West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

The two concerning things that occur to me after tonight's game is:

1. The Sarson foot injury is concerning. When it occurred, he was helped directly to the locker room (not the bench), and he still couldn't put any weight on it when he came back out to sit on the bench after half. Here's hoping it's not a season-ender.

2. The other concerning thing is that this edition of the Hilltoppers hasn't really shown the ability to counter when a team punches back. They're just fine at finishing the job when the opponent folds. But when the opponent punches back, they haven't shown the typical WLU ability to weather the storm and counter back. This game had such a similar feel to the two in Daytona. Strong team punches back, WLU doesn't have an answer.

If this edition of the Hilltoppers wants to go anywhere in the postseason (where every team will be capable of punching back), they're gonna have to figure out how to respond when a strong team refuses to fold, and I haven't seen enough of that this year. You might argue that the first WVSU game or the D&E game were evidence of this, but I need to see a bit more.

As someone pointed out earlier in the year, this is the kind of game where Bryce Butler would have put the team on his back and refused to lose. This year's edition doesn't have that guy or the attitude that he represented.

So in some ways, this might be the kind of night these Hilltoppers needed to get them prepared for the playoff run. As Hopper pointed out, they did show enough fight to get it to one possession with a good look to tie, so maybe this is a growth game. Here's hoping.

I would not draw too many conclusions from this game.
Regarding punching back, I would consider a 17-2 run in 5 minutes while missing a key player a very effective punching back. Concord closed the gap to 2 pts and they responded. They don't fold and they don't give up.

Regarding Daytona, opponents shot 58% and 64% from three. They are good teams, and this % makes them practically unbeatable.

Against a team like wvsu, who is really tall and athletic, one has to shoot at least an average %. Wlu started out at 18%, which put wlu in a deep hole. Even in the bryce butler days, the scores were very close with wvsu.

The troubling issue for me are the technical fouls. Players have to think team first and not respond to provocations.

[Columbuseer]

Haven't shot free throws well all year unfortunately.

Actually, they have shot ft well at times, but just inconsistently. For season, 74.9% avg.
Last 6 games:
90.5%
92.3%
84.2%
50%
87.9%
66.7% at wvsu

https://hilltoppersports.com/sports/...all/stats#game

[Layton]

Yuck

[Scrub]

The two concerning things that occur to me after tonight's game is:

1. The Sarson foot injury is concerning. When it occurred, he was helped directly to the locker room (not the bench), and he still couldn't put any weight on it when he came back out to sit on the bench after half. Here's hoping it's not a season-ender.

2. The other concerning thing is that this edition of the Hilltoppers hasn't really shown the ability to counter when a team punches back. They're just fine at finishing the job when the opponent folds. But when the opponent punches back, they haven't shown the typical WLU ability to weather the storm and counter back. This game had such a similar feel to the two in Daytona. Strong team punches back, WLU doesn't have an answer.

If this edition of the Hilltoppers wants to go anywhere in the postseason (where every team will be capable of punching back), they're gonna have to figure out how to respond when a strong team refuses to fold, and I haven't seen enough of that this year. You might argue that the first WVSU game or the D&E game were evidence of this, but I need to see a bit more.

As someone pointed out earlier in the year, this is the kind of game where Bryce Butler would have put the team on his back and refused to lose. This year's edition doesn't have that guy or the attitude that he represented.

So in some ways, this might be the kind of night these Hilltoppers needed to get them prepared for the playoff run. As Hopper pointed out, they did show enough fight to get it to one possession with a good look to tie, so maybe this is a growth game. Here's hoping.

[Scrub]

Toppers didn't play well, but still had a chance to tie the game with just a few seconds left (and got a good look).

Plenty of ways to slice it, but I thought free throw shooting was the difference.

Haven't shot free throws well all year unfortunately.

[Topper_Hopper]

Toppers didn't play well, but still had a chance to tie the game with just a few seconds left (and got a good look).

Plenty of ways to slice it, but I thought free throw shooting was the difference.

[Scrub]

U g l y

[TheMadLibs]

To be fair this could also be decided either way by Congress and pre-empt the courts. This has been one of the biggest things Baker and his supporters have been stumping for both in Congressional hearings and general PR. I don’t think there’s been much enthusiasm in the Capitol for it though and if the best “plan” Baker can come up with is to beg Congress to save the NCAA then they’ve made an awful pick for president.

Working on the Hill and this being a policy issue I studied at Carnegie Mellon independently before work, there's truly no way this ever is legislated in Congress. It's an issue to generate attention from donors and headlines. Where I always felt the issue better belonged is via Ed committees but lll stop here lol

[TheBigCat2192]

Whether players will be paid or not will be decided in the courts, where the NCAA has been losing consistently for quite a while now.

To be fair this could also be decided either way by Congress and pre-empt the courts. This has been one of the biggest things Baker and his supporters have been stumping for both in Congressional hearings and general PR. I don’t think there’s been much enthusiasm in the Capitol for it though and if the best “plan” Baker can come up with is to beg Congress to save the NCAA then they’ve made an awful pick for president.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

To be fair, he's had a terrible run of luck relating to health. Bailee Smith's ACL injury last year was a serious blow to the program (and she's really only now beginning to round back into form). There are about 5 girls (some of whom played big minutes last year (like a Halley Smith) and including this year's starting PG Anna Lucarelli) in tracksuits this year. And Grace Faulk is a shell of herself right now due to nagging injuries, but is gutting it out for the good of the team and for her last run as a Hilltopper.

Heck, because of some foul trouble yesterday, Coach Cooper went into OT with a walk-on on the floor. When you only have, like, 9 healthy women on the squad, it really handcuffs you. And that's been his situation for about 3 years running.

I don't know if there is something to be said about how they train, or if it's a run of terrible luck, but I'd like to see what these ladies could do with a fully healthy squad for once.

