West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[timbertopper]

Judging by box scores, Charleston seems to have been without their senior scorer Freddie Word as well. Not sure if he's suiting up tonight or not. But he's a difference maker as well.

Somebody at the game last night said it was an initial eligibility issue with Word. He should be back for the second semester, beginning on Saturday.

[boatcapt]

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

We got our lunch stolen inside...Our answer? Shoot more 3's. Our "bigs" - Forward Woodard, WLU's third leading rebounder, logged five first half minutes and was done for the night. Forward Hinds grabbed one rebound but scored 15 points (9 from three). Forward Sarson grabbed four rebounds but was 0 for 5 shooting and scored 0 points.

On the other side of the coin, UC Forward Eberheart grabbed 12 rebounds and went 4 for 7 (10 points) with zero three point tries. Forward Ugwuakazi grabbed 6 rebounds and scored 11 points (4 for 4 inside, no three point tries). Forward Colbert grabbed 4 rebounds and scored 14 (4 for 6 inside). Forward Merideth chilled in with 4 rebounds and 10 points (4 for 6 inside).

WLU scored 38 points in the paint and had 12 second chance points.
UC scored 46 in the paint and had 21 second chance points.

WLU had 20 second half 3 point tries.
UC had 4 second half 3 point tries

WLU was able to close an 11 point half time UC lead by two points.

[Scrub]

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

We got our lunch stolen inside...Our answer? Shoot more 3's. Our "bigs" - Forward Woodard, WLU's third leading rebounder, logged five first half minutes and was done for the night. Forward Hinds grabbed one rebound but scored 15 points (9 from three). Forward Sarson grabbed four rebounds but was 0 for 5 shooting and scored 0 points.

On the other side of the coin, UC Forward Eberheart grabbed 12 rebounds and went 4 for 7 (10 points) with zero three point tries. Forward Ugwuakazi grabbed 6 rebounds and scored 11 points (4 for 4 inside, no three point tries). Forward Colbert grabbed 4 rebounds and scored 14 (4 for 6 inside). Forward Merideth chilled in with 4 rebounds and 10 points (4 for 6 inside).

WLU scored 38 points in the paint and had 12 second chance points.
UC scored 46 in the paint and had 21 second chance points.

WLU had 20 second half 3 point tries.
UC had 4 second half 3 point tries

WLU was able to close an 11 point half time UC lead by two points.

These are all reasonable points, Boat. I did think it was weird that Woodward was basically nowhere to be found. (I didn't mind a lack of Sarson last night, as he looked a little lost--something was off in his game last night--even starting with a lost tip which he rarely does.) But it's also true that WLU gets outrebounded pretty frequently throughout a typical season. That's not news. WLU's leading rebounder coming into the game was a second team guard (Alek West)--that should tell you everything you need to know about rebounding.

To me, the bigger issue last night was the lack of ball movement. The fact that they only assisted on 13 buckets all night is what tells the tale. A moving ball is what creates better looks, and better looks should solve shooting woes. Driving into the trees and then wondering why you get swatted is bad basketball.

[boatcapt]

These are all reasonable points, Boat. I did think it was weird that Woodward was basically nowhere to be found. (I didn't mind a lack of Sarson last night, as he looked a little lost--something was off in his game last night--even starting with a lost tip which he rarely does.) But it's also true that WLU gets outrebounded pretty frequently throughout a typical season. That's not news. WLU's leading rebounder coming into the game was a second team guard (Alek West)--that should tell you everything you need to know about rebounding.

To me, the bigger issue last night was the lack of ball movement. The fact that they only assisted on 13 buckets all night is what tells the tale. A moving ball is what creates better looks, and better looks should solve shooting woes. Driving into the trees and then wondering why you get swatted is bad basketball.

Great points. At the end of the day, it's only one game but, at least for me, it is unnerving because we always seem so susceptible to a team with skilled bigs...and we just never do anything to address it. Our answer to this glaring deficiency is to hope we avoid them when playoff seedings are announced OR hope we shoot particularly well on the nights we face those teams. As the saying goes, hope is not a strategy.

