West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Congrats Coach Howlett on his 150th victory!
He is 150-24, or 86.2%, a winning % that is #1 among nation's coaches with at least 5 years of experience.

https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...urg-state.aspx

[Columbuseer]

Yet another bad loss for the women

Couple of fundamental concerns.
1. Women are playing too high in their defensive stance. That is why opponents drive by them, for their center of gravity is lower.
2. They did not position defensively to force weekly to drive to her left. Result was 47 points.

[Scrub]

Yet another bad loss for the women

They needed to make a few foul shots down the stretch to seal it and couldn't do it.

In truth, I thought the inbounder crossed the end line on the buzzer beater, but it is what it is. It was Emilee Weekley's night--congrats to her.

But, man, it would have been nice to spoil Weekley's party by making a few free throws and escaping with a win.

[Layton]

Yet another bad loss for the women

[Columbuseer]

Gotta be careful not to look ahead. Tonight is a trap game against a relatively hot Frostburg team, and if WLU starts thinking at all about the date with Fairmont on Saturday, they could get burned in Maryland tonight. Gotta take care of business.

So true. They added a guy who did not play at wlu.
beat wvsu at frostburg.

[Scrub]

Gotta be careful not to look ahead. Tonight is a trap game against a relatively hot Frostburg team, and if WLU starts thinking at all about the date with Fairmont on Saturday, they could get burned in Maryland tonight. Gotta take care of business.

[Columbuseer]

Observations From a Dummy: Concord at WLU 2/11/23 WLU 127 –Concord 79

Summary:
This was a game where WLU played at maximum effort on offense and defense, while shooting incredibly well, far above their average. They also made 79% for their FTs. With 31 assists and only 7 turnovers, WLU can be very challenging to defeat. It was another example of the cumulative effect of extreme pressure on the opponent’s offensive and defensive effectiveness. In addition, every WLU player played for each other, rather than themselves and the box score.
The result was an amazing 151 points per 100 possessions, compared to Concord’s 92 points per 100 possessions.
In addition, WLU set a D2 national record, as 12 players made at least one three-pointer during the game.

Concord Strategy:
• The current template for many teams in the MEC is to recruit tall, long, fast, athletic players, who are great 3-point shooters and excellent 1-on-1 players. Concord is no different. In addition, Concord has a very good coach, who has a history of defeating WLU, especially at Athens. As a result, they can be a very dangerous team, having beaten Fairmont in Athens and having played many teams closely.
• They have several 6-6, athletic guys and an experienced PG in Heller. They have a substantial height advantage over WLU.
• Shoot the 3 effectively. As a team they average a very good 36% from three (35% is considered good for an individual). Two players, Rahama and Heller, average 46% and 43% respectively, which is elite.
• Keep WLU off the offensive glass and win the rebounding battle. Historically, Concord has rebounded extremely well against WLU.
• Be aggressive in attacking the rim when they have a numerical advantage against the press.
• On a switch where smaller WLU guards are defending 6-6 guys, take them to the rim.

Concord had significant success in implementing their strategy, at least in the first 15 minutes of the first half.

• Concord was very effective in attacking the basket after breaking the press. Both teams were shooting about 58% in the first half. WLU was shooting 58% from three to 43% for Concord. However, Concord was getting closer shots at the rim, compared to WLU
• Concord only had 8 turnovers in first half.
• At the 5-minute mark, they were tied 42-42, with 14 lead changes.
• Concord was outstanding on the boards in the first half, outrebounding WLU, approx. 22-13.
• However, Concord had reason to be concerned. When a new WLU platoon entered at 17:32, Concord only subbed one player. They waited another two minutes to 15:40 to sub out 3 players and waited until 15:10 to sub out Rahama for his first break. Less than a minute after they subbed, WLU’s 1st platoon reenters the game at 14:30. This pattern was typical for the game. IMHO, this is too long for Concord to play without rest against WLU. However, it is a trade-off if there is a big drop-off in talent on the bench as indicated by the WLU bench outscoring Concord 27-12 in the first half.
• WLU slightly loosened a tight game for a 58-51 lead at the half.

