West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
mountaineast.tv added almost all of the missing start of UC game. Now two streams. It captured the rapid fire turnovers that led wlu back from 20-7 deficit.

Part 1
https://mountaineast.tv/?B=1942543

Part 2
https://mountaineast.tv/?B=1383927

[Columbuseer]

Wlu #11
https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...p-25-poll.aspx

[Scrub]

Oof--that was ugly.

I hate to admit (because I don't want a nice Freshman to start getting any portal-inspired ideas) that the absence of Tinsley was deeply felt yesterday. He's a difference maker for sure. I hope he was only out due to illness and not injury. Dressing 9 in this system is a tricky gambit.

The most troubling thing from last night's slop-fest was the lack of assists. The ball just wasn't moving. The shooting was subpar, sure. But a ball that's moving quickly and thus opening up gaps can easily offset a cold shooting performance by creating higher percentage looks. Seemed like the Toppers were content with mediocre looks last night and the ball just wasn't moving how we expect.

[boatcapt]

Two steps forward...two steps back all year with this team. Just when you think they've finally figured it out, they do this and you realize they haven't figured anything out. But at least they are winning sooo...at least there's that

[Columbuseer]

A Dummy’s Observations on WLU at DE 2/5/25 - WLU 78 DE 66

Davis & Elkins (DE) Game Plan
DE is an athletic team that also has three players shooting over 40% from three. As a team, DE averages 31.8% from three and 43.8% FG % and 68% FT %. DE has 3 players that average approximately in double figures and average about 74 points a game. They average about 15 turnovers a game. They are missing an all MEC player in Sam Rolle IV. They play fourteen players at least 14 minutes a game, so they must trust their depth to be competitive.

The DE strategy seemed to be:

• PASSED – This is a common strategy for most of the WLU opponents. Avoid getting into a fast-paced game with WLU and leverage DE’s inside and outside strength. DE only had 7 fast break points and 2 points off WLU’s 6 turnovers. DE scored 32 points in the paint,18 points from three and 4-10 from Free Throws.
• PASSED– Keep WLU off the offensive glass. The average offensive rebounding % in D1 college basketball is 28%. DE had an outstanding 39% offensive rebounding percentage. WLU had a subpar 24% offensive rebounding percentage.
• PASSED– Win the rebounding battle. The college average is a 72% defensive rebounding rate. WLU was a subpar 61% of defensive rebounds compared to a good 75% for DE.
• PASSED– Shoot at their average from three. Opponents have to have a good shooting night versus WLU. DE shot 33% (6-18) from three, above their average of 31.8%.
• PASSED – Defend the 3-point shot from WLU. WLU made 9-29 threes (31%), which is below average.
• FAILED – Mitigate the effects of fatigue. DE actually had a decent fatigue mitigation plan and tried to rest their players. DE played 9 players 15 minutes or more. No one played more than 30 mins (Silva) with Gilliam the only other player over 25 minutes. However, IMHO DE played their key players too long before resting them - Silva (#23) played over 5 minutes followed by just an 80 second rest, and then played 7 minutes before subbing out in first half. Jenkins (#11) also played too long without a break and committed 6 turnovers. DE’s coach had to sit some of his starters for lengthy periods in the second half because they were just committing too many turnovers. It was a difficult situation for the coach.
• FAILED- Draw fouls and get to the Free-Throw line - DE caused 15 WLU fouls, but shot a horrendous 40% (4-10) foul shots. I suspect one cause was fatigue. DE committed 20 fouls, resulting in 71% (17-24) free-throws for WLU.
• FAILED – Take care of the ball and avoid turnovers. DE had 20 turnovers, of which 14 were in the first half. WLU forced 7 steals on 14 DE turnovers, resulting in 19 points.


Comments on the WLU Victory

Continuing on the theme from the last few games, there were far more combinations of players on the court beyond just the two platoons.
First Shift of each half: D’Augustino, Woodward, Harper, Spadafora and Dragas
Nine WLU players played 10 or more minutes with the most minutes recorded by Harper (31 minutes), Spadafora (30 minutes), D’Augustino (29 minutes), and Woodward (29 minutes). Tinsley was not available to play, which resulted in his teammates having to play more minutes.
After D’Augustino’s 31-point outburst against UC, it appears that opponents are doubling him when he takes the ball inside. Opponents would prefer Shuler and D’Augustino take the three rather than give them a lane to the rim.