I don't know if Woodard was injured but if not, his lack of minutes is very unnerving. As I've said before, lack of taking threes is almost as deadly to a WLU career as not making three's is. Woodard does not take threes and the few he takes, he mostly misses. Unless injured, I think he's safe for now (that is if Ben want's to stick with a 2 platoon system). With Barnheart being the first minute casualty and Korte's injury, we have 10 healthy players including Woodard. We'll see what happens when Korte comes back OR if Barnheart returns to receiving minutes.

[Columbuseer]

A Dummy's Observations: WLU at UC lost 92-83

UC Game Plan
UC did a great job in getting strong, experienced transfers from MEC schools of NDC, GSU, and WVSU, who are familiar with wlu.. Very well coached, now with 8 talented athletes. Very athletic and great size, but also disciplined. They are loaded this year.

- limit wlu offensive rebounds - check. wlu only got 22%.
- defend the three aggressively, force wlu to drive to rim where shot blockers await - check. Wlu only had assists on 42% of baskets. They blocked 4 wlu shots . Wlu effective fg % was only 52%.
- take great shots - check. UC got 44% of offensive rebounds. UC Effective fg% was 67%.
- exploit size mismatches when wlu switches- check. Got easy scores.

- limit turnovers - fail. UC had 21 turnovers, 15 in 1st half.

Keys to Game
- not all wlu bigs were available, creating size matchup issues. That left 3 pt shooters open for UC.
- wlu shot and rebounded below avg while UC was far above avg.
- wlu could not turn steals into points.
- wlu made some mental mistakes on defense, resulting in runouts.
- wlu never gave up, closing gap to 4 with 5:49 left.
- some wlu players had good effective fg%, but not enough to offset horrendous shooting by others and great shooting by UC.

Fergus 83%
Montague 73%
Hinds 65%
Rasile 56%
Spadafora 50%

Summary
The UC Game Plan, combined with WLU being short handed with resulting matchup issues, while also having a poor shooting night was the perfect storm.

[boatcapt]

Up today is a very fisty WV State squad that is in a four game roll that includes a 9 point win AT Fairmont. Let's hope WV State is more concerned with packing their bags for their trip to the Virgin Islands than preparing for and beating WLU!

Always but this year seemingly more so...Almost EVERY MEC team seems to be "fisty" and more than capable of winning every night. In the MEC, there are no easy games (well...maybe WVW and Frostburg!!). You can't phone it in or "win by reputation" most nights in the MEC because if you try, your in conference opponents will smack the taste out of your mouth!!

[Scrub]

WVSU certainly was game last night (as always). The book on WVSU is they have a tendency to lose focus and take nights off throughout the year, but they never take a night off against WLU. They're long, quick, athletic, and--as you said, Boat--very feisty.

WLU started off ice cold once again. But the difference between this win vs. WVSU and the loss vs. Charleston a few days ago was not panicking and heading into AAU mode. WLU assisted on 23 buckets last night (a big difference from the 13 assists against Charleston)--meaning, keep the ball moving and shots will eventually fall. Good shooters will make good looks more often than not (even if they start cold).

It does appear as though a few guys might be just a tad gun shy due to some minor shooting slumps. On one late key possession, in particular, it felt like multiple guys passed up good looks--looks they would usually pull the trigger on--until the ball finally found Hinds and he buried a clutch 3. It was clear that in crunch time last night certain guys wanted the ball in their hands (Mont, Hinds, Spadafora--who hit multiple clutch free throws down the stretch), and certain guys were happier getting an assist. Traditionally, WLU is a team that has 10 guys who want the ball in crunch time, who want to take and make the dagger shot. I hope some of the other guys get their shooter's confidence back, or else teams will start keying on the guys they know want to shoot and take those options away.

It was good to see Sarson shake off the Charleston performance and lead in scoring last night.

It was also cool to see that down the stretch--typically the time of a WVSU game when Anthony Pittman just takes the ball at the top of the key and drives down the lane like an unstoppable force--it wasn't one of the bigs who volunteered to check Pittman. It was Mont who signaled to the rest of the WLU squad, "I got this," and bodied up Pittman, forcing him into tough shots he didn't make. That's your senior leader who wanted to check the opponent's go-to guy even though he's giving up 5 inches and 25 pounds to the guy. That was cool to see.