WLU Observations

• Often, depending on the pace of the first half, the intermission can be just a brief respite from fatigue. At the 15:10 minute mark of the second half, the lead had only grown to 10 at 65-55. However, that is when Concord hit the tipping point in terms of fatigue. The one exception was Rahama for Concord. I was very impressed by his determination and endurance.
o 15-minute mark – 10-point lead
o 10-minute mark - 22-point lead
o 5-minute mark - 35-point lead
o 1-minute mark – 50-point lead
• WLU defended the press break by Concord much better in the second half, sprinting at full speed to prevent the drop-off pass.
• WLU also avoided doubling down low for too long and leaving another opponent open for an easy layup.
• WLU was making the outlet pass after rebounds extremely rapidly. WLU was entering the offense in transition, while two Concord players were yet to cross half-court. High speed transition offense creates chaos, when opponents are out of position or a step slow due to fatigue.
• WLU was getting layups even in the half-court offense and getting run-outs in transition.
• WLU pressure was forcing live ball turnovers. Concord has 21 turnovers for the game, of which 14 were steals (an amazing 67% live ball turnovers).
• WLU was rotating the ball and getting wide open looks. WLU had 31 assists on 48 FGs (65%), with only 7 turnovers, an amazingly low 8% of possessions, compared to 25% for Concord.

Keys to the victory

• All players at WLU were sprinting back on defense, rather than galloping as in some previous games. This shut down Concord’s transition game in the second half.
• WLU was playing up to their standard, not down to the score. Guys were diving on the floor and running down loose balls with a 40-point lead! WLU got many 50-50 balls.
• IMHO, the root cause of the victory was the two-platoon system, which creates physical and mental fatigue. It is a cumulative effect, which eventually reaches a tipping point, resulting in a collapse.
o WLU defense – WLU has 10 players who put incredible pressure on opponents for 40 minutes.
o WLU has 4 shutdown small guards who are also great scorers, who more than compensate for their height disadvantage. When their opponent’s legs get heavy, their quickness allows them to score easily.
o Concord was slow to close out on 3-point shooters in the second half, allowing for non-contested threes. In the second half, 3-point shooting for WLU rose from 53% to 63%. WLU had an effective FG% of 72% for the game.
o Concord’s shooting % cratered in the second half due to fatigue.
o The second platoon exerts incredible pressure, which IMHO has a greater impact on the game than how many points they score.
Areas for Improvement
• Nothing is obvious. There is no perfect game, but WLU played very high-level basketball for 40 minutes.

[Columbuseer]

Bryce Butler named MEC player of the week for the 5th time this season. Congrats Bryce!

https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...ifth-time.aspx

[Columbuseer]

Fans probably recall the horrendous 3pt shooting slump early in the season. Good is 35%, elite is 40%.
Malik was approx. 16% and Bryce was approx 25%.
Now Malik is 36% and Bryce is 42% for the season.
WLU has 5 players over 40% from three and 3 players over 35%.

FyI, for we Crutch cult members who need a fix, Nova SE has 7 players over 40% from three. Team is 40.96% for 5th in D2.

[Columbuseer]

I broke down and looked it up. West Liberty is the first NCAA D2 team with 12 3-point shooters in the same game so they now hold the record but the old record was actually 11. Hillsdale had a regular-season game with 11 players making a three during COVID - the same year WLU beat them in the Sweet 16. UC-San Diego had 11 3-point shooters the year before that. The Division I record is 9, held by multiple teams, while the D3 record is 19, set by Grinnell against one of their bible school buddies.

Thanks for finding the previous record and making the correction. I was repeating what Don Clegg had said during the broadcast regarding the previous record. Perhaps I misunderstood him.

