West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Examples of how Ben want's his teams to play are not hard to come by and it's pretty clear he's not wasting his players time in practice doing anything except open gym practices. The problem is getting players that listen and can execute at the high level of efficiency necessary for success. Far too often the team seems to collectively decide to ignore Ben's teachings or collectively having trouble hitting the broad side of a barn from 3. Last two seasons WLU has shot .368 and .377 from beyond the arc...Two lowest % from 3 in the Ben era. And last season was the first in the Ben era when our opponents shot better from 3 than we did. You might say it is an insignificant blip, but last season was also the first of the Ben era were we have averaged less than 100 PPG for the season

Points per possession is all that matters, regardless of how one scores. wlu ppp was 1.25 last year, which is consistent with prior teams since 2010 and is better than any d1 team. More opponents are limiting the possessions by slowing down the game, which reduces scoring per game. Given their increasing athletic skill, If wlu passes faster, the ppp could go even higher and they might reduce the 3pt shooting % standard deviation.

[boatcapt]

Examples of how Ben want's his teams to play are not hard to come by and it's pretty clear he's not wasting his players time in practice doing anything except open gym practices. The problem is getting players that listen and can execute at the high level of efficiency necessary for success. Far too often the team seems to collectively decide to ignore Ben's teachings or collectively having trouble hitting the broad side of a barn from 3. Last two seasons WLU has shot .368 and .377 from beyond the arc...Two lowest % from 3 in the Ben era. And last season was the first in the Ben era when our opponents shot better from 3 than we did. You might say it is an insignificant blip, but last season was also the first of the Ben era were we have averaged less than 100 PPG for the season

[Columbuseer]

I hope the wlu players watched the NBA finals. Imho it validated Coach Howlett's exhortations to rapidly pass the ball and not let it "stick". It does not matter how great of an individual player you are.

Both teams had great success rapidly rotating the ball around the perimeter or inside-out for wide open shots. It was especially impressive because there were so many great 1 on 1 players on the floor who were passing up a makeable shot attempt to give a teammate a great shot.

imho the Celtics lost when they occasionally departed from this strategy and tried to go 1 on 1 to draw a double team and then tried to make a pass while in the air in traffic and turned the ball over. The warriors had excellent team defense in rapidly moving in front of the intended recipient of the pass.

Read one study where 3 ball rotations nearly always results in a great (open) shot.

Trouble is AAU teaches none of these team concepts.

Thoughts? Comments?

[Columbuseer]

Idle musings....
What current or former wlu players have a shot at non NBA pro ball (imho none of them have the body for nba regardless of their skills)?

What are their greatest areas of improvement in order to have a shot?

Here are my candidates:
1. Robinson iii
2. Bolon
3. Butler
4. McKinney

[boatcapt]

Nice addition roster is shaping up nicely. Any spots left?

Under Ben, WLU's roster size has fluculated from 12 to 15 with the average size being 14. Do they have spots left? Yes. Will they necessarily go all the way to 15? Maybe...maybe not.

[Columbuseer]

In looking over the wlu roster, it appears that it contains an inordinate amount of experience, even for wlu, where 10 players see significant action. IMHO a common thread for deep runs in ncaa is a highly experienced roster.

Consider just the college game minutes played:

Cannady 2616
Mckinney 2539
Montague 2305
Butler 2100
West 1680
Sampson 1506
Rasile 939
Hinds 856
Sarson 597
Webb 263

Spadafora 0 redshirt
Woodard 0 elite prep
Barnhart 0 high school

The pre season open gym games should be incredibly competitive! Another positive outcome is that the younger players will improve even more rapidly due to playing against proven, skilled, experienced players.

[Columbuseer]

Observations: WLU Team 3 pt FG% during regular 21-22 season

Bin	Frequency
20.00%	1
29.75%	5
39.50%	12
49.25%	6
59.00%	5
More	1

3fg% Std. Deviation		0.110972
3FG% Median		36%
3FG% Mean		39%

[Columbuseer]

FYI

Luke and Garrett Denbow landed at Anderson Univ., a D2 private Southern Baptist school in Anderson, SC. New coach and only 7 players on roster so my guess is they both probably got scholarships.

I definitely suggest that they pursue at least a minor in Ethics LOL.

Tough road to tourney... Lincoln Memorial, Queens, etc.