Keys to Victory

• This game was an illustration of how the WLU style provides a large margin of error, such as when they are having a subpar night shooting and rebounding.
• WLU committed only 6 turnovers on 9% of possessions (which is elite, as typical D1 is 15 to 20%), while forcing 20 turnovers that resulted in 19 WLU points.
• WLU made 17 foul shots to only 4 for DE. WLU reduced their fouling of players in the act of shooting.
• Dragas, Clanet, and Autrey hit key threes, to partially compensate for an overall subpar offensive night, with an offensive efficiency of 111 (90th percentile in D1 is 113), well below the WLU average of 116.
• WLU played great defense, limiting DE to 91 offensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions).
• WLU was impressive in limiting DE to just 0.33 points per turnover.
• Despite a subpar number of assists, WLU had a good assist to turnover ratio of 1.83, compared to 0.60 for DE (which reflected good WLU defense).
• WLU had an Effective Possession Ratio (EPR) of 1.04, which is very good, while DE was 0.89. It was limited by the excellent defensive rebounding by DE. For comparison, the 90th percentile EPR for D1 is .993. [Effective Possession Ratio (EPR = (Possessions + Off. Rebounds - Turnovers) / Possessions)]

Areas for Improvement for WLU
• DE did a great job of blocking out on the boards. WLU needs to anticipate the shot earlier and react quickly to get in position for the offensive rebound. Some players are doing these steps now, but more players need to step up.
• WLU did not move the ball as efficiently as they did against UC, which resulted in fewer assists.

[Columbuseer]

A Dummy’s Observations on WLU vs WV Wesleyan 2/8/25: WLU 113 – WV Wesleyan 61

Wv Wesleyan (WVW) Game Plan
WVW has 2 good three-point shooters in #1 Mirhosseini (17 ppg) and #3 Batchelor (13 ppg). Ovia is 6-9 and very athletic (#23), as is 6-8 Crosby (#5). However, they have little talented depth, playing 6 players over 25 minutes a game. As a team, WVW averages a good 36.6% from three and 44.2% FG % and 72% FT %. WVW has 5 players that average over 9 points and the team averages about 72 points a game. They average about 15 turnovers and about 12 assists a game.

This is a game that WLU should easily win, but the challenge is for WLU to play to their standard regardless of the competition’s won-loss record, for they have learned the hard way that on a given night even inferior teams can defeat them.

The WVW strategy seemed to be:

• PASSED– Shoot at their average from three. Opponents must have a good shooting night versus WLU. WVW shot 44.4% (8-18) from three, above their average of 36.6%, mainly due to Batchelor, who was 62% (5-8) from three. However, the WLU defense limited their three-point attempts by disrupting their offense, which limited the time WVW had to get Batchelor open.
• PASSED– Keep WLU off the offensive glass. However, this was a hollow victory, for WLU was shooting so well that there were relatively few offensive rebounds. The average offensive rebounding % in D1 college basketball is 28%. WVW had 32 % offensive rebounding percentage. WLU had a subpar 26% offensive rebounding percentage.
• PASSED– Win the rebounding battle. However, it was close as WLU actually outrebounded WVW 32-29. The college average is a 72% defensive rebounding rate. WLU got 68% of defensive rebounds compared to a good 74% for WVW.
• FAILED– This is a common strategy for most of WLU opponents. Avoid getting into a fast-paced game with WLU and leverage WVW’s inside and outside strength. WVW had 0 fast break points and 2 points off WLU’s 6 turnovers. WVW scored 28 points in the paint, 24 points (8-18) from three and 5-6 from Free Throws. They failed because WLU sped them up, making them play faster than they wanted, often because WVW only had about 15 seconds to run their offense in the face of the harassing WLU pressure.
• FAILED– Defend the 3-point shot from WLU. WLU made 14-30 threes (46.7%), which is far above their average of 35%.
• FAILED – Mitigate the effects of fatigue. WVW attempted a fatigue mitigation plan, playing 9 players 11 minutes or more. No one played more than 30 mins (Batchelor) with 3 other players over 26 minutes. However, IMHO WVW played their key players too long before resting them. It was obvious that some of their players were gassed before they took them out. For example, in the first half, Mirhosseini played nearly 10 minutes followed by just a 57-second rest. Batchelor played nearly 8 minutes before subbing out. The problem with this approach is that players never get their legs back even after halftime. WVW was tired just 3 minutes into the second half. Mirhosseini, a point guard, committed 6 turnovers and Crosby 4 turnovers.
• FAILED- Draw fouls and get to the Free-Throw line - WVW caused only 9 WLU fouls and shot 6 free throws. WVW committed only 10 fouls, for they were too tired to get close enough to foul.
• FAILED – Take care of the ball and avoid turnovers. WVW had 19 turnovers, of which 14 were steals, resulting in 28 points for WLU.

