West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Seger Bonifant - all time d2 career leader in 3pt % at 52.5, which is incredible and much better than 46% all time leader in d1. Two-time national player of the year.

By his soph. year, he knew he had to expand his offensive game, for defenses were keying on him. Starting in his junior year, he displayed a great back to the basket inside game. It culminated in his senior year against Lincoln Memorial in the final four, where he got 44 points against a future NBA invitee, most of them inside the paint. One of the best games by two teams that I have seen.

Future players should watch replays and study his technique.

[Columbuseer]

I wish Corey Pelle could teach his unique ability to score from behind the backboard and also facing toward the opponent's basket. He was very comfortable scoring from that unusual location. Most folks have to turn and face their goal.

At halftime at charleston civic center maybe 4 years ago, a program number was called for a half court shot for a chance to win a resort vacation.
this guy comes out in jeans, a lumberjack shirt and work boots. I thought "no chance" that he even comes close... he calmly walked up and let it fly... nothing but net for the win!
found out later it was Corey Pelle lol!

[Columbuseer]

I'm pretty sure it couldn't be taught, but one of the "skills" I was always most in awe of was Alex Falk's body control when finishing at the rim. He had an uncanny ability to redirect all his energy to a different finishing point after already leaving the floor. He would recognize where the block was coming from and change his body position midair to avoid the contact and get the ball up on the glass. Unbelievable. He still might be my favorite all-time Hilltopper.

Good points. Alex's motor and IQ was off the charts. National player of the year. Would be interesting to study how he did it.

If I had to guess, I would suspect he saw the block coming and slightly changed the vector or angle of his jump ever so slightly as he lifted off the floor. This would enable him to change his flight vector to give him room to shift his body and gain sufficient clearance to avoid the block.

Although more relevant for avoiding charges, I once had problems stopping my forward momentum when running on a fast break and doing a jump stop in the lane. I discovered that if I landed leaning backward at a 45 degree angle on the jump stop and then exploded off the floor in that direction, it offset the forward momentum, resulting in my body being stationary and my body was perpendicular to the floor as if I had been taking an on balance, stationary jump shot. Avoided many charging calls and bad, off balance shots. Later I learned that it was just Newtonian physics.

[Scrub]

I'm pretty sure it couldn't be taught, but one of the "skills" I was always most in awe of was Alex Falk's body control when finishing at the rim. He had an uncanny ability to redirect all his energy to a different finishing point after already leaving the floor. He would recognize where the block was coming from and change his body position midair to avoid the contact and get the ball up on the glass. Unbelievable. He still might be my favorite all-time Hilltopper.

[Columbuseer]

Keene Cockburn - He could teach:
1. Perserverance - after playing 17 mins. a game as a soph., his minutes dropped to 7 mins. a game as a junior, which was the same as his frosh year. But he stayed and kept improving his understanding of the game. As a result he played 25+ minutes a game as a senior.
2. He blocked 99 shots his Sr. Season, with 10 in wheeling game alone. He could teach timing and how to redirect a blocked shot to a teammate to start a transition scoring opportunity. Too many players smack blocked shots out of bounds, thinking they are intimidating the opponent, when in fact they just committed the equivalent of a selfish turnover by not redirecting the ball to a teammate.

[boatcapt]

What players, past or present, have a patented offensive or defensive technique that you wish they could teach to future players?

Luke Dyer had several, but one of my favorites was the "Big Man Ball Strip".
It often occurred when an opponent was near the goal with good position for a near-certain score. As he brings the ball down to initiate the upward explosive jump to score, Luke leaves his man to provide help defense and cleanly strips the ball, generating a turnover and a loss of a near-certain 2 points for the opponent.
If an opponent averages1.0 ppp, a turnover typically results in a loss of 1 point. But in this case, Luke prevented a near certain score, so the cost of the turnover is more like 1.8 points. In some games, Luke has stripped the ball 3 times, costing the opponent nearly 6 points! See Hillsdale game for some examples.

There is so much high IQ basketball in this move.
1. He gets in great position to strip the ball without reaching across the defender, thus avoiding hacking the forearms and the resultant foul and potential And-one play.
2. He often grabs the ball rather than slapping, which reduces the risk of a foul.
3. He rapidly recognizes the scoring threat before it occurs and leaves his man to get in position. He also often gets rebounds as a side effect of this move.

Cedric Harris - SILKY smooth ball handler who excelled at the drive and kick and was a very accurate outside sniper.
Keene Cockburn - Career utility player who in one season blossomed into a consistent shot blocker who's 99 blocked shots in 13/14 stands as the WLU record. Often overlooked in that season of blocked shots was his again unforseen skill as a rebounder. Rebounds and put backs aren't nearly as sexy as a 3 pointer or a blocked shot, but I recall Cockburn, time and time again being well positioned inside, grabbing the offensive rebound and putting it back in..
Seger Bonifant - No more needs to be said. An outside sniper who came in as a true freshman and shot .545 from beyond the arc. Not just a spot shooter, Seger could get his own shot and was a threat anywhere on the court. Like a fine wine he got better each year.

[Columbuseer]

What players, past or present, have a patented offensive or defensive technique that you wish they could teach to future players?

Luke Dyer had several, but one of my favorites was the "Big Man Ball Strip".
It often occurred when an opponent was near the goal with good position for a near-certain score. As he brings the ball down to initiate the upward explosive jump to score, Luke leaves his man to provide help defense and cleanly strips the ball, generating a turnover and a loss of a near-certain 2 points for the opponent.
If an opponent averages1.0 ppp, a turnover typically results in a loss of 1 point. But in this case, Luke prevented a near certain score, so the cost of the turnover is more like 1.8 points. In some games, Luke has stripped the ball 3 times, costing the opponent nearly 6 points! See Hillsdale game for some examples.

