West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Layton]

[Columbuseer]

Dante Spadafora sighting #4

won tourney game against cal pa 92-35

In transition, ball goes to left corner to teammate; as opponents rush to close out the expected deep three attempt, the teammate whips a 30 foot pass to dante 30 feet down the baseline under the right side of the basket

The opponents rush back down the baseline to contest Dante's anticipated shot.

Dante elevates high to catch the pass. While still in the air, in one smooth motion, he catches the ball and whips a one handed pass around the defenders that travels outside the end line and curves back to his teammate in the left corner who had just passed it to him. Now his teammate is really wide open and drains the three.

He made three opponents look like a yo-yo on a string running back and forth trying to close out shooters.

AMAZING!

[Columbuseer]

No vaccine, no game for me, regrettably.

[Layton]

[Columbuseer]

Totally agree. Best to stay away from Hurst if possible. I'd take my chances with a Findlay or Hillsdale before wanting to see Mercyhurst on WLU's bracket line. But in the end, if you want to win the Region, you have to beat the best teams one way or the other.

I watched hillsdale against Tribeca Nazarene. They might have issues with our pace of play, in the event that we would meet. It seems like it is all about matchups at regionals. Have to have some luck to avoid bad matchups. And you hope another team eliminates your bad matchup.

[Scrub]

IMHO WLU needs to win the tourney. I don't relish the thought of playing Hurst in 1st round.

Winning mec might move us to #2 seed or #1 if hillsdale loses and get us a bye.

Totally agree. Best to stay away from Hurst if possible. I'd take my chances with a Findlay or Hillsdale before wanting to see Mercyhurst on WLU's bracket line. But in the end, if you want to win the Region, you have to beat the best teams one way or the other.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IMHO WLU needs to win the tourney. I don't relish the thought of playing Hurst in 1st round.

Winning mec might move us to #2 seed or #1 if hillsdale loses and get us a bye.

There will be none of your blackouts against Mercyhurst. I promise.

[Columbuseer]

IMHO WLU needs to win the tourney. I don't relish the thought of playing Hurst in 1st round.

Winning mec might move us to #2 seed or #1 if hillsdale loses and get us a bye.

[Columbuseer]

[QUOTE=boatcapt;n567727]

Yep...Opponent fatigue is a fundamental part of the WLU style of play, along with trading 3 for 2. Playing dribble/drive, even if you make the shot, defeats BOTH. Not saying our players should never go one-on-one against their opponent but those times should be the vast exception to the rule...like when the clock (shot OR game) is a factor. Perfect situation for it's use would be 5 or 6 crisp passes around the parimeter making all the defenders expend energy, shot clock gets to 5 and Robinson beats his defender off the dribble and takes him to the rack.

Been analyzing blackouts. A common factor that closely tracks blackouts is opponent FG %. It goes way low, which one could attribute to cumulative effect of fatigue and stress. Even more positively correlated
With blackouts than turnovers, which surprised me.

[boatcapt]

[QUOTE=Columbuseer;n567724]

Glad you mentioned the fatigue factor, for it is likely the biggest contributor to wlu success.

Yep...Opponent fatigue is a fundamental part of the WLU style of play, along with trading 3 for 2. Playing dribble/drive, even if you make the shot, defeats BOTH. Not saying our players should never go one-on-one against their opponent but those times should be the vast exception to the rule...like when the clock (shot OR game) is a factor. Perfect situation for it's use would be 5 or 6 crisp passes around the parimeter making all the defenders expend energy, shot clock gets to 5 and Robinson beats his defender off the dribble and takes him to the rack.

[Columbuseer]

[QUOTE=boatcapt;n567706]

Observations from a Dummy: The Improvement of WLU Play since Their Three Losses

I would add, the lack of ball movement allowed the other team time to rest which means they are "fresher" late in the game. Can't emphasize this too much. A (THE) key component to WLU's success over the years is wearing their opponents down with constant pressure on defense AND on offense through constant ball and player movement. When the ball sticks in "physically gifted players" hands and they take their defender to the rack, the other four defenders have time to recover. Over the course of the game, these little rests add up making it harder to achieve the WLU "Black Out" that often results in WLU taking a 5 point lead to 15 in a short period of time.

Glad you mentioned the fatigue factor, for it is likely the biggest contributor to wlu success.

[Columbuseer]

Oh, don't worry, Columbus. You'll get no argument from me. I truly believe when Yoakum is healthy, he might actually be the best player on the WLU squad (even better than Bolon & Robinson, and that's really saying something because those two are studs). But I was just a little surprised that whomever votes for this thing didn't pass up a 3rd Hilltopper (and one who missed about 4 games with injuries) for a next-best guy to add to the first team.

Scrub,
I knew u were on board with the choice. I directed the stats at others who might have thought that Reid was slighted. Sorry I did not say that in the post.

[boatcapt]

[QUOTE=Columbuseer;n567475]Observations from a Dummy: The Improvement of WLU Play since Their Three Losses

I would add, the lack of ball movement allowed the other team time to rest which means they are "fresher" late in the game. Can't emphasize this too much. A (THE) key component to WLU's success over the years is wearing their opponents down with constant pressure on defense AND on offense through constant ball and player movement. When the ball sticks in "physically gifted players" hands and they take their defender to the rack, the other four defenders have time to recover. Over the course of the game, these little rests add up making it harder to achieve the WLU "Black Out" that often results in WLU taking a 5 point lead to 15 in a short period of time.

[Scrub]

Oh, don't worry, Columbus. You'll get no argument from me. I truly believe when Yoakum is healthy, he might actually be the best player on the WLU squad (even better than Bolon & Robinson, and that's really saying something because those two are studs). But I was just a little surprised that whomever votes for this thing didn't pass up a 3rd Hilltopper (and one who missed about 4 games with injuries) for a next-best guy to add to the first team.

[Columbuseer]

No doubt Reid is a great player who gives great effort and is a great finisher. Good rebounder too. But Yoakum exceled in more areas and was on a team where he did not have to be the main man. I think Will is a more complete player, better shooter, and takes better care of the ball. Will only played 55% of the minutes that Reid played and took a little over half (57%) of the shots that Reid attempted.

STAT. Yoakum. Reid
pts avg. 16.5 22.5 Reid had to shoulder scoring burden and took over 4 more shots per game

pts per
Minute
Played. 0.69 0.66

Min. Per
game. 23.8 34.2. Far fewer mins per game


FG% 56.2 48.5
3FG% 33.3. 21.4
FT% 75.5. 72.0

Assist to
Turnover
ratio. 0.90 0.65

TOs per min 0.073 0.078 will has fewer turnovers per minute played

Blocks
per
Game 1.0 0.93 Many of Will's blocks were difficult and stopped sure layups

Steals
Per
Game. 1.0. 1.2