Comments on the WLU Victory

Continuing on the theme from the last few games, there were far more combinations of players on the court beyond just the two platoons.

First Shift of each half: D’Augustino, Woodward, Harper, Spadafora and Dragas

Ten WLU players played 19 or more minutes, with no one playing over 21 minutes. The offense was extremely efficient, 66% FG, 47% 3FG, and 90% FT., with only 6 turnovers. The shooting efficiency was an incredible 76%. The 90th percentile for D1 is 56%.

Keys to Victory

• This game was an illustration of the potential of the WLU style, when everyone is dialed in and playing with great effort. They had 33 assists on 45 made goals, which is an unheard-of 74%. The 90th percentile for D1 is 59%. WLU had an astounding 5.5 assist to turnover ratio, where 2.0 is considered excellent for a point guard! The 90th percentile for D1 is 1.48.
• WLU committed only 6 turnovers on 8% of possessions (which is elite, as typical D1 is 15 to 20%), while forcing 19 turnovers that resulted in 28 WLU points.
• Many players were shooting at an elite level from three – Dragas (4-5 80%), Autrey (4-6 67%), Harper (1-2 50%), and D’Augustino (1-2 50%). WLU had an incredible offensive efficiency of 153 (90th percentile in D1 is 113), well above the WLU average of 118. The last time that I remember such a high offensive efficiency was at King College in Bristol quite a few years ago.
• WLU played great defense, limiting WVW to 85 offensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions). They were forcing them into desperation shots late in the shot clock.

Areas for Improvement for WLU

• The key is to maintain this level of intensity for the remainder of the season.
• Understandable when one is leading by 55 points, but play got kind of sloppy the last 5 minutes.

[Layton]

Is Vinskovich hurt? Had high hopes for her out of high school

[Scrub]

Is Vinskovich hurt? Had high hopes for her out of high school

Yes--second straight year she's been battling injuries. And based on the various kinds of casts/braces she can be seen with on the sidelines, it seems like it's been a couple of different kinds of injuries (some lower body, some upper body). A real shame that she hasn't been able to get on the court.

[Columbuseer]

FYI

Feb 11 2025 West Liberty National Rankings out of 304 D2 teams

Top Ten Ranking
#2 Assists per game 21.3 (WLU style teams are #1,2,3, and 19)
#2 Turnover Margin 7.7 (WLU style teams are #1,2,15, 16, and 24)
# 3 Assist to Turnover Ratio 1.94 (WLU style teams are #1,3,19, 101, and 142)
#4 Scoring Offense 96.5 (WLU style teams are #1,2,4,5, and 8)
#5 Fast Break Points 21.10 (WLU style teams are #3,4,5, and 8)
#6 Three Point Attempts per game 30.8 (WLU style teams are #1,6,60, and 101)
#7 Three Pointers per game 11.0 (WLU style teams are #1,7,58 and 86)
#9 Winning Percentage 86.4% (WLU style teams are #4,9,33, 58, and 102)

Ranking Ten Through 30 - 90th to 97th Percentile
#11 Scoring Margin 13 (WLU style teams are #1,11,17, 64, and 92)
#15 Turnovers Forced per game 18.67 (WLU style teams are #2,3,11, 15, and 22)
#15 Bench Points per game 33.90 (WLU style teams are #1,15,40,68, and 91 )
#28 Steals per game 9.8 (WLU style teams are #2,7,8, 24, and 28)

Ranking 30 through 60 - 80th Percentile
#34 Effective FG Percentage 55.6% (WLU style teams are #7,10,34,120, and 130)
#34 Free Throws Made per game 16.6 (WLU style teams are #1,7,10,34, and 44)
#36 Turnovers per game 11.0 (WLU style teams are #30,36,203, 226, and 253)
#41 Three Point Percentage Defense 31.2 (WLU style teams are #41,94,228,234, and 271)
#44 Free Throw Attempts per game 22.4 (WLU style teams are #2,15,25,26, and 44)
#45 Field Goal Percentage 47.98% (WLU style teams are #2,42,45,57, and 110)

Other Rankings
#86 Free Throw Percentage 73.89% (WLU style teams are #17,40,86,94, and 223)
#89 Three Point Percentage 35.70 (WLU style teams are #17,73,89, and 105)
#96 Rebounds Offensive per game 11.33 (WLU style teams are #5,10,13,39,and 96)
#137 Rebounds Defensive per game 25.24 (WLU style teams are #10,86,137,152, and 256)

[Topper_Hopper]

Frostburg State shoots 14 for 27 (52%) from three.....

