West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Scrub]

Could be that we need to develop an, duh-duh-duuuuhhh, INSIDE GAME!!! I know, I know, I've advocated for that in years past and have been roundly critisized by the "Thats NOT WLU Style basketball" crowd (same crowd that said that there where no bigs that where going to come to WLU and even if they did, they would HAVE to play like guards). Well, however we got all these bigs, we got them. Why not follow the "If life gives you lemons...make lemonade" philosophy? And MAYBE having a legit inside game might loosen up the 3-point defense so our spot-up 3-point shooters whould have more opportunities to shoot without a defender within 6 feet of them.

You might ultimately get your wish under Lamberti's watch, Boat.

A. He seems to want to recruit bigger guys than Howlett or Crutch ever did (at least at their time at WLU). WLU's current roster has more guys over 6'5" than any of Crutch's or Howlett's teams ever did.

B. If you watch Lamberti's postgame pressers (that they do after home games here at the ASRC), he is frequently going straight to the Points in the Paint stat to identify the success or failure of his team. He wants to win the PIP stat and he wants to downplay overtaking the 3-ball (another of his bugaboos in the postgame pressers is pointing out that the team is settling for too many threes).

So if Lamberti gets to continue to put his own spin on "The System" you may yet get to see the more well-developed inside game you're looking for. Now, it won't come with traditional post players with bodies like Damir Brooks of IUP or anything like that, but you may still get an emphasis on paint production that was seemingly not a point of emphasis for Howlett.

[Columbuseer]

FYI
Dec 15, 2025 West Liberty National Rankings out of 304 D2 teams

Top Ten Ranking
#3 Turnover Margin 10.1
#3 Turnovers Forced per game 23
#5 Steals per game 14.4
#6 Three Point Attempts per game 32.3
#7 Bench Points per game 41.57
#9 Scoring Offense 94.4
#10 Three Pointers per game 11.0

Ranking Ten Through 30 - 90th to 97th Percentile
#21 Fast Break Points 17.71
#25 Assist to Turnover Ratio 1.47

Ranking 30 through 60 - 80th Percentile
#48 Effective FG Percentage 55.5%


#68 Field Goal Percentage 47.80%¾
#101 Free Throw Percentage 72.6%
#108 Three Point Percentage Defense 31.4
#122 Turnovers per game 12.9
#125 Rebounds Offensive per game 11.57
#130 Free Throws Made per game 15.1
#132 Three Point Percentage 34.07
#149 Free Throw Attempts per game 20.9
#162 Rebounds Defensive per game 25

[boatcapt]

FYI
I looked at the category leaders for wlu in 3FG %
I was surprised to see 4 players shooting over 40% for the season to date with at least 20 attempts.
The team stat hides this fact because 103 3FG attempts have been taken by players shooting under 30% while 101 attempts have been taken by those shooting 40% or higher.
They are not bad shooters taking threes at under 30%. IMHO, they are not in perfect shooting position and/or the opponent is closer than 6 feet.

The top three 3-point shot takers (Muldowney, Williams and Hurray) have taken 38% of the 3-point shots. Problem is that each are shooting below .300 (Muldowney .292, Williams .244, Hurray .290 collectively .275) while the top three 3-point shooters (Davis, Butler and Montgomery) have taken 26% of the 3-point tries.

I've always been of the opinion that what separates an average 3-point shooter from an elite one is their ability to shoot off-platform and with a hand in their face...The number of .400 3-point shooters goes up dramatically when the player can pick his spot, set his feet, elivate perfectly and get perfect ball rotation without some silly defender interfearing with the shooters slow. We where lead to believe that we had seven elite level 3-point shooters this season.

West Liberty has a 3-point shooting problem.

Now, does that mean that WLU is a bad team? Certainly not. But they do need to identify the problem and address it. Could be as simple as let's have our .400 shooters take more shots than our sub .300 shooters. Could be that we need to develop an, duh-duh-duuuuhhh, INSIDE GAME!!! I know, I know, I've advocated for that in years past and have been roundly critisized by the "Thats NOT WLU Style basketball" crowd (same crowd that said that there where no bigs that where going to come to WLU and even if they did, they would HAVE to play like guards). Well, however we got all these bigs, we got them. Why not follow the "If life gives you lemons...make lemonade" philosophy? And MAYBE having a legit inside game might loosen up the 3-point defense so our spot-up 3-point shooters whould have more opportunities to shoot without a defender within 6 feet of them.

