaches would have the trust to sub out 1st team down 8-0 to a team like mercyhurst.
No one avgs. Over 28.4 mins. 11 players avg over 9.6 mins.

I think it's a big advantage for a team like West Liberty in tournament settings, where you often play back-to-back games. Our women ran into two teams like that at Glenville, beat West Virginia State the first night, but sputtered the next night against Glenville. Glenville was the superior team there in any case, but their greater depth was a big factor. Didn't help that quick whistles on the Ship women's star player limited her to 14 minutes for the game, but I'm sure the final outcome would have been the same.

[Scrub]

One of the advantages of the wlu style is that the second five gets lots of minutes throughout the season. The cumulative experience allows them to be competitive in big games.
Not many coaches would have the trust to sub out 1st team down 8-0 to a team like mercyhurst.
No one avgs. Over 28.4 mins. 11 players avg over 9.6 mins.

Howlett was asked a question in yesterday's post-game presser about the day off today, and his answer was he'd rather just keep playing, that he hates the day off. And the reason you cited here, Columbus, is precisely why. Howlett feels like playing back-to-back nights is an advantage in favor of WLU vs. other teams that play longer minutes per game.

[Columbuseer]

Howlett was asked a question in yesterday's post-game presser about the day off today, and his answer was he'd rather just keep playing, that he hates the day off. And the reason you cited here, Columbus, is precisely why. Howlett feels like playing back-to-back nights is an advantage in favor of WLU vs. other teams that play longer minutes per game.

Imho 3 games in 3 days in mec tourney was big advantage for wlu. Fairmont hit fatigue tipping point.