And loses the game by 27.

[Scrub]

Frostburg State shoots 14 for 27 (52%) from three.....

And loses the game by 27.

They absolutely couldn't miss in the first half. Didn't matter if the shot were from 2 feet away or 30 feet away--everything they threw up in the first half went in. I figured that was unsustainable, but still.

Former women's coach Lynn Ullom always did say that players, for whatever reason, preferred to shoot toward the video board end of the arena. I bet if you track WLU shooting stats, you might find that the Hilltoppers shoot a better percentage in the second half (when they get to shoot in their preferred end).

But, man, Frostburg also liked shooting at that end in the first half yesterday.

[Columbuseer]

A Dummy’s Observations on WLU at Frostburg State 2/12/25 WLU 129 Frostburg 102

Frostburg State (FB) Game Plan
FB has several talented, athletic 1-on-1 scorers in Baker, Baptiste, and Freeman who average 19 points,12 points, and 11 points, respectively. Sondberg is a solid player at 9.9 points. However, they do not have much quality depth.

The FB strategy seemed to be:
• PASSED – Exert full court pressure and play a fast-paced up-and-down the court game, which was successful in their last meeting. But it is a very risky strategy with limited depth, for it puts WLU in a familiar open gym situation.
• PASSED - Attack the rim on offense, both in half court and when breaking the press in transition. Look also for the open three point shot. Especially in the first half, WLU was not staying in front of their man, allowing FB to get to the rim for easy shots or 2-shot foul shots, or kick the ball for open threes.
• PASSED – Shoot at their average from three. They shot incredibly well as a team. Here are some stats for the game, with season stats shown in parentheses:

o FB Team FG% 1st half 58.8%, 2nd half 48.4%, game 53.8% (40.0%)
o FB Team 3PT% 1st half 9-14 64.33%, 2nd half 5-13 38.5%, game 14-27 51.9% (30.5%)
o FB Freeman 3FG 4-5 80% (41.9%)
o FB Sondberg 3FG 4-7 57% (32.2%)
o FB Bapiste 3FG 2-4 50% (29.8%)
o FB Baker 1-4 25% (24.8%), but Baker was handful on 2-point shots, shooting 7-13 54% (43.3%)

• FAILED –Force WLU into turnovers. Unlike the first meeting, FB only forced 8 turnovers.
• FAILED– Win the rebounding battle. WLU outrebounded FB 45 to 35. The D1 average is a 72% defensive rebounding rate. WLU got an outstanding 76% of defensive rebounds compared to a subpar 59% for FB.
• FAILED – Try to get WLU taller players in foul trouble. Harper had 2 fouls and Woodward 3.
• FAILED – Keep WLU off the offensive glass. WLU garnered an outstanding 41% of potential offensive rebounds. The 90th percentile in D1 is 33%.
• FAILED– Draw fouls and get to the FT line. FB caused 19 WLU fouls and shot 18-25 (72%) foul shots. However, FB also committed 19 fouls and WLU was 26-27 (96%) foul shots
• FAILED – Defend the 3-pt shot from WLU. WLU was getting wide open looks, but shot horrendously early in the first half and 4-17 (23.5%) for the entire first half. In the second half, WLU shot 7-10 for 36.8%, and 11-36 30.6% for the game. In the second half, WLU started to show a preference for the inside game, for they sensed FB was tired and could not stay in front of them, shooting 59.9% FG in the second half and 50% for the game.
• FAILED – Take care of the ball and avoid getting sped up in their game. FB had 26 turnovers, which led to 30 WLU points.

Comments on the WLU victory
For 25 minutes, fans wondered if Frostburg had brought another perfect storm from their location that is renowned for severe weather. FB was making nearly every shot. Even though WLU forced 5 turnovers in the first two minutes, the goal had a lid on it. Nothing was going in for WLU. By the 16-minute mark, FB had a 7-point lead. WLU fought back, but FB had a 6-point lead at end of the 1st half.
However, the FB coach was rolling the dice with extended playing time for his starters in the first half.

• Baker played 5.5 minutes, rested for 1.1 minutes, then he played the remining 13 minutes of the first half.
• Freeman played 3.25 minutes, rested for 2 minutes, played for 5 minutes, rested for 1 minute, played 4 minutes, rested about a minute, then played the remaining 3+ minutes.
• Baptiste played 3.5 minutes, rested for 1.75 minutes, played 6.5 minutes, rested for 2.8 minutes, then played the last 5 minutes of the half.