[boatcapt]

WVSU certainly was game last night (as always). The book on WVSU is they have a tendency to lose focus and take nights off throughout the year, but they never take a night off against WLU. They're long, quick, athletic, and--as you said, Boat--very feisty.

WLU started off ice cold once again. But the difference between this win vs. WVSU and the loss vs. Charleston a few days ago was not panicking and heading into AAU mode. WLU assisted on 23 buckets last night (a big difference from the 13 assists against Charleston)--meaning, keep the ball moving and shots will eventually fall. Good shooters will make good looks more often than not (even if they start cold).

It does appear as though a few guys might be just a tad gun shy due to some minor shooting slumps. On one late key possession, in particular, it felt like multiple guys passed up good looks--looks they would usually pull the trigger on--until the ball finally found Hinds and he buried a clutch 3. It was clear that in crunch time last night certain guys wanted the ball in their hands (Mont, Hinds, Spadafora--who hit multiple clutch free throws down the stretch), and certain guys were happier getting an assist. Traditionally, WLU is a team that has 10 guys who want the ball in crunch time, who want to take and make the dagger shot. I hope some of the other guys get their shooter's confidence back, or else teams will start keying on the guys they know want to shoot and take those options away.

It was good to see Sarson shake off the Charleston performance and lead in scoring last night.

It was also cool to see that down the stretch--typically the time of a WVSU game when Anthony Pittman just takes the ball at the top of the key and drives down the lane like an unstoppable force--it wasn't one of the bigs who volunteered to check Pittman. It was Mont who signaled to the rest of the WLU squad, "I got this," and bodied up Pittman, forcing him into tough shots he didn't make. That's your senior leader who wanted to check the opponent's go-to guy even though he's giving up 5 inches and 25 pounds to the guy. That was cool to see.

WLU has always had the ability to grind out a W and has done so on numerous occasions. Yesterday was one of those occasions. But you hate to see them have to do that as it indicates a problem on our end OR that the other team has found a way to stop us. Either way...not good. Let's hope this is the mid season slump we typically go through and Ben and the players will figure the problems out and we'll hit the gas and cruise through the rest of the season as we have done seemingly every time. But right at this second, we are playing more like a 4 or 5 loss team than a 1 loss one.

I appreciate Monty's stones stepping up and successfully checking Pittman...Really DON'T like that our bigs were OK with it.

Every player not confident enough to take his shot is a problem. Even if they miss, just taking the shots keeps the D spread out. Also shooters don't typically think their way out of a slump.

[Columbuseer]

Observations from a dummy: wlu vs wvsu won 91-89

Wvsu game plan
- have assembled a new team to attack wlu; team starting to play together better
- tall and athletic, starting 6-8, 6-6, and 6-5 plus 2 quick 6-1 guards
- play nba style
- deny 3 pt shot, attack rim in transition
- win rebounding battle
- force wlu to shoot below avg
- limit turnovers


1st half
Wlu hit a cold streak that resulted in a 15 point deficit, but fought back to a 5 point deficit at half.
Wvsu was scoring at the rim in transition. If wlu shooting does not improve to offset the rim runs, wvsu was going to win.

2nd half
Fortunately, wlu started hitting threes, essentially trading threes for twos.
Wvsu was getting tired, as wlu was getting better looks from three.
Ultimately, the wlu pressure took its toll. At the 10:04 mark, wlu got 3 steals and scores in 1.5 mins, giving wlu the lead.
Wlu got the lead for good at 2:24 mark. Wvsu was starting to take some difficult shots. Time running out, Wlu got the ball to Spadafora on inbounds pass, which confused wvsu, who probably were told during timeout not to foul this 90% ft shooter, so they let him go free, losing precious seconds.
Final score 91-89. Intense effort won this game for wlu, as wvsu won rebounding and shooting battles.

Areas for improvement
- one of the most difficult assignments is defending an opponent attacking on a rim run in transition with a numbers advantage. If wlu is not shooting well, it creates deficits as opponent scores easily. Need to counteract this strategy.
- wlu needs to improve rebounding.

