West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

I don't think this is a zero sum game...Bring in one big who can't shoot 3's and WLU becomes a 62-55 old school PSAC team! I look at Crutch's roster at NOVA. Yes...many OUTSTANDING 3 point shooters, a lot of bigs as well, but you also see at least a few "non-3" players that seem to have not just survived but thrived. Players like Sekou Sylla lead the team in scoring and rebounding...and shot ONE 3 pointer all year. Player like 6'10" Shane Hunter who shot .200 from 3 but NOVA found a way to get him 12 minutes per game in 30 games. Player like 6'8" RJ Sunuhura who started 28 games and was the teams #2 scorer. Yes, he shot .439 from 3, but only took 49 shots all year (worth noting, if we had given Watson the minutes Nova gave Sunuhura, he would have projected to have 50 3 point tries...on the limited number of 3 tries Watson had, he was shooting .429). Last I checked, NOVA was shooting above the 1.15 pts per possession limit and I don't think NOVA has had a 62-55 game since Crutch arrived.

Ability to make threes is different than attempting threes.
sunahara, sylla, and hunter can all make three. Therefore, it requires opponents to respect their shot and come away from basket to guard them. They dont clog up the lane either. They flash in the lane for a pass or start out on the wing and then drive. Alessandro got beat by sunahara by going for a 3 pt ball fake and sunahara went around him to the rim.
Skills are like Viktor, just different body types.

[boatcapt]

If u get a big guy who can't shoot, they will leave him unguarded, and their big will not be drawn away from basket, which hurts our drives and offensive rebounding. If u keep our big inside it clogs up the offense and we become like traditional team offense which maxes out at 1.15 pts per possession and usually much less. Not the 1.25+ ppp of wlu style. Say hello to 62-55 scores and no differentiators with other schools in much better locations.

Probably going to have to go to Europe to get another viktor.

I don't think this is a zero sum game...Bring in one big who can't shoot 3's and WLU becomes a 62-55 old school PSAC team! I look at Crutch's roster at NOVA. Yes...many OUTSTANDING 3 point shooters, a lot of bigs as well, but you also see at least a few "non-3" players that seem to have not just survived but thrived. Players like Sekou Sylla lead the team in scoring and rebounding...and shot ONE 3 pointer all year. Player like 6'10" Shane Hunter who shot .200 from 3 but NOVA found a way to get him 12 minutes per game in 30 games. Player like 6'8" RJ Sunuhura who started 28 games and was the teams #2 scorer. Yes, he shot .439 from 3, but only took 49 shots all year (worth noting, if we had given Watson the minutes Nova gave Sunuhura, he would have projected to have 50 3 point tries...on the limited number of 3 tries Watson had, he was shooting .429). Last I checked, NOVA was shooting above the 1.15 pts per possession limit and I don't think NOVA has had a 62-55 game since Crutch arrived.

[boatcapt]

And WLU's last version of a big, Aiden Satterfield, has apparently hit the portal. Think it's time to start asking what WLU is doing to drive these guys away because clearly, they aren't happy with the basketball operation on the hilltop.

[Columbuseer]

If u get a big guy who can't shoot, they will leave him unguarded, and their big will not be drawn away from basket, which hurts our drives and offensive rebounding. If u keep our big inside it clogs up the offense and we become like traditional team offense which maxes out at 1.15 pts per possession and usually much less. Not the 1.25+ ppp of wlu style. Say hello to 62-55 scores and no differentiators with other schools in much better locations.

Probably going to have to go to Europe to get another viktor.

[Layton]

[boatcapt]

Hard, but not impossible to find bigs that can dribble, pass, shoot, defend, rebound etc....
When one is found, wlu can create huge mismatches against traditional bigs.

Viktor is example #1 - great passer, shot over 40% from three at quincy. Comfortable
in open court. Concord's HOF coach marveled at his skills. Said bigs are not used to guarding Viktor 25 ft from basket where he drives by them for a layup. I wish he had another year to play.

grossenbacher is another - d1 transfer

Need a recruiting trip to Serbia lol.

Minus the shooting, we had one...we didn't play him at the end of the season...and he is transfering! Real head scratcher.

[Columbuseer]

Hard, but not impossible to find bigs that can dribble, pass, shoot, defend, rebound etc....
When one is found, wlu can create huge mismatches against traditional bigs.