IMHO their wlu replacements are significant upgrades.

[Columbuseer]

Nice addition roster is shaping up nicely. Any spots left?

Have no info.
By my count we have 13.
7 returnees
4 transfers
1 hs
1 prep school

Last year they had 15, which is a number they liked since it provided a buffer for the inevitable practice injuries. However, they don't recruit practice cannon fodder, but only guys who can compete.
My uninformed guess is they would like at least one more player, provided they are a fit.

[Layton]

Nice addition roster is shaping up nicely. Any spots left?

[Columbuseer]

Great news!
Wlu has signed Michael Sampson, a double double machine with 2 years to play. Could fill rebounding void left by Marlon Moore Jr. 6-4 forward with arms of 6-10 player is a big advantage on defense.
https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...r-2022-23.aspx


Excerpts:
Sampson is no stranger to Hilltopper fans or the rest of the Mountain East Conference as the Houston, Texas native put up some impressive numbers while starting every game for Notre Dame over the past two seasons.
The 6-4 southpaw scored more than 500 points and grabbed over 400 rebounds during his two seasons with the Falcons while shooting a blistering 63 percent (215-of-341) from the floor. He led NDC in rebounds (8.1 rpg.), steals and blocks while ranking second on the team with 75 assists this season. He had 16 double-figure scoring games and 10 double-figure rebound games.
Among his season highlights were an 11-point, 15-rebound night in an 82-81 upset of West Liberty on Nov. 23 and a career-high 22-point game against Davis & Elkins on Dec. 8. Sampson finished the season ranked among the Top 5 in the MEC in Offensive Rebounds, Defensive Rebounds and Steals.

[Columbuseer]

There's the rub. He has things in his skill set that we haven't had in a big in quite a while. Will we take advantage of those "different" skills or will we use him as nothing more than a really big guard?

I suspect we will leverage all his skills, based on what the opponent is giving us, just like we did with Viktor last year.

Viktor was quite good with his back to the basket (see Bowie State against athletic 6-8 big as an example). Viktor was also one of the best interior passers we have had in recent years, which will be hard to replace. We got many layups by Viktor drawing big away from basket, leaving big gaps in defense for an assist from Viktor.

Having a big who can also play outside puts additional stress on the opponent's typical one-dimensional traditional bigs.

Concord HOF Coach Cox (broadcast analyst) said as much describing Viktor during game at Concord, where he blew by defender from the corner for a score. He said Concord's bigs are not used to guarding opponents away from the basket. He said you don't often see bigs with those skills. He definitely considered it as an advantage.

[boatcapt]

Chaz Hinds season average based on 27 mins per game

2 pt fg. 60%
3pt fg. 35% avg 2.5 attempts per game
Offensive efficiency 58%
Scoring avg 15; 22 pts per 40 min
Rebounds 7
Assists 3
Steals 1.5

He is a typical wlu recruit who can do a bit of everything. Just happens to be 6-8 with very muscular frame. Big difference from a skinny 6-7 freshman.

His 60% 2 pt fg % and 7 rebounds indicate he is comfortable inside. IMHO Much better footwork and handles compared to prior bigs that have transferred out of wlu in the past.

There's the rub. He has things in his skill set that we haven't had in a big in quite a while. Will we take advantage of those "different" skills or will we use him as nothing more than a really big guard?

[Columbuseer]

Chaz Hinds season average based on 27 mins per game

2 pt fg. 60%
3pt fg. 35% avg 2.5 attempts per game
Offensive efficiency 58%
Scoring avg 15; 22 pts per 40 min
Rebounds 7
Assists 3
Steals 1.5

He is a typical wlu recruit who can do a bit of everything. Just happens to be 6-8 with very muscular frame. Big difference from a skinny 6-7 freshman.

His 60% 2 pt fg % and 7 rebounds indicate he is comfortable inside. IMHO Much better footwork and handles compared to prior bigs that have transferred out of wlu in the past.

[boatcapt]

Chaz Hinds listed variably as 6-8 or 6-9 and 210 to 225. If he's at the upper end, that would make him the biggest big we've had in quite a while. Much will depend on how we use him...will he be a talk guard or will we use his size? Looks like he's improved his 3 point stroke since his season at UPike. If he wants to see minutes, he better continue to take and make 3s or his minutes will fall to single digits/mopup duty.