West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Topper_Hopper]

Season is hard to interpret at the moment.

Toppers have played their best against their best opponents (West Chester, Colorado Mines, and Fairmont State). And then two bad losses in games I'd expect to win handily (Frostburg on the road, and Concord at home).

[Scrub]

Season is hard to interpret at the moment.

Toppers have played their best against their best opponents (West Chester, Colorado Mines, and Fairmont State). And then two bad losses in games I'd expect to win handily (Frostburg on the road, and Concord at home).

Well, there are always a few in-conference losses that can be expected. These coaches/teams know each other so well that seemingly bad losses can be somewhat easily understood. For instance, Todd May and the Concord guys are so familiar with WLU (Amare Smith has been there for 12 years, I think) that they're not nearly as phased by what WLU does as Damian Blair and the guys from West Chester. Blair watching on film is nothing like being in the gym for it. Todd May has been in the gym for it 2-3 times a year for 15 years. Not phased. So I don't necessarily take last night's loss to be a "bad loss" per se. Doesn't look great, mind you. But not a bad loss. Frostburg is a bit more of a bad loss--harder to explain that one other than simple Christmas hangover.

One or two of these kinds of losses are to be expected. Heck, Palm Beach Atlantic just took out St. Crutch and the almighty Sharks. It happens in the conference season.

The real puzzling part is that the Hilltoppers haven't looked like the Hilltoppers with the exception of a few times (WCU, WVSU, Fairmont, etc.). They've pulled off a few of these wins while looking pretty lousy and playing a not-particularly-inspired version of the system. The Point Park game comes to mind. Played pretty poorly and simply gutted it out. But guts will only get you so far when the calendar turns. Unfortunately, we're still waiting for this edition of the Hilltoppers to consistently look like they're playing West Liberty basketball.

[boatcapt]

Welp...Turns out the "rebirth" of WLU playing WLU Style basketball we hoped after the Fairmont game was just an aberration. 77 points vs Concord and Lost BOTH halves.

We're probably looking at a 4 or 5 seed in the NCAA tournament and a pretty quick exit.

By WLU standards, this season is fast becoming a FAIL.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Welp...Turns out the "rebirth" of WLU playing WLU Style basketball we hoped after the Fairmont game was just an aberration. 77 points vs Concord and Lost BOTH halves.

We're probably looking at a 4 or 5 seed in the NCAA tournament and a pretty quick exit.

By WLU standards, this season is fast becoming a FAIL.

Disagree, Boat.


The PSAC largely stinks this year. The second place team in the West already has 8 losses (and more coming).

Gannon may lose one game the rest of the way. But, they are the vast exception.

The PSAC East has some good teams but they are also racking some losses up.

The CIAA champion usually finishes with 9 or 10 losses.

If you're going to be down a bit, this is the year.

Overall, this is probably the worst Atlantic Region field in, well, maybe ever.

I think Scrub nailed it. That wasn't Todd May's first rodeo. He clearly knows some tricks and weaknesses by now.

Frostburg was baffling but can be chalked up to a sh!tty night. It's a long season. It happens.

I've seen it in person 50 times. Some jabroni team would come to the KCAC and play like it was Game 7 of the NBA Finals. WL will win the rematch by 35.

Those types of losses remind me of our history with Slippery Rock. SRU gets 125 people a game all year but on IUP night the place is sold out and turns in to Cameron Indoor. Joe got upset up there several times over the years. The rematch at the KCAC ... IUP would win by 30.


I will say this ... a lot of the 'name' programs are either dealing with mass injuries, new rosters, both, etc. Those teams should keep progressing and some of them may be real dangerous by the conference tournaments.

I still peg Gannon and WL as the top two teams. Gannon is certainly deeper and bigger. It will be interesting.

Cal may have actually been the best team. That's a shame what happened.

