West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[boatcapt]

Sooo...UVA-Wise tomorrow. Do we see the early season WLU squad that was scoring with reckless abandon OR the squad that has lost three of it's last four again opponents who were better... buuuuttt also seemed to have "figured out" how to beat us.

FYI...For the nay sayers out there...the Formula seems to be sink an outrageous % if 3 point shots AND dominate inside! That "formula"seems to be the kryptonite for MANY good teams!!!

[Columbuseer]

From looking at stats, uva-wise is no pushover. No one plays over 29 mins and 9 players log over 16 mins.
Six players shoot over 40% from three.
They have 3 eastern Euro players, which often means fundamentally sound.
Only 14 turnovers per game.
they are 6-5 but 3 of their losses were by 3 or less pts. Last game 3 starters were sick.

We can't give them open looks in transition and must induce mental and physical fatigue.

[Columbuseer]

Observations from a Dummy

Wlu vs Uva wise - wlu won 90-79

Uvaw game plan
- they have a similar profile to wvsu, dominican, and angelo. great 3 point shooters and athletic.
- have 4 fast, long players on court who can shoot and finish at rim
- have depth to delay onset of fatigue
- against press, get inbounds pass quickly into foul line area. Then guard executes a fly pattern on side of court away from wlu mid court defender. if defender does not react immediately, they will get behind their defender and receive open pass leading to 2 on 1 break behind wlu defenders.
- In transition, attack the rim if they have numbers.
- In half court, they spread the floor and dribble drive. Much more dribbling than passing.

Game Notes

- game evenly played in 1st half. Neither team shot well.

- although Uvaw press break was effective, wlu was much improved in stopping dribble drive in half court.

- In second half, wlu was able to lure uvaw into a fast, up and down, 1-on-1 game. Uvaw was getting a step slow and missing fts and not sharing the ball. The lead grew to 17 pts. By the 2 min mark.

- imho, the sheer effort of wlu in forcing and scoring off turnovers, defense, rebounding and roster depth were keys to grinding out an ugly win, when their shooting and offense was far below average. They held uvaw to 4 offensive rebounds! Their offensive rating was only 108. However, they held uvaw to 96. Anytime wlu can hold a team under 105, it is good defense for their style.

- I am seeing Darren Fergus get more comfortable. Such a big adjustment for him. He is playing much better defense. He is a terror to defend in open court. On last shot before half, they spread floor with 10 seconds and gave ball to him. He got pushed on drive to rim that refs missed. He scored 9 points in 8 mins of play. If he improves his awareness in press and three point shot, his offense will be very difficult to defend.

[Columbuseer]

Inexplicably, uvaw played 3 guys 35+ mins and 2 others 29 and 27 mins, despite using a deep bench during the season. I guess that their coach lacked confidence in reserves handling the pressure. By the 10 min mark of second half they were down 10 and their offense was sputtering. I have not seen teams with thin benches and who also play fast having success the entire game, due to fatigue.

[Scrub]

Observations from a Dummy

- I am seeing Darren Fergus get more comfortable. Such a big adjustment for him. He is playing much better defense. He is a terror to defend in open court. On last shot before half, they spread floor with 10 seconds and gave ball to him. He got pushed on drive to rim that refs missed. He scored 9 points in 8 mins of play. If he improves his awareness in press and three point shot, his offense will be very difficult to defend.

But guys have to stop calling their own number. In the arena, you could see Howlett become obviously frustrated (and sometimes immediately sub) when guys would call their own number instead of passing the ball and running the offense. It's interesting to note that the two guys who seemed to get the most frustrated looks from Howlett in the Wise game were Fergus & Korte. It's no surprise, as both are transfers who were "the man" on their previous teams. If those guys can buy more fully into the system, run the offense, and pass the ball, they'll be really dangerous.

One sequence was particularly memorable (though I'm gonna botch which guys were involved--can't remember who was on the floor because Howlett was mixing lineups much more frequently in the Wise game). Someone made a diving pass interception in the passing lane (I'm thinking it was West) and another player (possibly Spadafora) had to save the tip from going out bounds by throwing it behind his back while falling into the Wise bench. The behind-the-back-saved-out-of-bounds pass lands in the hands of Korte at around the elbow. Korte sees that there is only one Wise defender in front of him (the guy for whom the original pass that was tipped was intended) and decides to take him on. The defender wisely plants his feet and takes the Korte charge (for Korte's 3rd foul no less). The problem with all of this is that someone (Hinds I think) was waiting at the low block. It was a two-on-one at that point. If Korte just jump stops and shovels a pass to Hinds, it's a dunk, two points, and an all-time WLU type defensive sequence that ends up on highlight reels for years to come. Instead, Korte turns the two-on-one into a one-on-one and commits the charge.

Gotta get everyone on board with making the extra pass for the easy buckets instead of settling for difficult shots.

[Columbuseer]

But guys have to stop calling their own number. In the arena, you could see Howlett become obviously frustrated (and sometimes immediately sub) when guys would call their own number instead of passing the ball and running the offense. It's interesting to note that the two guys who seemed to get the most frustrated looks from Howlett in the Wise game were Fergus & Korte. It's no surprise, as both are transfers who were "the man" on their previous teams. If those guys can buy more fully into the system, run the offense, and pass the ball, they'll be really dangerous.

