West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Bballfan]

Yes, he's a good guy. WLU has a ton of "good guys" as coaches/assistant coaches, it's nothing personal. What we are asking is to at least be competitive and maybe win some games that you aren't expected to, can they do that? We aren't asking for a conference championship or even a NCAA appearance (which would be nice), just stay above .500 and in the top echelon of the conference. Hopefully change is coming!

They better win at home against Ohio Dominican or it is not going to help his case. A lower echelon GMAC school with a new coach and limited resources should not beat West Lib on their home floor. Good measuring stick game.

[Layton]

Close but got the win

[Columbuseer]

A Dummy’s Observations on WLU vs Virginia Union 11/18/24

Virginia Union (VU) Game Plan

VU was very athletic and had a significant height advantage at nearly every position. Their strategy seemed to be:

• Be deliberate on offense to try to shorten the game by using much of the shot clock.

• Attack WLU inside using their size advantage more than attempting threes.

• Exploit any matchup advantages with 1-on-1 play. They had many players who could finish in the paint against
their shorter WLU opponents.

• Get a significant rebounding advantage.

• If they break the press, attack the rim.

• Play an aggressive, trapping zone defense

VU was forced to play more players, as key player #3 Harris was injured after 17 minutes of play. They had 8
players play at least 13 minutes. Harding #24 played the most at 31 minutes.

Keys to the WLU 84-71 victory

This was another game, when every WLU player was missing wide-open threes. In the first half, WLU was 5 for 21 or 24%. The half court trapping defense of VU bothered WLU with their long arms and quickness for much of the first half, limited WLU to a 32-28 lead at the half. VU was causing WLU turnovers with their trapping defense. Even in the second half, WLU shot only 5-19 from three for 26%. Nearly all of the errant threes were wide open looks. I suspect that playing two games in little more than 48 hours played a role in the 3-point shooting slump.

WLU showed that they have the versatility to win even when they are not hitting threes. In the second half, they
were much more effective in attacking the VU defense inside, using rapid passing and movement to find gaps in the VU zone.

The offensive (points per 100 possessions) rating was mediocre at 104 for WLU, because they were horrendous from three-point range on 40 attempts and had 17 turnovers. They held VU to a sub-par offensive rating of 87.

IMHO, the difference in the game was:

• West Liberty’s conditioning, high motors, and will to win. WLU turned up the pressure on their press and in the half court, and hit the boards hard to compensate for their terrible shooting.

• In the second half, WLU made adjustments to get interior passes in the VU zone defense. WLU had 24
assists on 28 made FGs, which is an amazing 86% and resulted in a 1.41 assist to turnover ratio, despite the
high number of WLU turnovers (17). Four players had at least 3 assists, led by Woodward with 7 assists. VU
had 9 assists on 29 FGs, or 31% and an abysmal 0.38 assist to turnover ratio.

• WLU made 18-20 FT or 90%. VU made 12-20 or 60%.

• JP Dragas made several threes in rapid succession in the second half to give WLU some breathing room in
terms of a lead. He is getting much more comfortable and played 14 minutes. He had an incredible 110%
effective FG %.

• WLU tied the rebounding battle to a much taller team at 36.

• Kam Tinsley is getting more comfortable with each passing game and is earning additional playing time (24
minutes) with his rebounding and shooting.

• Harper is proving to be a force in all aspects of the game, especially in rebounding and defense against taller players. He has joined the veterans (Shuler, Spadafora and Woodward) as a true warrior in the game, giving up his body on rebounds and loose balls.

• Woodward showed incredible conditioning with 34 minutes, and was instrumental to breaking down the VU
zone with his interior passes and 7 assists.

• WLU is a powerful offensive team, finding a way to win even on a mediocre shooting and turnover night,
driven by their unselfishness and extreme effort.

Areas for Improvement for WLU

WLU has made significant improvements each game.

• The VU pressure forced 10 steals with their trapping defense. WLU will need to improve their passing against
pressure and learn to avoid getting trapped on the sideline. They did better in the second half.