The ACL is a terrible injury. Joe's program has been cursed with them the past 5 years (and two more this year). Some come back full force faster than others but it seems it's about a full year recovery. Physically they are good (usually) after 8-9 months but mentally it seems to take longer. Some are never the same player.

There was a nasty knee injury in the IUP vs SRU women's game this past Saturday. The Slippery Rock player went to do a start-stop. Her knee planted and her body kept going the other way. Such a fluke thing with no contact. I don't know if it was an ACL but I've seen a lot of them. It had all the signs.

When Dallis Dillard blew his ACL in December it was the total opposite. It just seemed he banged it real hard, but, sure enough. You feel terrible for them. That injury has no quick fix and it's a grueling rehab.

I remember watching when Tommy Demogerontas and Shawndale had theirs ... both driving in to a crowd and just landed bad. Scary stuff.

[Columbuseer]

To be fair, he's had a terrible run of luck relating to health. Bailee Smith's ACL injury last year was a serious blow to the program (and she's really only now beginning to round back into form). There are about 5 girls (some of whom played big minutes last year (like a Halley Smith) and including this year's starting PG Anna Lucarelli) in tracksuits this year. And Grace Faulk is a shell of herself right now due to nagging injuries, but is gutting it out for the good of the team and for her last run as a Hilltopper.

Heck, because of some foul trouble yesterday, Coach Cooper went into OT with a walk-on on the floor. When you only have, like, 9 healthy women on the squad, it really handcuffs you. And that's been his situation for about 3 years running.

I don't know if there is something to be said about how they train, or if it's a run of terrible luck, but I'd like to see what these ladies could do with a fully healthy squad for once.

Don't disagree with the impact of injuries. My concerns are more fundamental.
Imho the players play much too high in their defensive stance and do not cut off the dribble drive. Their higher center of gravity affects their lateral mobility. Opponents feast on dribble drives to the rim. This has been an issue throughout his tenure. wlu would be wise to bring in a defensive consultant for a couple of weeks to fix these fundamentals.

Also few screens either on ball or away from the ball. Usually dribbler and one other person are moving at any point in time on offense. Easy to guard.

[Scrub]

Time for a coaching search for the women

To be fair, he's had a terrible run of luck relating to health. Bailee Smith's ACL injury last year was a serious blow to the program (and she's really only now beginning to round back into form). There are about 5 girls (some of whom played big minutes last year (like a Halley Smith) and including this year's starting PG Anna Lucarelli) in tracksuits this year. And Grace Faulk is a shell of herself right now due to nagging injuries, but is gutting it out for the good of the team and for her last run as a Hilltopper.

Heck, because of some foul trouble yesterday, Coach Cooper went into OT with a walk-on on the floor. When you only have, like, 9 healthy women on the squad, it really handcuffs you. And that's been his situation for about 3 years running.

I don't know if there is something to be said about how they train, or if it's a run of terrible luck, but I'd like to see what these ladies could do with a fully healthy squad for once.

[Ship69]

Ahhh...progress. A very limited number of players will benefit from NIL and other ways to "pay" college players, but for most kids, this will cut off their access to college. Some may play a few years of AAU ball after HS, but they will find it difficult to juggle practice and AAU "showcases" with the demands of a full time job at Walmart or the local Quicky-Lube and will quit basketball.

Ahhh...but at least the self-richeous "college players must be paid" voices in the media will be able to point to the few players at blue blood P5's that make some dollars for the year or two they are there will smuggly be able to say that THEY made things better for real basketball players. Meanwhile, the guy who would have been a DII All American and gotten most of his college paid for will go to their car window and ask if they want Full Synthetic oil in their SUV

Whether players will be paid or not will be decided in the courts, where the NCAA has been losing consistently for quite a while now. What the media does or doesn't want will have little to do with it, especially at the D2 or D3 level. Personally, I feel a scholarship at our level of play is ample compensation. If a player can get a local car dealership or pizza joint to spring a few bucks for his or her endorsement, fine, since that already is a fact of life.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Speaking of guys and minutes, two observations and a question:

1. I didn't love seeing Spadafora only play 3 minutes. He took two shots to the head in those 3 minutes. I'm not sure if he sat the rest of the game because the injury is serious, or if Howlett just didn't want to take an unnecessary chances with the game mostly in hand by the end of the first half. Here's hoping Dante is back soon--he's a key cog in that Bravo platoon's success.

2. Wheeling played more players in this game (15) than WLU dresses.

3. We've talked for years about the enormous rosters Wheeling always seems to have (almost like a varsity and JV at times). Is there a rule about how many guys you can put in the scorebook at the beginning of a game? Is 15 the max (and therefore Wheeling used every last guy)?

I think 15 is the max dress list.

I noticed last week at Seton Hill they had 23 players on the floor in warmups -- 15 were dressed and the rest were in tracksuits. This seems to be a trend among the private schools.

More players equals more admissions money. Sell the dream.

Notre Dame came to IUP this year with what seemed two buses of players.

[Scrub]

And ten played at least 13 mins.

Speaking of guys and minutes, two observations and a question:

1. I didn't love seeing Spadafora only play 3 minutes. He took two shots to the head in those 3 minutes. I'm not sure if he sat the rest of the game because the injury is serious, or if Howlett just didn't want to take an unnecessary chances with the game mostly in hand by the end of the first half. Here's hoping Dante is back soon--he's a key cog in that Bravo platoon's success.

2. Wheeling played more players in this game (15) than WLU dresses.

3. We've talked for years about the enormous rosters Wheeling always seems to have (almost like a varsity and JV at times). Is there a rule about how many guys you can put in the scorebook at the beginning of a game? Is 15 the max (and therefore Wheeling used every last guy)?