One sequence was particularly memorable (though I'm gonna botch which guys were involved--can't remember who was on the floor because Howlett was mixing lineups much more frequently in the Wise game). Someone made a diving pass interception in the passing lane (I'm thinking it was West) and another player (possibly Spadafora) had to save the tip from going out bounds by throwing it behind his back while falling into the Wise bench. The behind-the-back-saved-out-of-bounds pass lands in the hands of Korte at around the elbow. Korte sees that there is only one Wise defender in front of him (the guy for whom the original pass that was tipped was intended) and decides to take him on. The defender wisely plants his feet and takes the Korte charge (for Korte's 3rd foul no less). The problem with all of this is that someone (Hinds I think) was waiting at the lowVblock. It was a two-on-one at that point. If Korte just jump stops and shovels a pass to Hinds, it's a dunk, two points, and an all-time WLU type defensive sequence that ends up on highlight reels for years to come. Instead, Korte turns the two-on-one into a one-on-one and commits the charge.

Gotta get everyone on board with making the extra pass for the easy buckets instead of settling for difficult shots.

I generally agree. I thought kyler took some ill advised shots too. I think the new players also need to improve on moving without the ball on offense to get easy back door passes. If more players would jump stop, charging fouls would decrease greatly. Problem exists across many teams.

[Scrub]

I generally agree. I thought kyler took some ill advised shots too. I think the new players also need to improve on moving without the ball on offense to get easy back door passes. If more players would jump stop, charging fouls would decrease greatly. Problem exists across many teams.

The thing with Daugustino is that several of his ill-advised circus shots in that game went in! I said to the person I was sitting next to: "If those shots don't go in, someone is heading to the scorer's table immediately." They were of the "No, no, no . . . ok, yes" variety. Not that I think Howlett is any more pleased just because they went in. So, yes, I think Daugustino called his own number a few too many times against Wise as well.

[boatcapt]

Seems like teams have figured out how to attack this year's team. Our answer seems to be to do what we've done all season...but try to be better at at. I guess our hope is that most teams won't be as capable as ASU or UC and that should be enough on most nights. I fear our tourney strategy seems to be hope we get hot at the right time.

[Columbuseer]

I think wlu is not yet near its ceiling. Imho, one area of improvement is to get the opponent defense to collapse inside so that they are too far away to be able to close out on the shooter who receives the kickout pass. Dante is good at penetrating and then passing ball for wide open corner threes. Sometimes in our perimeter passes, players are too close to each other. One successful d3 coach suggests players should be 15 -17 feet away on perimeter to meaningfully stretch the defense and create open lanes for driving or passing.

[Columbuseer]

The thing with Daugustino is that several of his ill-advised circus shots in that game went in! I said to the person I was sitting next to: "If those shots don't go in, someone is heading to the scorer's table immediately." They were of the "No, no, no . . . ok, yes" variety. Not that I think Howlett is any more pleased just because they went in. So, yes, I think Daugustino called his own number a few too many times against Wise as well.

I think shot selection is one of the most challenging areas of change for great scorers when adapting to the wlu system. They have had success by having the ability to make 40 to 50% of the high degree of difficulty, contested 2 point shots, which most of us would not even attempt. The problem is that the wlu system is based on an effective fg % of 55 to 65%. That is how wlu achieves an elite offensive rating of 125 points per 100 possessions. So contested, off balance shots actually drag down the stats, despite being amazing shots. The key is to get assists and move without the ball to receive a pass for open looks and on balance shots. It takes time for a new way of thinking to become second nature.

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
Been watching college of charleston games recently. Very deep team with great shooters who share the ball like west lib.

Butler started season playing about 13 mins. However, recently I noticed that coach kelsey started putting him in critical situations, when game was on the line late, imho because he does not make stupid decisions.
Coach says passing is the most underrated part of his game.

In the last few games, his minutes have been increasing. Although he does not start, he played 27 mins against rival Hofstra and scored 18 pts, with only 1 turnover. When he is in game, charleston erased deficits and got a lead in last 6 mins, winning by 12. Coach is starting to learn his value to team success. Hofstra announcers were impressed by him and mentioned west liberty numerous times.

Congrats to Bryce!

[Columbuseer]

FYI
Coach Lamberti just got a big win in his first year at Coker - a 118 -109 victory over Lincoln Memorial. First victory over LMU in Coker history.
Congrats Mike!

[boatcapt]

Hardly a test for WLU tonight against Frostburg. Up by 10 after two minutes and ended up scoring 72 points in the FIRST HALF...coasted to a 47 point win...126-79.

[Topper_Hopper]

A nice win over FSU. I did not see Fergus in the box score... did he participate in warm-ups? Wondering if he is hurt?

[Scrub]

A nice win over FSU. I did not see Fergus in the box score... did he participate in warm-ups? Wondering if he is hurt?

Unfortunately I was unavailable to watch the game. Not sure. But I'd also be interested to hear from those who were able to watch: wondering what the issue with Mont is. He didn't start against Frostburg (and played limited minutes--as far as limited minutes are possible as a rotation player in this system). And then he was barely in the box score (figuratively speaking) against Fairmont. Yes, he played 30 minutes, but he uncharacteristically only scored a single point, only took 4 shots all game, and had more turnovers than assists (all very uncharacteristic). Wonder if some guys are experiencing some aches and pains (tis the season--this the part of the year that starts to grind).