• WLU needs to improve on attacking zone defenses, although they did improve in the second half.

• The second platoon is improving each game, which is encouraging. However, further improvement is needed.

[Bballfan]

Close but got the win

Watched the last quarter. A foul fest with no defense. A few years ago West Liberty women were pretty good. But over the last couple years they seem to have regressed. They will get their fair share of wins in conference because there's a lot of bad schools. But that's about all they're going to do.

[Scrub]

Watched the last quarter. A foul fest with no defense. A few years ago West Liberty women were pretty good. But over the last couple years they seem to have regressed. They will get their fair share of wins in conference because there's a lot of bad schools. But that's about all they're going to do.

Defense has been the achilles heel for the women's program in recent years. I believe last year Emilee Weekley of Frostburg set the MEC single-game record for points . . . against WLU. And they gave up 37 to a nice (but by no means transcendent) player last night. The days of Kiki Simpson patrolling the lane swatting away shots and Kailee Howe ranking on national leaderboards in steals are long gone.

[boatcapt]

How much longer do we have to pretend that WLU is an elite 3 point shooting team that just had an "off" night?

[Scrub]

How much longer do we have to pretend that WLU is an elite 3 point shooting team that just had an "off" night?

That's actually a really fair question, Boat. It's been a number of years since WLU has had a cadre of pure shooters. Remember the era where Shetzer & Fortney were on the same lineup? Or the Bonfiant years? Or even the Tim Hausfeld launching from the logo years? When those guys pulled up, you just knew it was going in. WLU really hasn't had those guys in the fold in recent years. Rasile was perhaps close to that over the past few years. But it does seem like as WLU has gotten more athletic, they have also recruited (or perhaps landed) fewer of those pure shooters of old.

I'm glad that Spadafora has worked really hard to improve his shooting over the course of his WLU career; he's gotten much more reliable from behind the arc than as a Freshman. But I'm not sure he's that "pure shooter" WLU used to pride itself on. Autry was billed as that guy when he signed on, but he's looked pretty streaky so far. Maybe he's still getting his legs under him in the system.

But I think you ask a fair question here, Boat. It feels like there's been more hoping it goes in lately than knowing it's going in from those classic WLU teams.

[Caveat emptor: It's entirely possible--and I'm sure Columbus will run the numbers--that recent shooters have been as efficient from 3 as those old HOFers. I admit that the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia can be a real thing. But lately it just hasn't felt quite as "automatic" as it used to from behind the arc in the ASRC.]

[boatcapt]

That's actually a really fair question, Boat. It's been a number of years since WLU has had a cadre of pure shooters. Remember the era where Shetzer & Fortney were on the same lineup? Or the Bonfiant years? Or even the Tim Hausfeld launching from the logo years? When those guys pulled up, you just knew it was going in. WLU really hasn't had those guys in the fold in recent years. Rasile was perhaps close to that over the past few years. But it does seem like as WLU has gotten more athletic, they have also recruited (or perhaps landed) fewer of those pure shooters of old.

I'm glad that Spadafora has worked really hard to improve his shooting over the course of his WLU career; he's gotten much more reliable from behind the arc than as a Freshman. But I'm not sure he's that "pure shooter" WLU used to pride itself on. Autry was billed as that guy when he signed on, but he's looked pretty streaky so far. Maybe he's still getting his legs under him in the system.

But I think you ask a fair question here, Boat. It feels like there's been more hoping it goes in lately than knowing it's going in from those classic WLU teams.

[Caveat emptor: It's entirely possible--and I'm sure Columbus will run the numbers--that recent shooters have been as efficient from 3 as those old HOFers. I admit that the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia can be a real thing. But lately it just hasn't felt quite as "automatic" as it used to from behind the arc in the ASRC.]

You can prove (or disprove) almost anything with stats. But you are spot on. It seemed in the past that when WLU needed a big 3 (or several big 3's in a row), we had guys that delivered the dagger blow. Now, not so much. In the past we also seemed to be more than capable of, almost wanting, to "trade" 2's for 3's...now we seem to be focused in trading 2's for 2's. How long has it been since we've seen an opponent make a 2 and we push the ball up and draine a 3, then dare the opponent to go over the top and sink another 2, only to push the ball up and drain another 3? Used to happen quite often.