[Columbuseer]

FYI
I looked at the category leaders for wlu in 3FG %
I was surprised to see 4 players shooting over 40% for the season to date with at least 20 attempts.
The team stat hides this fact because 103 3FG attempts have been taken by players shooting under 30% while 101 attempts have been taken by those shooting 40% or higher.
They are not bad shooters taking threes at under 30%. IMHO, they are not in perfect shooting position and/or the opponent is closer than 6 feet.

[Columbuseer]

That's actually just "Hilltopper of the Week" (an internal "award" given by the SID I assume), not MEC player of the week (which went to co-awardees at Wheeling & Frostburg). And given that the wrestling team was the only other Hilltopper team even competing this week, competition wouldn't have been that strong for "Hilltopper of the Week." (It's also curious that Carter Winegardner was the actual MEC Wrestler of the Week, but didn't rate well enough to be the internal "Hilltopper of the Week"). I mean, I'm glad Cam is starting to come into his own, but he's not yet to legit award level.

Good points, as always Scrub. I should have been more clear. He seemed to lead the way in challenging the talented bigs of Lubbock Christian in driving to the rim. Once he started, it seemed like our bigs followed his lead and quit settling for open threes.
He has improved so much! The future is bright for him!

[Scrub]

Fyi
freshman Cameron Williams player of the week
https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...-williams.aspx

That's actually just "Hilltopper of the Week" (an internal "award" given by the SID I assume), not MEC player of the week (which went to co-awardees at Wheeling & Frostburg). And given that the wrestling team was the only other Hilltopper team even competing this week, competition wouldn't have been that strong for "Hilltopper of the Week." (It's also curious that Carter Winegardner was the actual MEC Wrestler of the Week, but didn't rate well enough to be the internal "Hilltopper of the Week"). I mean, I'm glad Cam is starting to come into his own, but he's not yet to legit award level.

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
freshman Cameron Williams player of the week
https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...-williams.aspx

[Columbuseer]

As I said above, I didn't watch the game (I was simply tracking on live stats while otherwise disposed).

But as the game neared its end, I kept wondering which guy on this current edition of the Hilltopper team would be the one who wants the ball in a one-possession, do-or-die type of situation. WLU has often had "a dude" who would take over in those situations (Bonifant, Butler, Monteroso, Ced Harris, etc.). I kept watching the live stats to see who was gonna demand the ball. And if the live stats play-by-play was correctly entered by the statistician, it looked like it was Cam Williams with the ball in his hand for that final possession (and it's possible it was forced into his hands by quality defense).

Now, I'm of two minds about that if that's the case. On one hand, I applaud the freshman for having confidence in his abilities and trying to step up when called upon to do so (and it ultimately worked out on that possession with Abdullah tipping in Cam's missed drive with 7 seconds to go). But on the other hand, it's a bit scary that in a do-or-die possession it was a freshman with exactly 9 games under his collegiate belt who had the ball. In March, I want and hope that the young guys will continue to feel comfortable and confident to step up when called upon, but I also hope WLU figures out who's gonna be "the dude" when a do-or-die possession presents itself and someone has to take charge and get a bucket.

I watched the game. Williams has been improving with every scrimmage and game. Montgomery, Williams and Davis have adjusted to the speed of the college game. None are afraid to take the last shot. Montgomery came within 2 of the alltime single game steals record a few games ago.
Davis is always in very good catch and shoot position when he receives the pass in the corner,

In this game, Lattos and Muldowney had very strong opponents although Muldowney wisely gave up on the open look three in the second half and started attacking the rim with success. It seemed like Williams had a relative matchup advantage. He was getting fouled and was 10-11 ft.
landon butler hit key shots too.
effective fg %
L. Butler 78%
lattos 67%
Abdullah 64% his fadeaway was deadly, finally.
hurray 64%
Montgomery 62%
Needless to say, we have quality depth.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I know he can bowl (and, I guess, do TMobile commercials), but can The Dude shoot the rock?