[timbertopper]

Wlu sets national dII record. 12 different players made a three in one game, breaking the old record of 10 (which wlu shared with other schools).
Congrats to WLU on incredible display.
threes 20-35 57%.
31 assists on 48 fgs 65%
effective fg % 72%

I broke down and looked it up. West Liberty is the first NCAA D2 team with 12 3-point shooters in the same game so they now hold the record but the old record was actually 11. Hillsdale had a regular-season game with 11 players making a three during COVID - the same year WLU beat them in the Sweet 16. UC-San Diego had 11 3-point shooters the year before that. The Division I record is 9, held by multiple teams, while the D3 record is 19, set by Grinnell against one of their bible school buddies.

[Columbuseer]

Wlu sets national dII record. 12 different players made a three in one game, breaking the old record of 10 (which wlu shared with other schools).
Congrats to WLU on incredible display.
threes 20-35 57%.
31 assists on 48 fgs 65%
effective fg % 72%

[Layton]

Wasn’t Concord’s night

[Columbuseer]

A Dummy's Observations on WLU at Glenville 2/8/23 WLU 82 – Glenville 70

Summary:
IMHO, the WLU style of play and the incredible effort that it demands from its players won this game. For a traditional half-court team, this is the type of game that is typically a loss- poor shooting while opponent’s shooting is red-hot. In the second half, WLU turned the pressure up to the boiling point. The second platoon is critical to this approach, even if they don’t change the points margin, as they ratchet up the pressure, while the other platoon rests. Eventually, the opponent cracks from the continuous mental and physical stress.
WLU had a 28-point turnaround, from a 15-point deficit to a 13-point lead, in a 23-minute span on the opponent’s home court. Impressive.

GSU Strategy

• GSU has recruited far and wide to find tall, long, fast players, who are great 3-point shooters and excellent 1-on-1 players. As a result, they can be a very dangerous team. They have beaten very good teams (Fairmont twice, most recently a week ago), but lost to very average teams (at Frostburg 4 days ago).
• They have 3 6-6 athletic guys and two outstanding guards in Turbo Smith and Word. Yow at 6-6 has great leaping ability. Have two 6-6 guys collapse on Bryce inside to disrupt his rhythm.
• Shoot the 3 effectively. They have 6 players who average over 35% from three. Scott is 44% from 3.
• Minimize Turnovers.
• Be aggressive in attacking the rim on 3 on 2 breaks against the press.
• Put a tall guy on Zach Rasile to limit his threes.
• On a switch where smaller WLU guards defending 6-6 guys, take them to the rim.
• Limit WLU’s offensive rebounding.

GSU had significant success in implementing their strategy, at least in the first half

• GSU players have no qualms in taking contested threes. In the first half, they hit 5-8 for 63%. Scott was red-hot, having 19 points in the first half.
• They only had 7 turnovers, to 5 for WLU.
• Their effective FG % was a blistering 65%, compared to 43% for WLU.
• At the 10-minute mark, GSU held a 1-point lead. But over the next 5 minutes, GSU could not miss from three and WLU was missing typically easy shots. By the 4:51 mark, the lead was 15 at 37-22.
• However, GSU had reason to be concerned. They were playing at the breakneck pace of WLU, and playing their starters too long at an intense pace, while resting them only 2 minutes, due to insufficient bench depth. They were getting a step slow on defense. In less than a minute, WLU had cut the lead to 10. A fluke last second basket at the buzzer allowed GSU to enter halftime with an 8-point lead at 43-35.

WLU Observations

• WLU played like it was a tie game with 2 minutes left for the entire second half. Finally, WLU tied the game with 10 minutes left.
• GSU was getting a step slow on defense and WLU was getting layups even in the half-court offense and getting run-outs in transition. GSU starting fouling, with Egan (tall at 6-6) and Scott (who was unconscious from three) picking up their 4^th foul with 9 minutes left and WLU was attacking them.
• The game seesawed back and forth for the next 5 minutes.
• At the 5:30 mark, WLU led 69-68. That is when the fatigue of GSU, caused by the cumulative effect of both platoons’ relentless pressure and movement, reached the tipping point.
• In the next 2.5 minutes, WLU outscored GSU 10-0, to take a 79-68 lead. NBA threes that swished in the first half, were air balls or hitting the backboard now. GSU scored only 2 points in the last 5.5 minutes, resulting in a final of 82-70.
• For the game, GSU shot much better than WLU and well above their 3pt % (FT% was slight advantage for WLU)
  • FG: GSU 52% WLU 42%
  • Threes: GSU 43% WLU 24%
  • FT: GSU 54% WLU 57%.
  • Normally, these stats would indicate a victory for GSU against a traditional half-court team, as they would not have committed as many turnovers, or become as tired.

