West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Scrub]

Millersville hammered Gannon once and got hammered by Gannon once.

I suppose one advantage they have is they just played the Jordan Fee version of the system (which is obviously very good). So, they shouldn't have a shock factor.

Here's a nugget nobody has considered: If Millersville were to get past WL, they'd have to play Gannon (highly likely) the next day. Back to back days of playing that pressure. Good luck.

Right. The old adage is that it's very hard to prepare for on one day's notice. But obviously, Millersville has a week to prepare, so WLU has to get past that first one. After that all bets are off.

We've already seen Howlett vs. Fee (sorta) in last year's National Championship game, but there's no telling what the heck will happen if that match-up occurs.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

SOOOO...Which Toppers show up for Millersville? Will it be the can't hit the side of a barn with a banjo Toppers we've seen for much of the last third of the season...Will it be the Toppers that scorched the nets vs Wheeling and in the second half vs Concord...or will it be an oncore of the hero-ball Toppers (haven't seen them since mid season)?

Millersville hammered Gannon once and got hammered by Gannon once.

I suppose one advantage they have is they just played the Jordan Fee version of the system (which is obviously very good). So, they shouldn't have a shock factor.

Here's a nugget nobody has considered: If Millersville were to get past WL, they'd have to play Gannon (highly likely) the next day. Back to back days of playing that pressure. Good luck.

[boatcapt]

SOOOO...Which Toppers show up for Millersville? Will it be the can't hit the side of a barn with a banjo Toppers we've seen for much of the last third of the season...Will it be the Toppers that scorched the nets vs Wheeling and in the second half vs Concord...or will it be an oncore of the hero-ball Toppers (haven't seen them since mid season)?

[Scrub]

Charleston's press break is masterful. They also break it and then play slow (they don't get suckered in to playing the chaos pace).

You can tell they have upperclassmen.

They are so well coached. So many times they could have been suckered into speeding themselves up, and not once did they take the bait. They kept the pace right where they wanted it all game long. Really well coached team and very smart players for buying into what works.

[Scrub]

Did Pankey leave then? One of the two were absent but I couldn’t tell who. One was on the bench the other MIA completely

Pankey redshirted this year obviously. But he hasn't really been around the team at all since Christmas break. That probably signals one of two things. 1. Academic issue (i.e., not allowed to travel with the team due to eligibility), or 2. left the school after Fall Semester. Not sure which it is, but he's been absent from the WLU bench since Decemberish.

Fergus has been around the team, but he's been relegated to garbage time only. Yesterday, for instance, he and the walk-on entered the game at the same time and played the same 2 minutes. To use IUP fans' chosen phrasing, Fergus has been sent to Siberia.

Expect one or both of these players (Pankey & Fergus) to show up in the portal in a week or two.

[Layton]

Contrary to what some advanced stats might say, he really never played at the level his advanced billing said he would.

We'll see if he sticks around but given his declining minutes over the last few weeks, wouldn't be surprised if he is in the portal the day after WLUs season is over.

Did Pankey leave then? One of the two were absent but I couldn’t tell who. One was on the bench the other MIA completely

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Ugly stuff from the Hilltoppers tonight. Hats off to Charleston--they played very strong defense all day. As was mentioned, the refereeing was pretty lousy going both ways--turned the whole thing into a free throw shooting competition, which is just painful to watch. But in the end, this edition of the Hilltoppers have yet to solve the Charleston mystery. Congrats to the Golden Eagles.

But don't rule out a 4th meeting! How many times have the Hilltoppers been bounced from the NCAA tourney by teams they managed to take down in the regular season &/or MEC tourney (WVSU from a few years ago comes to mind). Maybe it'll be the Toppers' turn to play the spoilers when it really counts.

Charleston's press break is masterful. They also break it and then play slow (they don't get suckered in to playing the chaos pace).

You can tell they have upperclassmen.

[boatcapt]

Ugly stuff from the Hilltoppers tonight. Hats off to Charleston--they played very strong defense all day. As was mentioned, the refereeing was pretty lousy going both ways--turned the whole thing into a free throw shooting competition, which is just painful to watch. But in the end, this edition of the Hilltoppers have yet to solve the Charleston mystery. Congrats to the Golden Eagles.

But don't rule out a 4th meeting! How many times have the Hilltoppers been bounced from the NCAA tourney by teams they managed to take down in the regular season &/or MEC tourney (WVSU from a few years ago comes to mind). Maybe it'll be the Toppers' turn to play the spoilers when it really counts.

2016-17 Toppers were defeated by WJU in the first round of the NCAA tourney. This was their 4th meeting of the year and seven days after WLU beat them in the conf tourney after handing conf regular season champ Fairmont their second of three total losses.. Many thought the only team that could nock the Toppers out that year SR1 Championship was WJU and felt the NCAA setup that first round game for just that purpose.

[Scrub]

Ugly stuff from the Hilltoppers tonight. Hats off to Charleston--they played very strong defense all day. As was mentioned, the refereeing was pretty lousy going both ways--turned the whole thing into a free throw shooting competition, which is just painful to watch. But in the end, this edition of the Hilltoppers have yet to solve the Charleston mystery. Congrats to the Golden Eagles.

But don't rule out a 4th meeting! How many times have the Hilltoppers been bounced from the NCAA tourney by teams they managed to take down in the regular season &/or MEC tourney (WVSU from a few years ago comes to mind). Maybe it'll be the Toppers' turn to play the spoilers when it really counts.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Refs are way too involved very boring game to watch

Two of the three were PSAC officials -- the hated GQ and Hair Gel (as known up here).

They ruin every game.

[boatcapt]

What happened to Fergus?

Contrary to what some advanced stats might say, he really never played at the level his advanced billing said he would.

We'll see if he sticks around but given his declining minutes over the last few weeks, wouldn't be surprised if he is in the portal the day after WLUs season is over.

[boatcapt]

Constant refrain over the last third of the season...Poor 3 point shooting, poor 3 point shooting, poor 3 point shooting.

UC with the 10 point 78-68 victory.

[Layton]

Refs are way too involved very boring game to watch

[Layton]

What happened to Fergus?

[Layton]

Negative