IMHO, the issue is the duration of play of the best FB players before a break. If one plays too long, one never fully recovers and the effects of fatigue become apparent in the second half.

On the other hand, WLU has grown to the point where there is little gap between player 1 and player 10 on the roster. WLU was subbing 5 in, 5 out about every 3 minutes. They were keeping continuous, incredible pressure on FB.

The Start of the FB Collapse
In the second half, the FB coach subbed out Baptiste and Freeman at 15:24, leading 68-63.

IMHO, at 15:02 in the second half is when the fatigue and the lack of quality depth reached a tipping point.

15:02 FB led 68-66
14:56 FB timeout to avoid 5 second call on inbounds.
14:51 RB turnover in backcourt followed by WLU score 68-68
14:39 FB turnover in backcourt WLU leads 70-68
14:22 FB turnover in backcourt WLU leads 73-68
14:09 FB turnover in backcourt WLU leads 76-68
13:55 FB turnover in backcourt WLU leads 78-68
13:55 FB calls a 30 second time out

Now the mental and physical fatigue is obvious, as WLU sends fresh players into the fray every 3 minutes. WLU is easily driving to the rim for layups and controlling the boards.
At 11:04 WLU leads 89-75.
At 9:25 WLU leads 99-79
At 4:21 WLU leads by 32 at 119-87.
At 2:55 WLU peaks at 35-point lead at 123-88 before calling off the dogs.

Final Score 129-102.

Keys to Victory
This game reminded me of the comments on Joe Mazulla on NBA TV after winning the NBA championship last June. He credited West Liberty for influencing his coaching. He said that the WLU style provides such a huge margin for error that it was almost impossible to beat them. In this game, FB was shooting the ball incredibly well and WLU was missing open look shots. Yet the pressure kept forcing turnovers and WLU kept making foul shots and attacking the boards, playing with incredible intensity. The 5-in, 5-out lineup changes created fatigue that caused FB game plan to collapse.

WLU showed tremendous heart and effort:
• Everyone was playing with great effort. They had 28 assists on 45 made goals, which is an outstanding 61%. The 90th percentile for D1 is 59%. WLU had an astounding 3.5 assist to turnover ratio, where 2.0 is considered excellent for a point guard! The 90th percentile for D1 is 1.48.
• WLU committed only 8 turnovers on 9% of possessions (which is elite, as typical D1 is 15 to 20%), while forcing 26 turnovers that resulted in 30 WLU points.
• WLU dominated the rebounding effort, which was a great improvement from their last meeting.
• WLU filled their lanes in transition, resulting in many easy scores inside.
• WLU offset the shooting disparity by:

o Tremendous effort and pressure on FB, forcing 26 FB turnovers, of which 9 were steals, resulting in 30 points from turnovers.
o Rapid platooning kept the WLU players fresh while wearing down FB.
o I had never seen a team turn the ball over 5 times in succession before getting the ball over half court. That was impressive WLU pressure and effort.

Areas for Improvement for WLU
• They need to stay in front of their man in the 1-on-1 game in half court
• They need to sense when the opponent is hunting a foul on dribble drives and allow them to take a difficult inside shot and refrain from fouling.
 

[Columbuseer]

Hopefully, the high level of wlu play will continue against Fairmont.
offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) last 2 games:
vs wv wesleyan: 153
vs Frostburg 139

wlu season rating is now 119
In comparison, d1 median is 103 and d1 90th percentile is 113.

In 12 minutes 43 seconds, wlu went from a 6-point deficit to a 35-point lead, a turnaround of 41 points versus Frostburg!

[Topper_Hopper]

Great road win. I think the game ball goes to JJ Harper, very efficient on offense. Also, happy to see Kyler convert four key free throws at the end in an otherwise "off" night.

FSU continues to really struggle with our pressure.

[Scrub]

Great road win. I think the game ball goes to JJ Harper, very efficient on offense. Also, happy to see Kyler convert four key free throws at the end in an otherwise "off" night.

FSU continues to really struggle with our pressure.

That second half was bonkers. You're right--HUGE free throws (and ice in the veins) for D'Aug. Great to see Clanet step up and have a big game as well.

It was as though coming out of the half, FSU forgot the game plan. Their slow-down-the-pace plan was working to perfection in the first half, and then they mysteriously lost all discipline and allowed themselves to get sped up in the second half.

Also, that 1-2-2 zone they were running was actually giving WLU fits in the first half, and they went away from it in the second half (until 1-2 possessions when they needed crucial stops down the stretch). Strange decision perhaps.

Big win. Fun game to watch. Great effort from the Toppers.