[Columbuseer]

Well, there are always a few in-conference losses that can be expected. These coaches/teams know each other so well that seemingly bad losses can be somewhat easily understood. For instance, Todd May and the Concord guys are so familiar with WLU (Amare Smith has been there for 12 years, I think) that they're not nearly as phased by what WLU does as Damian Blair and the guys from West Chester. Blair watching on film is nothing like being in the gym for it. Todd May has been in the gym for it 2-3 times a year for 15 years. Not phased. So I don't necessarily take last night's loss to be a "bad loss" per se. Doesn't look great, mind you. But not a bad loss. Frostburg is a bit more of a bad loss--harder to explain that one other than simple Christmas hangover.

One or two of these kinds of losses are to be expected. Heck, Palm Beach Atlantic just took out St. Crutch and the almighty Sharks. It happens in the conference season.

The real puzzling part is that the Hilltoppers haven't looked like the Hilltoppers with the exception of a few times (WCU, WVSU, Fairmont, etc.). They've pulled off a few of these wins while looking pretty lousy and playing a not-particularly-inspired version of the system. The Point Park game comes to mind. Played pretty poorly and simply gutted it out. But guts will only get you so far when the calendar turns. Unfortunately, we're still waiting for this edition of the Hilltoppers to consistently look like they're playing West Liberty basketball.

Good points about May. I remember when he beat us in Athens when we were #1. He said afterwards that he worked all week on keeping wlu off the boards. Yesterday he did not let the 21 turnovers faze him or his team.

[Columbuseer]

I think we have somewhat of a black swan event this year at wlu.
- veterans sarson and rasile moving on from bball
- Fergus choosing to transfer to Pace to play 16 mins a game lol
- 9 new players
- talented Stewart out for year
- talented shull hurt and left after 3 games back
- chester hurt and had to redshirt
- redshirt freshman kisner just got his knee brace off.
- two true freshmen are having to play major minutes. I can only remember David Dennis and D'Augustino starting as freshmen.

I see guys zigging when they should zag resulting in wlu not scoring many points off 21 turnovers against Concord.
3 point shooting is improving but still only 33% for season.
We must rebound better or we are vulnerable to several teams.

The key is to gain familiarity and peak by March. We are still inconsistent. Offensive efficiency was 131 against Fairmont and only 101 against concord. The good news is that we are still playing hard and the young players are improving, slowly but surely.

[boatcapt]

I would point out that next season is setting up to be similar to this one. If I'm doing my math right, we have six players who are grad transfers, seniors or have played at WLU for four years. If recent history is any guide, we'll lose at least one of our "stars" to the transfer portal and one RS freshman won't return. That leaves us basically in the same boat as this year...hoping to hit on multiple grad/portal transfers, hoping our true freshmen that played this year make a big step up and hoping that one or two of our HS recruits are ready to go from day one.

Hate to say it, but we need to "transfer proof" out true freshmen. No more Redshirt...play them enough at the begining of the year to burn it. Makes them less attractive to another school if the player has 3 years left vice 4.

[Scrub]

I would point out that next season is setting up to be similar to this one. If I'm doing my math right, we have six players who are grad transfers, seniors or have played at WLU for four years. If recent history is any guide, we'll lose at least one of our "stars" to the transfer portal and one RS freshman won't return. That leaves us basically in the same boat as this year...hoping to hit on multiple grad/portal transfers, hoping our true freshmen that played this year make a big step up and hoping that one or two of our HS recruits are ready to go from day one.

Hate to say it, but we need to "transfer proof" out true freshmen. No more Redshirt...play them enough at the begining of the year to burn it. Makes them less attractive to another school if the player has 3 years left vice 4.

But Columbus has pointed out that Chester's "red shirt" appears to be medical. So Kent is the only one redshirting due to "readiness," and I'm not sure he was a guy that figures into the plans longer term anyway.

[Columbuseer]

Imho the focus for next year's roster has to be taller players who are suited for wlu style (who generally defend the opponents' forwards). We are well positioned at guard with Spadafora, Dragas, D'Augustino, Chester, Kent, Montgomery and Davis.
Let us hope that this year's injury bug does not return next season.