It's a complex case.

[Scrub]

The dude abides

I know he can bowl (and, I guess, do TMobile commercials), but can The Dude shoot the rock?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

As I said above, I didn't watch the game (I was simply tracking on live stats while otherwise disposed).

But as the game neared its end, I kept wondering which guy on this current edition of the Hilltopper team would be the one who wants the ball in a one-possession, do-or-die type of situation. WLU has often had "a dude" who would take over in those situations (Bonifant, Butler, Monteroso, Ced Harris, etc.). I kept watching the live stats to see who was gonna demand the ball. And if the live stats play-by-play was correctly entered by the statistician, it looked like it was Cam Williams with the ball in his hand for that final possession (and it's possible it was forced into his hands by quality defense).

Now, I'm of two minds about that if that's the case. On one hand, I applaud the freshman for having confidence in his abilities and trying to step up when called upon to do so (and it ultimately worked out on that possession with Abdullah tipping in Cam's missed drive with 7 seconds to go). But on the other hand, it's a bit scary that in a do-or-die possession it was a freshman with exactly 9 games under his collegiate belt who had the ball. In March, I want and hope that the young guys will continue to feel comfortable and confident to step up when called upon, but I also hope WLU figures out who's gonna be "the dude" when a do-or-die possession presents itself and someone has to take charge and get a bucket.

The dude abides

[Scrub]

The three freshmen are making solid contributions, which is very unusual for WLU freshmen.

As I said above, I didn't watch the game (I was simply tracking on live stats while otherwise disposed).

But as the game neared its end, I kept wondering which guy on this current edition of the Hilltopper team would be the one who wants the ball in a one-possession, do-or-die type of situation. WLU has often had "a dude" who would take over in those situations (Bonifant, Butler, Monteroso, Ced Harris, etc.). I kept watching the live stats to see who was gonna demand the ball. And if the live stats play-by-play was correctly entered by the statistician, it looked like it was Cam Williams with the ball in his hand for that final possession (and it's possible it was forced into his hands by quality defense).

Now, I'm of two minds about that if that's the case. On one hand, I applaud the freshman for having confidence in his abilities and trying to step up when called upon to do so (and it ultimately worked out on that possession with Abdullah tipping in Cam's missed drive with 7 seconds to go). But on the other hand, it's a bit scary that in a do-or-die possession it was a freshman with exactly 9 games under his collegiate belt who had the ball. In March, I want and hope that the young guys will continue to feel comfortable and confident to step up when called upon, but I also hope WLU figures out who's gonna be "the dude" when a do-or-die possession presents itself and someone has to take charge and get a bucket.

[Scrub]

Lubbock Christian is one of best teams I have seen recently. 4 ex d1 players and all conf transfer from fort Lewis. Very well coached and unselfish.

this game will help us in March.

And I believe the kid from Fr. Lewis actually started out at Colorado with a stop at Ft. Lewis on his way to Lubbock.

[Columbuseer]

A Dummy’s Observations on WLU vs Lubbock Christian’s (LC) 12/21/25 WLU 87 – LC 88

Lubbock Christian (LC) Game Plan

LC is a Texas school with 1,700 students. LC comes into the WLU game at 11-2 and ranked #7 in D2. They are very well coached, are unselfish and have a talented, tall, fundamentally sound, veteran inside game with outstanding rebounding.

They have four ex-D1 players coming from Univ. Texas, LaSalle, San Francisco and Longwood. They also have several non-U.S. players. They are excellent FG shooters at 49.9%. Five players average in double figures, led by Miller at 22 ppg (an all-conference player last year at Fort Lewis) and Pusateri (D1 San Francisco transfer) at 15 ppg. They make 40% of threes, making an average of 9 per game. They only commit about 12 turnovers per game and average 15 assists. Their vulnerability is depth, as only 6 players average over 10 minutes a game.

The LC strategy seemed to be:

• PASSED – In the half-court offense, attack WLU inside with their excellent interior passing game and great scorers.

