West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Scrub]

Good win looks like Hinds is starting to get a bigger role

Needed the muscle today. WVSU is a physical team. Notice that Sampson set a season high for minutes as well. Needed the more physical players in the game today.

It'll be interesting to see if Hinds's minutes go back down in finesse games.

[Layton]

Good win looks like Hinds is starting to get a bigger role

[Scrub]

Well that one sure lived up to the hype!

(And it does appear that Pittman made the grade--that guy is still a beast)

[Columbuseer]

Fans often have different views about what is a good 3pt %.
FYI
"Statistics show that for NBA basketball players, a 3-point percentage (3pt%) above 35% is good and a 3pt% above 40% is considered to be elite.

A good 3-point percentage in college basketball is above 35% and an elite percentage is anything over 40%.

In high school a good 3-point percentage is anything above 32%."

source: https://thatsportlife.com/what-is-a-...with-examples/

[Columbuseer]

After a horrendous start, wlu's 3 pt shooting is improving,..
Here are top shooters thru 8 games.

name. 3ptm 3pta 3pt%

#04 Montague, Christian 19 35 .543
#22 Hinds, Chaz 5 10 .500
#25 Rasile, Zach 20 43 .465
#05 Cannady, Steve 17 38 .447
#24 Sarson, Ben 18 44 .409
#02 Butler, Bryce 10 28 .357

[Columbuseer]

FYI
wvmetronews.com sportsline podcast thursday dec 8
Bryce Butler interview starts at minute 16 and goes until minute 25...

Said Coach Howlett was most honest coach that he had encountered during recruitment.
Spoke of importance of prospective recruits playing in open gym.
Agreed wlu style is very appealing to players.

https://wvmetronews.com/podcast/

[Scrub]

Also have been playing all season without two returning All-MEC starters in Smith (last year's leading scorer) and Thomas (Top 10 nationally in 3FGs).

Right. Thomas has been in a boot starting with game 2 (apparently an injury suffered in game 1). And Smith was seen on the sidelines yesterday with some kind of wrap on her knee. Not good when your two steadiest hands have been out all season.

The bright side is this has forced McCutcheon and Manzay (who were sometimes a little erratic last year--capable of both big games and also games off) to really step up and become the steadying force on the team. So if/when Thomas & Smith return, this should be a team to be reckoned with.

[timbertopper]

Also have been playing all season without two returning All-MEC starters in Smith (last year's leading scorer) and Thomas (Top 10 nationally in 3FGs).

[Scrub]

What in the world happened to the ladies? They were winning like 22-7 last I checked then lost by 20. Idk about Cooper

Shot 60% in the first half. Shot about 17% in the second half. That'll do it.

Reverse was true for Charleston ladies--they shot 60% in the second half.

[Layton]

What in the world happened to the ladies? They were winning like 22-7 last I checked then lost by 20. Idk about Cooper

[Columbuseer]

Fyi ncaa stats west liberty as of dec 4
1st- 3pt attempts per game 36.7
1st - scoring 102.4
1st - assists per game 25.3
1st - Turnover margin 10.3
2nd - 3pt made per game 13.1
2nd - steals per game 13.3
2nd- Assist to turnover ratio 2.16
3rd - scoring margin 29
12th - offensive rebounds per game 14.86
34th - FG % 48.73
48th - rebound margin 6

[Columbuseer]

Fyi ncaa stats west liberty as of Dec 1. WVW game was a team stat stuffer!

1st - steals per game 13.8
1st - assists per game 25
1st (tie with Nova se lol) - Turnover margin 10.3
1st - 3pt attempts per game 37.5
1st - 3pt made per game 13.3
2nd - scoring 102.7
2nd - Assist to turnover ratio 2.03
3rd -scoring margin 27
3rd - turnovers forced per game 22.67

12th - offensive rebounds per game 15.17
44th - FG % 48.43
47th - rebound margin 6

[Layton]

Bad beat if you had Wesleyan +67.5

How in the world are they that bad?

[boatcapt]

I also liked that until the very end they didn't get ragged. While the efficiency did fall off a bit in the second half, they still played with structure and stuck with the system. That helps up and down the roster. When you score 68 points in the first half, the players can regress to old habits in the second half as individual possessions mean little and players are just going through the motions. WLU didn't do that and they should be praised for it.

They got about as much as a top tier team can get playing the conference back marker.

[Columbuseer]

Indeed, WVWC is kinda like our PSU-Altoona game.

That said, last night was an absolutely textbook performance of the system:

Ball never stuck.
Passed up good shots to get great shots.
Threes were dropping.
Press was causing live ball turnovers.
Balanced double-figure scoring from all over the roster.

If you want to know what the system is supposed to look like (when it's run right), last night is the tape to watch.

But in the end, it was WVWC, so they didn't do much to force WLU into uncomfortable situations. It's easy to run your stuff when the team on the other side of the court looked defeated getting off the bus.

Great observations. Thanks.

One of the best passing, most unselfish games I have seen. Some possessions had 9 passes in 30 secs!
42% from 3 on 20-47.
Cmont 5 for 6, Zach 5 for 7, Ben 3 for 5, Steve 2 for 5 from three.
33 assists on 47 made fgs. 20 assists will put you in top 10 in nation
Only 6 turnovers for assist to TO Ratio of 5.5 which is unbelievable, especially when one considers how fast we play. Turnovers mostly happened when we were trying to make the extra pass, which is an acceptable TO.
21 steals in forcing 29 turnovers. 72% live ball turnovers
wlu offensive efficiency of 148 ( 148 points per 100 possessions)
Sampson and Sarson made spectacular blocks above the rim.

No one played over 20 mins. 8 guys scored >= 9 pts.

What is amazing is that they played toward their standard, not down to the level of their opponent. No one was playing for his box score

Wvw has done a roster makeover. Starting 4 freshmen and a soph. They have potential talent. Their youth and inexperience in playing together was a perfect storm for Wlu as they were ineffective on offense against wlu pressure with offensive efficiency of 64.
Imho their offense needs far more off ball screens and passes per possession, as they were easy to guard.