[Columbuseer]

With the distance increasing on 3 pt shot, there is less margin for error. Regarding this year's team, the stats may be skewed due to playing 2 games within 24 hrs on Nov 8 and 9, followed by a week break, then 2 games in 48 hrs. We has one elite 3 point shooting night against West Chester at 39%. Research on basketball fatigue indicates at least 48 hrs are needed to recover from a traditional slower pace of a bball game. Of course, besides fatigue, there are also cold shooting nights too.

There were teams in the 2010s that averaged 40% from three as a team, which was amazing. But we have better athletes and better half court defense overall now. When the threes are not falling, we can still win with our better athletes and defenders.

We should consider the goal of the three point shot - it is to increase points per possession.
In this regard, recent wlu teams have been well over 1.2 points per possession for the season, which is comparable to all the great shooting past wlu teams that were much better from three.

This team does have great three point shooters. in one scrimmage, autrey hit approx.10 out of 12.
the shooting mechanics of several players (autry, spadafora, tinsley, dragas, ...) are so good that when they do miss, they typically don't miss by much.

[boatcapt]

Actually over the last several years including this young one, our margin of victory has dipped by several points while we have been pretty consistently given up 80 PPG, Thus far in our four games, we are giving up 84.

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
Very early scoring offense stats as of 11/21/24

1	Coker	128.3
2	Nova Southeastern	111.3
3	Mont Olive	107.8
4	Bluefield St.	106.5
5	Findlay	103.0
6	West Liberty	100.5

Hmm... I see a trend.

Points by opponent per game

Coker 105.3
bluefield state 95.8
West liberty 86
Nova se 82 who is #1 in nation

[Columbuseer]

Someone could make serious $ by identifying the factors that affect 3 point accuracy and finding ways to reduce the variation.
For example, #1 nova se was 1-12 (8%) in first half and 4-10 (40%) in 2nd half of FL National game.

[boatcapt]

Someone could make serious $ by identifying the factors that affect 3 point accuracy and finding ways to reduce the variation.
For example, #1 nova se was 1-12 (8%) in first half and 4-10 (40%) in 2nd half of FL National game.

I think it depends on what you are trying to do with the 3. If you are trying to increase scoring/disorient a teams D, you take a lot of 3 point shots by a lot of different players. If you take 30 three point shots per game and make ten (.333) you score 30 points while if you pushed the ball inside on those 30 possessions, you would need to score on 15 (.500) of your two point tries to make up the difference. If you are trying to "win" the stat sheet, you get one dominant three point shooter (ala Seiger Bonifant who shot 52.5% from three) and feed him the ball. If he is the only three point shooter, your "team" is going to look pretty great from three!!!

Buuuutttt...The bottom line is that if you are a three point shooting team, shooting .273 is going to make it very difficult to win vs top tier teams. And in my humble assessment, the goal of basketball is to win games on the score board, not in the box score.

As an aside, I love it when seam heads try and convince me that a pitcher is having a great season even though he is 6-15 and has a 4.70 ERA. They trot out all kinds of advanced stats (WAR and WHIP and MB9, etc) to prove that the pitcher is really great. I just laugh and point at the score board after they take another loss!!! While advanced stats can help coaches (and fans?) understand how a player/team is playing or can help a coach fine toon his team, we shouldn't see them as the reason for being...That is and always has been the final score on the scoreboard.

I'd much rather have a 28-0 team that finished the regular season last in every advanced statistical category than one that was 14-14 but top three in every "meaningful" advances stat category.