• PASSED – Limit WLU second shots. LC dominated both offensive and defensive boards.

• PASSED– Trust their half-court offense. When they broke the press, they often refrained from attacking the rim in transition.

• PASSED – Shoot their average FG %. LC shot 53%, better than their 49% average. They were deadly from 10 feet and closer. LC shot 43% 3FG (avg 40%) in the first half, but cratered to 16% in the second half (probably due to fatigue).

• FAILED –Keep their composure against the WLU pressure. LC faltered against the WLU pressure with 21 turnovers. Their fatigue and turnovers allowed WLU to to come back and take the lead in the second half.

Keys to the WLU Game

WLU was going to play at a fast pace with extreme defensive pressure to exploit the short LC bench. On offense, LC was forcing WLU to take threes, and WLU’s offensive rating was a good 113 (points per 100 possessions) compared to just 109 for LC. This is one of those games where technical fouls gave LC more possessions and points, resulting in a narrow win. WLU’s effective shooting % was 49% to 56% for LC, due to LC’s strong inside game. Their true shooting % was 52% for WLU to 59% for LC (this stat takes in account FT shooting). For the game, WLU shot a very subpar 38% FG and 30% 3FG. WLU had a strong 2nd half shooting, averaging 50% FG, as they were wearing down the LC defense.

WLU played with great effort, subbing frequently, and putting severe mental stress on LC. LC fatigue resulted in turnovers and made them a step slow on defense, especially in the 2nd half.

• IMHO, the difference in the game was the great rebounding and inside game of LC. It barely offset West Liberty’s pressure, which caused extreme mental fatigue on LC. The rebounding advantage plus three technical fouls on WLU made the difference.

• WLU has quality depth. Four players shot 50% or greater from three – Abdullah 1-1, L. Butler 3-5, Hurray 1-2 and Davis 1-2. The three freshmen are making solid contributions, which is very unusual for WLU freshmen.

• In the second half, WLU was much more confident in attacking the rim, which helped them overcome a double-digit deficit and actually take the lead.

• WLU shot an outstanding 13-16 for 81% Free Throws.

• WLU only had 5 turnovers and an incredible 3.2 assist to turnover ratio

Areas for Improvement for WLU

• This was a valuable learning experience for WLU, as Lubbock Christian is a talented, very well-coached, legitimate top-10 team and emphasized strong rebounding, with an excellent inside scoring and passing game. It is a different style and player profile than what one normally faces in the Mountain East. It will pay dividends in helping WLU improve rebounding and team interior half-court defense.

• WLU needs to avoid the technical fouls, as it can make a difference in a close game.

[Columbuseer]

That's totally fair. I would argue that Angelo is a top-tier team as well, but I take your point. The elite shooters aren't here this year.

But I would say I'm encouraged by the improved performance (despite the lack of 3-point prowess) against these kinds of teams. These are the sorts of matchups you're more likely to face in March, so I do think WLU has shown some progress in the last month, and I hope more progress is yet to come.

But you're right that they'd look a lot different if they had a 3-point ace to go with the other pieces. They don't even need a Seger Bonifant or Zach Rasile. I'd settle for an Eric Meininger, who always seemed to be able to be counted on for a 3 in a big spot. I know Lamberti downplays the 3 in this system (perhaps somewhat differently than how Crutch or Howlett ran it) and wants his guys to shoot fewer of them, but a Meininger- or Zac Grossenbacher-type who always seemed to hit in a big spot would be nice to have around.

Mature, intelligent points scrub. I watched one half of wv Wesleyan game and graded every three on the following criteria:
1. was the defender at least 6 feet away when the ball was released?
2. Was shooter stationary and in shooting position when receiving the pass?

when these 2 criteria were met, wlu shot 50% from three.

we have great shooters, but they underestimate difficulty of 3 pt shot when making adjustments in mid shot.
the offense has to get more wide open looks. We generally get more of them when opponent fatigue slows close outs on the three in the second half.

Lubbock Christian is one of best teams I have seen recently. 4 ex d1 players and all conf transfer from fort Lewis. Very well coached and unselfish.

this game will help us in March.