West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

I would sarcastically say that there IS a shortcut to "greatness"...Simply enter the portal and transfer to a program that is much less physically demanding. Your minutes will probably go up as will your stats!

Wish the last half of the interview had audio. He was really open and honest to that point. Would probably have provided a rare public glimpes into the program and his decision process on transfering.

I like your sarcastic comment. So many players mistake playing time and stats for greatness. Rather than fix the deficient parts of their game, they transfer to be a big fish in a little pond. Then they wonder why they don't get looks from overseas pro leagues. Wlu success demands gym rats, like Dalton. But I understand that some players have other interests and don't want to devote huge amounts of extra time to the game.

[boatcapt]

Great stuff.
re #3
At 2021 mec tourney, I had heard from a parent that Dalton and Luke were both told as freshmen that they probably wouldn't play much. Both redshirted. They both spent huge amounts of extra time to improve. Some people rise to a challenge and are consumed by the drive to excel. Others... enter the portal.

Dalton was shooting 1000 to 2000 shots a day in high school. getting to school at 4 am. There are no shortcuts to greatness.

I would sarcastically say that there IS a shortcut to "greatness"...Simply enter the portal and transfer to a program that is much less physically demanding. Your minutes will probably go up as will your stats!

Wish the last half of the interview had audio. He was really open and honest to that point. Would probably have provided a rare public glimpes into the program and his decision process on transfering.

[Columbuseer]

DOn't know if it has been posted, but found an interview with Dalton Bollon at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yL3uhrHNA0

Unfortunantly, the volume cuts out halfway through when he's starting to talk about his last season at WLU. But he does talk pretty extensively about his WLU journey and about his eye injury. Couple of key takeaways:

1. Said he had one D1 express interest (Towson). He hurt his leg playing football, told the D1 coaches...and never heard from them again!
2. He was a walk-on at WLU (along with Luke Dyer).
3. During his first season, Ben (at the time an assistant) told him that he would probably never play for WLU.
4. His eye injury was BAD...As in good chance of going blind bad, as in doctors refusing to do surgery bad.
5. Even now he has double vision in the eye.
6. Says that they expected to win the NC in the COVID year...Then the audio cuts out for the remaining TWENTY minutes of the interview!!!!

Great stuff.
re #3
At 2021 mec tourney, I had heard from a parent that Dalton and Luke were both told as freshmen that they probably wouldn't play much. Both redshirted. They both spent huge amounts of extra time to improve. Some people rise to a challenge and are consumed by the drive to excel. Others... enter the portal.

Dalton was shooting 1000 to 2000 shots a day in high school. getting to school at 4 am. There are no shortcuts to greatness.

[boatcapt]

DOn't know if it has been posted, but found an interview with Dalton Bollon at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yL3uhrHNA0

Unfortunantly, the volume cuts out halfway through when he's starting to talk about his last season at WLU. But he does talk pretty extensively about his WLU journey and about his eye injury. Couple of key takeaways:

1. Said he had one D1 express interest (Towson). He hurt his leg playing football, told the D1 coaches...and never heard from them again!
2. He was a walk-on at WLU (along with Luke Dyer).
3. During his first season, Ben (at the time an assistant) told him that he would probably never play for WLU.
4. His eye injury was BAD...As in good chance of going blind bad, as in doctors refusing to do surgery bad.
5. Even now he has double vision in the eye.
6. Says that they expected to win the NC in the COVID year...Then the audio cuts out for the remaining TWENTY minutes of the interview!!!!

[boatcapt]

Hope wlu team is watching nwmsu and note:

• they are not taking contested shots at the rim even though they could finish difficult shots, regardless of whether crawford is in game
• No out of control charges
• no bad shots
• Constant ball movement
• Team basketball iq is amazing
• 1v1 defense without fouling disrupting augusta's flow

if we could add this level of offensive efficiency with the pressure of wlu, we could improve.

I would think playing them last season and seeing it first hand would be a more convincing way of driving those lessons home, but sure, hope they watched the game and finally "get it."