[Columbuseer]

FYI

A Dummy’s Observations on WLU vs Pt. Park 11/23/24

Pt. Park (PP) Game Plan

PP was very athletic and had a significant height advantage inside. Their strategy seemed to be:
• Be deliberate on offense to try to shorten the game by using much of the shot clock and conserve energy. -PASSED
• Attack WLU inside using their size advantage more than attempting threes. - PASSED
• Get a significant rebounding advantage. - PASSED
• If they break the press, attack the rim. - PASSED
• Have their leading scorer Warner get open looks. – FAILED
• On defense, channel WLU into the lane, where the 6-9 Fisher awaited - PASSED
• Stop WLU offensive rebounds - PASSED

PP did not have much depth – only 7 players played more than 6 minutes. Both leading scorer Warner and athletic 6-9 Fisher played 37 minutes.

Keys to the WLU 88-80 victory

This was another game, when every WLU player was missing wide-open threes, shooting 10-37 (27%). In addition, and even more troubling, was that WLU was missing many easy shots in the paint. This allowed PP to stay in the game.

WLU showed that they have the versatility to win even when they:
• are not hitting open look threes.
• are missing many easy inside shots that they typically make. Perhaps the PP big man caused them concern. Their True Shooting % (PTS/2*(FGA+(0.44*FTA)) was only 48% while PP was 55%.
• are shut off the offensive boards only 10-52 offensive rebounds (19%)
• are out rebounded on the boards 53-31
• only shot 14 FTs to 31 FTs for PP.
• have no answer to 6-9 Fisher, who scored 30 points and had 22 rebounds.
• are playing at a mediocre 101 offensive rating, far below their typical 120+ offensive rating

IMHO, for most traditional basketball teams, this performance would lead to defeat.

WLU offset these deficiencies by:
• their conditioning, high motors, and will to win. PP was very fatigued in the second half.
• forcing 25 PP turnovers, including 15 steals, two 10 second calls and several 5 second calls.
• out-scoring PP on points off turnovers by 28 to 4.
• using double teams off ball screens to shut down 19 ppg Warner, holding him to only 4 points until the last 3 minutes of the game. WLU held their guards in check.
• committing only 5 turnovers or 6% of their 87 possessions, compared to 25 turnovers or 29% of PP possessions. WLU had an assist to turnover ratio of 4, which is elite.
• holding a very good 3-point shooting team to 21% on 3-14 shots.

Areas for Improvement for WLU

Previously, WLU had made significant improvements each game. Regrettably, in this game, they have regressed. However, it is nothing that cannot be corrected.
• In the post-game, Coach Howlett said that they had a bad week of practice and need to improve their spacing.
• IMHO They need to fix the offensive rebounding issues that occurred in this game.
• IMHO They need to consider the tradeoff between doubling an inside big to make him lose his dribble early before he starts his move, which would leave a corner 3-point shooter unguarded.

[Scrub]

FYI

A Dummy’s Observations on WLU vs Pt. Park 11/23/24

PP did not have much depth – only 7 players played more than 6 minutes. Both leading scorer Warner and athletic 6-9 Fisher played 37 minutes.

I made a note that two players in particular--Van & the big guy Fisher--were completely gassed with about 8 minutes to go in the game. I made a mental note that this was going to be the moment when WLU would step on PPU's neck and run them out of the building. Blackout time!

Unfortunately, this was also a moment in the game when the officials began to tighten up whistles. Literally, I believe 5-6 straight Point Park possessions resulted in Warner on the line at that point. And good for Warner for forcing the issue off the bounce. But what I noticed was that it allowed Fisher, in particular, to slowly walk back down to the defensive end (not bothering to line up for the foul shot rebound) and just suck wind all by himself down there and wait for Hilltopper offense to come to him. Because the game ground to a bit of a halt for about a 3-4 minute stretch there, Fisher was able to get his legs back under him and remain relatively effective till the end. If this was part of Warner's or KR's plan--it was brilliant. If it was a case of Hilltoppers not moving their feet on defense--gotta work on that. But I just noticed that the game pace ground down to nothing right at a key moment when Fisher was ready to get sloppy and the patented WLU blackout was coming. PPU ended up staving off the blackout due to the free throw shooting exhibition that broke out for about 3-4 minutes there.