Keys to the victory

• WLU increased pressure, but did not resort to hero ball – they stayed within the system
• WLU defense – WLU has 10 players who put incredible pressure on opponents for 40 minutes.
• WLU has 4 shutdown small guards, who more than compensate for their height disadvantage. When their opponent’s legs get heavy, their quickness allows them to score easily.
• GSU was slow to close out on 3 pt shooters in the 2^nd half, allowing for non-contested threes. It also reduced their FT %.
• WLU got 20 offensive rebounds, or 46%, which is incredible and shows the effect of fatigue. GSU only got 5 offensive rebounds or 16%, which shows they were resting on offense or out of position.
• WLU forced 20 turnovers, of which 9 were steals, for a stellar 45%. Besides leading to scoring in transition, live ball turnovers do not let the opponent rest and creates chaos.

Areas for Improvement

• Need to improve FT shooting (might have been due to fatigue)
• Need to avoid doubling down low for too long and leave another opponent open for an easy layup. When opponent starts to pick up the ball, help defender must retreat rapidly to cover the interior passing lane.

[Columbuseer]

A Dummy's Observations on UC at WLU 2/4/23 WLU 94 – UC 77

UC Strategy

• UC is a very well-coached team that runs primarily set plays in the half-court. Their goal was to slow the pace of the game.
• UC has recruited a relatively tall team, who can play both inside, outside and drive to the basket.
• Be conservative in attacking the rim after breaking the press.
• Shoot the ball well, FG, 3s, and FTs.
• Minimize Turnovers
• Compete for rebounds and limit second shots by WLU
• Exploit WLU on switches, where smaller defenders are guarding their taller players

UC had some success in implementing their strategy

• They minimized turnovers. UC had 13, WLU had 11.
• Shot well – 3s UC 35%, WLU 43%; FG uc 46% WLU 53%; FT UC 77% WLU 80%
• Rebounds were close – UC 31 WLU 36. They limited to 9 Offensive rebounds out of 33 possible, or 27%. Decent job.
• They played WLU relatively even, for most of the game.

WLU Observations

• For the game the WLU team shot extremely well. WLU had an effective FG % of 60%, while UC had 51%. WLU also got 9 more shot attempts
• Good defense. WLU forced 8 steals out of 13 turnovers, for 61% live ball turnovers.
• Running the UC team by the 1^st and 2^nd platoons had a cumulative effect of tiring them, eventually leading to turnovers.
• A deciding factor in the game was a blackout that occurred in 3 minutes between 14:15 and 11:09. The score went from 7-7 tie to 23-9.
• There were very few fouls called for the majority of the half, starting at the beginning of the game. The result was very few stoppages for UC to get their breath, other than media timeouts. The ratio of the wall clock time to the scoreboard clock stayed between 1.7 and 1.9, which is an incredibly fast pace. For most other games, the ratio is well over 2:1. IMHO, that contributed to UC’s extreme fatigue, which led to easy WLU shots. One could tell by the way UC walked at the end of the 1^st half that they were gassed.
• WLU is sharing the ball really well – 21 assists and only 11 turnovers for Assist to turnover ratio of 1.91. They would have had more assists, but UC was allowing drives to the basket due to heavy legs or steals by WLU.

Areas for Improvement

• A fundamental aspect of defense is to always be able to peripherally see both the ball and your opponent at all times. Some WLU players lose that defensive positional angle, which opened them up for back door cuts.