Some stats
Wlu Assist % 74%
Wlu effective shooting %
Team wlu 55% wvsu 52%

Spadafora 79%
D'Augustino 67%
Montague 60%
Woodward 57%
Sarson 50%
Rasile 50%

[boatcapt]

Observations from a dummy: wlu vs wvsu won 91-89

Wvsu game plan
- have assembled a new team to attack wlu; team starting to play together better
- tall and athletic, starting 6-8, 6-6, and 6-5 plus 2 quick 6-1 guards
- play nba style
- deny 3 pt shot, attack rim in transition
- win rebounding battle
- force wlu to shoot below avg
- limit turnovers


1st half
Wlu hit a cold streak that resulted in a 15 point deficit, but fought back to a 5 point deficit at half.
Wvsu was scoring at the rim in transition. If wlu shooting does not improve to offset the rim runs, wvsu was going to win.

2nd half
Fortunately, wlu started hitting threes, essentially trading threes for twos.
Wvsu was getting tired, as wlu was getting better looks from three.
Ultimately, the wlu pressure took its toll. At the 10:04 mark, wlu got 3 steals and scores in 1.5 mins, giving wlu the lead.
Wlu got the lead for good at 2:24 mark. Wvsu was starting to take some difficult shots. Time running out, Wlu got the ball to Spadafora on inbounds pass, which confused wvsu, who probably were told during timeout not to foul this 90% ft shooter, so they let him go free, losing precious seconds.
Final score 91-89. Intense effort won this game for wlu, as wvsu won rebounding and shooting battles.

Areas for improvement
- one of the most difficult assignments is defending an opponent attacking on a rim run in transition with a numbers advantage. If wlu is not shooting well, it creates deficits as opponent scores easily. Need to counteract this strategy.
- wlu needs to improve rebounding.

Some stats
Wlu Assist % 74%
Wlu effective shooting %
Team wlu 55% wvsu 52%

Spadafora 79%
D'Augustino 67%
Montague 60%
Woodward 57%
Sarson 50%
Rasile 50%

Seems like more and more teams are able to find athletic bigs. I was lead to believe that they were impossible to find below the D1 level.

[boatcapt]

Next up is 7-1 Damien followed by 7-1 Angelo State in Daytona. We picked the wrong time to be in a slump!!!!

[Columbuseer]

FYI
West Liberty national stats thru dec 10

#1 Assists 23.7
#1 Turnovers margin 13.7
#1 3pt attempts 35.1

#2 Turnovers forced 25.11
#2 Bench points 47.67
#2 Assist to turnover ratio 2.07

#3 Steals 14.7
#3 Scoring 102
#3 3pts made 12.3
#4 Scoring margin 15

#6 Fast break pts 22.22

#17 3 pt defense 28.3 %
#17 off rebs 14.57
#37 effective fg % 56.1%
#67 fg% 47.94%

[Columbuseer]

Found this game of Dominican vs post on dec 2.
only watched beginning moments.
some prelim observations. Dominican looks like they do dribble drive and kick to corner for three. Good 1 on 1 players, good athletes.
they average 19 turnovers per game, so they might be vulnerable. If they break press, they will attack the rim.
Feel free to watch and add your observations.

https://www.youtube.com/live/4Fkk9VPmegU?feature=shared

[Columbuseer]

Alek West has amazing vision and elite passing. Who can forget the 20 ft bounce pass between legs of running defender to woodward for layup in transition against new haven in elite 8? Many of his passes are non trivial.

national assist to turnover ratio:
#2 west 5.0
#22 Montague 3.13
#31 Spadafora 2.83 (oddly missing, when he has more assists than others in the list)

[Columbuseer]

Just like the perfect country and western song would mention momma, train, prison and rain, I started musing about the perfect wlu basketball player:

Some possible talents of folks to emulate:
- Post footwork of Bryce Butler
- Shooting mechanics of Zach Rasile or Seger Bonifant
- Energy, hand speed, and trapping defense of Dante Spadafora or Brady Arnold
- Passing and ball security of Alek West or Luke Dyer
- First step off dribble of Darren Fergus
- Crunch time judgment and leadership of Christian Montague
- Rebounding of CJ Hester

Imho, if players would watch film of these players and practice accordingly, they could incorporate some technical aspects of these winning techniques into their skill set, within the limits of their athletic ability.