[boatcapt]

Imho the focus for next year's roster has to be forwards. We are well positioned at guard with Spadafora, Dragas, D'Augustino, Chester, Kent, Montgomery and Davis.
Let us hope that this year's injury bug does not return next season.

That's assuming all return. Spad has served is 4 years on the Hilltop and D'Aug has the production that would make other teams, DII and D1, take a look. No guarantee they will return.

And besides, since we play position less basketball, should we be focused on forwards? Heck, next thing we know is maybe someone will be advocating for a center! ;-)

[boatcapt]

But Columbus has pointed out that Chester's "red shirt" appears to be medical. So Kent is the only one redshirting due to "readiness," and I'm not sure he was a guy that figures into the plans longer term anyway.

All true. As the saying goes, we don't know what we don't know. Wonder what the history of transfer players that don't play on their new team returning for a second bite at the Apple?

But beyond that, I would say that putting faith in him as a top performer was about like we were counting on him (and others) to be high performers this year. I know we "live in different times" basketball roster wise, but putting a large percentage of your performance hopes on transfers at best can lead to "uneven" results.

[Columbuseer]

Congrats hilltoppers on a gritty win at glenville and persevering through hot and cold spells to get win #13.

[Columbuseer]

A Dummy’s Observations on WLU at Glenville 1/18/25

Glenville (GU) Game Plan

GU comes into the game with a tall, athletic team with 5 players averaging in double figures. Of their top 8 players, two players shoot at least 42% from three (which is elite) and 3 shoot at least 35% from three (which is good). Collins is particularly dangerous from three, shooting over 46%. Combine that with their emphasis on strong rebounding and strong inside players in the paint, and they pose a matchup problem for WLU.

The GU strategy seemed to be:
• PASSED - GU wants to play a fast, up-tempo game. Use their athletic ability and superior height to attack the
rim on offense, both in half court and when breaking the press in transition, looking to score or get to the foul
line. Look for opportunities to pass, either inside or pass out to three-point shooters. They had 21 assists to 18
for WLU.
• PASSED – Mitigate the effects of fatigue. GU played 8 players 12 minutes or more.
• PASSED– Shoot above their average. GU shot 37.5% from three, above their average of 34.3%. GU shot
46.7% of FGs, above their average of 44.1%.
• FAILED – Take care of the ball and avoid getting sped up in their game. Although GU had fewer turnovers (16 turnovers to WLU’s 18), half of their turnovers were live ball turnovers, which resulted in 27 points for WLU.
• FAILED – Defend the 3-point shot from WLU. WLU averaged 40.6% (13-32), for the game, well above season
average of 34%.
• FAILED– Keep WLU off the offensive glass. The average offensive rebounding % in D1 college basketball is
28%. WLU was an outstanding 47% of potential offensive rebounds compared to an above average 34% for
the taller GU team.
• FAILED– Win the rebounding battle. WLU outrebounded GU 44-34. The D1 college average is a 72%
defensive rebounding rate. WLU got 66% of defensive rebounds compared to a subpar 54% for GU.
• FAILED – Draw fouls and get to the Free-Throw line. GU caused 19 WLU fouls and shot 70% (14-20) foul
shots. GU committed 24 fouls, resulting in 68% (22-32) Free-Throws for WLU.

Comments on the WLU 103-96 Victory

WLU changed its lineup following the Concord game:
Platoon 1: D’Augustino, Woodward, Harper, Spadafora and Dragas
Platoon 2: Tinsley, Clanet, Kisner, Shuler and Autrey

WLU mixed up the platoon strategy, using more of a selective substitution strategy rather a strict platoon approach. Initially, they subbed 2 or 3 players at a time after about 3 minutes, leaving some players in to play roughly 5 minutes. However, the subbing strategy for much of the game was based on matchups and situational substitutions. Nine WLU players played 12 or more minutes with the most minutes recorded by D’Augustino (31 minutes) and Harper (29 minutes).