Viktor is example #1 - great passer, shot over 40% from three at quincy. Comfortable
in open court. Concord's HOF coach marveled at his skills. Said bigs are not used to guarding Viktor 25 ft from basket where he drives by them for a layup. I wish he had another year to play.

grossenbacher is another - d1 transfer

Need a recruiting trip to Serbia lol.

[boatcapt]

Imho Transfer portal has changed recruiting for everyone. One has to be adept at recruiting both hs and portal, which Ben has clearly proven.

HS kids are impatient to sit and develop, when they were the star in hs. People are in their ear.
risk: u could develop them into a star and they hit the portal for their senior year.

That said, wlu is still recruiting HS players. However, Very hard to find hs bigs that can dribble, pass, shoot, defend, rebound etc., who are not in d1 and can play immediately.

2021 - 3 players + Garrett who is essentially a frosh in experience
2020 - 3 players - covid required recruiting without campus visits in some cases.

Yes. Bigs with that skill set are going to garner D1 offers. That's why, perhaps, we need to recalibrate what we look for in a big AND what we expect from them. While it's great to have a big who can shoot the 3, are we really lacking in 3 point shooters to the point were any big we get HAS to do that? Maybe it's more important to get a big who is a rebound and defensive specialist and can finish inside with authority and then play him...not sit him because you'd rather have 5 three point shooters (or seemingly this past season, 5 guys who believe they can take it to the hole) on the court at all times. Maybe it's enough to have four 3 point shooters and one guy who's focus is cleaning the boards on missed shots and thumping anyone who dares to come inside...don't think we've ever tried such a thing. Question is, would WLU be worse for having a true big on the roster? Would we really lose more games in the regular season? I don't think so and just maybe we would be better prepared for the post season when we face that seemingly inevitable team that has an active big that eats our lunch.

[Columbuseer]

For a top notch recruiter, we seem to be dipping into the transfer portal quite a bit for PG's and Bigs! If you find yourself having to get the same type of player from the portal year after year, maybe bring in that type of guy from HS and then developing him should be a priority?? I'm sure we would love to have 15 person roster made up of nothing but shooting guards, but unfortuanatly, basketball has not "evolved" to that point...yet!

Imho Transfer portal has changed recruiting for everyone. One has to be adept at recruiting both hs and portal, which Ben has clearly proven.

HS kids are impatient to sit and develop, when they were the star in hs. People are in their ear.
risk: u could develop them into a star and they hit the portal for their senior year.

That said, wlu is still recruiting HS players. However, Very hard to find hs bigs that can dribble, pass, shoot, defend, rebound etc., who are not in d1 and can play immediately.

2021 - 3 players + Garrett who is essentially a frosh in experience
2020 - 3 players - covid required recruiting without campus visits in some cases.

[boatcapt]

A new transfer, of course!

For a top notch recruiter, we seem to be dipping into the transfer portal quite a bit for PG's and Bigs! If you find yourself having to get the same type of player from the portal year after year, maybe bring in that type of guy from HS and then developing him should be a priority?? I'm sure we would love to have 15 person roster made up of nothing but shooting guards, but unfortuanatly, basketball has not "evolved" to that point...yet!

[Columbuseer]

Then who runs the second platoon?

My guess is spadafora at pg, rasile at sg.

[Scrub]

Then who runs the second platoon?

A new transfer, of course!

[boatcapt]

Totally agree. Much like McKinney did last year (transfer Soph who was brought in to "run the second shift"), Montague will undoubtedly elevate to a first platoon guy next year. So, yes, I would think Montague, McKinney, Sarson, & Butler are locks in the first platoon. The #5 guy is TBD at this point.

Then who runs the second platoon?

[boatcapt]

Imho, Pencil montague in at starting pg today. Great shot from 3, very high assist to to ratio and best defender.
my guess is
Montague
mckinney
Sarson
Butler
Webb or satterfield if size needed; Spadafora or rasile for smaller teams.

I agree on Satterfield if we need size, but if you are bring in a 6'3" guy to provide size, you have problems!

[Scrub]

Pat is listed in the portal as a Grad Transfer. Didn't realize he was graduating this May. That makes the choice to leave just a bit more understandable (especially if WLU doesn't have a grad program he would be interested in--there truly aren't that many grad programs on campus).