[Columbuseer]

Hope wlu team is watching nwmsu and note:

• they are not taking contested shots at the rim even though they could finish difficult shots, regardless of whether crawford is in game
• No out of control charges
• no bad shots
• Constant ball movement
• Team basketball iq is amazing
• 1v1 defense without fouling disrupting augusta's flow

if we could add this level of offensive efficiency with the pressure of wlu, we could improve.

[Columbuseer]

I listened to nwmsu postgame press conference.
In the latter part, after the players leave, coach talks about his recruting strategy.
I sensed many similarities with Coach Howlett's philosophy,
key points:

• tough guys who late to lose much preferred over d2 5 star guys
• Will never recruit moody guys

https://youtu.be/dk21GjXvVP8

[Columbuseer]

IUP just shot bad.

Whoever doesn't shoot bad will win Saturday.

Iup won TO and off reb.
had they shot 40% from three instead of 21% from three they would have won, despite crawford making 12 for 12 FGs.
Did not watch the game so i missed seeing the vaunted iup defense in action, so i cannot comment on it.

Similarly, i think nwmsu has to shoot at least 40% from three to offset Crawford's two point goals and lock down arnold and #13 who is a player

[IUPbigINDIANS]

OT
who wins the finals?
I am partial to nwmsu because they have a great coach, are unselfish , avoid d1 1v1 hero ball and play great defense. 2nd favorite team after wlu.

I wonder what their strategy will be?
- zone against crawford?
- run them to tire him?
- if nwmsu shoots well from three and shuts down #13 and their guard, they can let crawford get his two pointers.

IUP just shot bad.

Whoever doesn't shoot bad will win Saturday.

[Columbuseer]

OT
who wins the finals?
I am partial to nwmsu because they have a great coach, are unselfish , avoid d1 1v1 hero ball and play great defense. 2nd favorite team after wlu.

I wonder what their strategy will be?
- zone against crawford?
- run them to tire him?
- if nwmsu shoots well from three and shuts down #13 and their guard, they can let crawford get his two pointers.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Don't envy his decision-making process. Could go to a great player development coach, but talented incumbents could keep him from starting. Could go P5 for bragging rights,, but risk of not playing.. If you don't start, nba looks dwindle. On the other hand, you don't want to aim too low. Tough call.

I think he's a Day 1 starter at Pitt. However, he may want to go to a more established program. Pitt is a mess right now.

[Columbuseer]

They are also in the Philip Alston sweepstakes although I think he will land in the P5.

Don't envy his decision-making process. Could go to a great player development coach, but talented incumbents could keep him from starting. Could go P5 for bragging rights,, but risk of not playing.. If you don't start, nba looks dwindle. On the other hand, you don't want to aim too low. Tough call.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Looked at college charleston roster.
have 2 10+ pts guards returning. Patrick will have competition.

They are also in the Philip Alston sweepstakes although I think he will land in the P5.

[Columbuseer]

Looked at college charleston roster.
have 2 10+ pts guards returning. Patrick will have competition.

[Columbuseer]

It's a good point about rebounding. A lot of people think the "Crutch system" (whether it's at Nova or WLU) is built entirely on shooting. Yes, good shooters are key to making the system work. But crashing the glass hard is also a prerequisite for making the system work. I haven't done the deep dive into the stats, but I would guess that being outrebounded (or being "soft on the glass" if that's your preferred way of seeing it) is as much responsible for losses in this system as anything else. It was clear that WVSU owned the glass (again, going by recollection not looking at box scores) in the WLU regional loss. The couple of times WLU managed to win despite a bad shooting performance (Daemen, Charleston & Wheeling in the MEC tourney, etc.) it was because they were more aggressive in the paint. So, you're absolutely right that keeping a team like Nova off the glass is as key to beating them as is defending the 3 point line.

Good points. Imho key to winning games is to best your opponent in as many of the following areas as possible:

• shooting %
• Offensive rebounding
• Turnovers forced
• FTs both number and %

For example, if you are having a horrific shooting night, you must dominate in at least two of the other areas to have a chance of winning. Nova only dominated in turnovers forced.
bhsu dominated them in off. Rebounding and FT to get the win.