The GU announcers thought the officiating was suspect. However, when I replayed controversial calls, I found that nearly all were the correct call. The only call I thought was clearly missed was calling a held ball instead of a GU foul when Dragas fell over a fallen player. The opponent seemed to hit his arms and knocked him off balance and never really touched the ball to justify a held ball call.

Keys to Victory

• WLU greatly improved rebounding against a taller, athletic team. WLU outrebounded GU 44-34. Importantly,
WLU got an outstanding 46% of the possible offensive rebounds, much better than their average of 29%. The
also limited the athletic GU team to just 34% offensive rebounding %. Huge improvement since Concord
game.
• WLU shot well above their average for the game. WLU shot an elite 40.6% from three (13-32), well above
season average of 34%. Overall, WLU shot 49.3% (34-69), above their season average of 47%.
• Although WLU had an uncharacteristic 18 turnovers compared to 16 turnovers for GU, WLU scored an
amazing 1.69 points per forced turnover, compared to just 0.89 points per turnover for GU. WLU outscored
GU 27-16 on points from turnovers, which along with their great offensive rebounding, accounted for the
difference in the score. Huge improvement since Concord game.

Areas for Improvement for WLU

WLU gained large leads twice in the game, only to lose them. In watching the replay:
• Players were shooting threes rapidly without their feet being set.
• The ball was sticking, or players were dribbling into traffic and getting the ball stripped.
• WLU needs to reduce the errant passes in the half-court offense.
• On defense, we were slow to close out and contest the GU 3-point shooters, especially on GU players Collins
and Kinsler.
• On several occasions, their big men beat our players running the court in transition, resulting in the GU big
men getting an easy layup. Players cannot rest or pace themselves even for one possession in the WLU style.

[Scrub]

The GU announcers thought the officiating was suspect. However, when I replayed controversial calls, I found that nearly all were the correct call. The only call I thought was clearly missed was calling a held ball instead of a GU foul when Dragas fell over a fallen player. The opponent seemed to hit his arms and knocked him off balance and never really touched the ball to justify a held ball call.

The kid wearing #0 for Glenville plays a bully-ball style of just heading downhill with reckless abandon and hope it either goes in or you get to the FT line. The refs--rightfully I think--declined to bail the kid out when he would go crashing into a pile of players in the lane. He was frequently out of control, and I think the refs were correct not to reward that. But I do suspect that Glenville fans, players, and announcers, have gotten used to officiating crews falling for that gambit and giving the kid a bunch of free throws, so when an officiating crew decided that wasn't going to fly, it prompted some comments (particularly from the angry fan who could be heard loudly and crystal clearly on the broadcast all game long).

All in all, not a pretty one for WLU. And as I said above, I worry that guts will only get you so far as you head down the stretch--WLU is going to have to figure out how to play consistently good basketball and be less streaky and unpredictable (one example: we never know which Autry we're going to get--the hitting threes and competing on D version or the swinging gate who throws up bricks version). Gotta get consistent heading into the tough part of the season.

[Columbuseer]

The kid wearing #0 for Glenville plays a bully-ball style of just heading downhill with reckless abandon and hope it either goes in or you get to the FT line. The refs--rightfully I think--declined to bail the kid out when he would go crashing into a pile of players in the lane. He was frequently out of control, and I think the refs were correct not to reward that. But I do suspect that Glenville fans, players, and announcers, have gotten used to officiating crews falling for that gambit and giving the kid a bunch of free throws, so when an officiating crew decided that wasn't going to fly, it prompted some comments (particularly from the angry fan who could be heard loudly and crystal clearly on the broadcast all game long).

All in all, not a pretty one for WLU. And as I said above, I worry that guts will only get you so far as you head down the stretch--WLU is going to have to figure out how to play consistently good basketball and be less streaky and unpredictable (one example: we never know which Autry we're going to get--the hitting threes and competing on D version or the swinging gate who throws up bricks version). Gotta get consistent heading into the tough part of the season.

Good points. That inconsistency is making games much closer than needed.