There is so much high IQ basketball in this move.
1. He gets in great position to strip the ball without reaching across the defender, thus avoiding hacking the forearms and the resultant foul and potential And-one play.
2. He often grabs the ball rather than slapping, which reduces the risk of a foul.
3. He rapidly recognizes the scoring threat before it occurs and leaves his man to get in position. He also often gets rebounds as a side effect of this move.

[boatcapt]

From watching video of Cmont Montague at Walsh, he is an intelligent PG who can also score, as well as a shutdown defender. He will increase our defensive pressure. He may at least share the pg duties. But Luke also did so much that did not show up in the box score, which will be hard to replace.

Montague may put up more measurable numbers, but he will be hard pressed to equal Dyers "unmeasurables." Dyer's defense was outstanding. He was cat quick but what seemed more important was that he knew were the dribbler was supposed to pass and was able to jump the lane. Also his unselfishness in the offensive end. SO very rare when you have a really good stroke like he had. Career .408 from beyond the arc who could have been a consistent 20 point scorer if he called his own number. He didn't shoot a lot but when he did it was almost always a dagger at a critical moment.

[Columbuseer]

From watching video of Cmont Montague at Walsh, he is an intelligent PG who can also score, as well as a shutdown defender. He will increase our defensive pressure. He may at least share the pg duties. But Luke also did so much that did not show up in the box score, which will be hard to replace.

[boatcapt]

Yep. Should have included him even though pg is a special case. Luke leaves big shoes to fill. PG is a special case for they are naturally required to dribble and hold the ball more when guys are not spaced properly. His assists often come after the rapid ball reversal pass back to him at the top of the offense. He relies on his teammates to not let the ball stick, else it limits his ability to get the ball to the guy who is open due to distortion of the defensive spacing.

Dyer was much like having a coach on the court. He excelled at calling the right play, making the right first pass to the right person at the right time and then becoming a part of the offense. While we have a couple of players who could take over his PG duties, probably none will be as "heady" playing the position. Hopefully one will grow into that "court general' role, but at least early in the season, PG play will probably suffer.

[Columbuseer]

I'd add PG Luke Dyer. He initiated most possessions and was the leading assist getter. In many ways, he was the "stray that stirred the WLU offensive drink."

Yep. Should have included him even though pg is a special case. Luke leaves big shoes to fill. PG is a special case for they are naturally required to dribble and hold the ball more when guys are not spaced properly. His assists often come after the rapid ball reversal pass back to him at the top of the offense. He relies on his teammates to not let the ball stick, else it limits his ability to get the ball to the guy who is open due to distortion of the defensive spacing.

[boatcapt]

2020-2021 First Annual WLU Hot Potato Awards. :-)

A key factor in the wlu offense is rapid, but effective passing, which also distorts the defense. Ultimately, it leads to open looks or clear paths to the rim. The ball cannot "stick" in a player's hands. The player must rapidly identify and assess any easy scoring opportunities, and make the correct pass if none are available.
IMHO, the following players were best at not letting the ball stick last season, in alphabetical order:

• Bryce Butler
• Owen Hazelbaker
• Zach Rasile
• Ben Sarson
• Elijah Watson

I'd add PG Luke Dyer. He initiated most possessions and was the leading assist getter. In many ways, he was the "stray that stirred the WLU offensive drink."

[Columbuseer]

2020-2021 First Annual WLU Hot Potato Awards. :-)

A key factor in the wlu offense is rapid, but effective passing, which also distorts the defense. Ultimately, it leads to open looks or clear paths to the rim. The ball cannot "stick" in a player's hands. The player must rapidly identify and assess any easy scoring opportunities, and make the correct pass if none are available.
IMHO, the following players were best at not letting the ball stick last season, in alphabetical order:

• Bryce Butler
• Owen Hazelbaker
• Zach Rasile
• Ben Sarson
• Elijah Watson

[boatcapt]

I think a valid comparison would be PPP in the regular season vice the NCAA tourney. In the regular season, you are playing some pretty bad teams...In the tourney, by and large, you are playing good teams.

[Columbuseer]

There appears to be a realistic maximum of efficiency to the WLU style. There are two teams that run the WLU Style 100%...West Liberty AND Nova Southeastern. Last two seasons Crutch and Nova achieved 1.25 and 1.2 PPP. Just as you postulate that the limit of "hero ball" is 1.1 PPP, based on the available evidence, it appears that the limit of the WLU Style may be in the 1.25-1.28 range.

Also interesting to look at Nova's roster make-up. You see many players who can shoot the 3 and there are some tall Euro types with outside chops...but you also see a few bigs who are much less accomplished from outside. For example former Fairmont player 6'8", 210 RJ Sunahara. He started 28 games in 19/20 and averaged 25.6 minutes, shot .608 from the field but only .261 from 3 (only 23 tries) but had 42 blocked shots and 202 rebounds. Those latter two numbers would have put him first (by a large margin) and second (behind only Bolon) on WLU. He also averaged 12.8 PPG which would have placed him #4 on WLU ahead of Boswell, Moore, and NcKiney. Shot .260 from 3 in HS in Ohio so clearly WLU had no interest in him...But Crutch did have interest and figured out how to use him to great effect...even though he doesn't fit into the mold of a "WLU Style" player. And somehow, Nova was able to improve their PPP efficiency even with a non-conforming big who played a more traditional game. Guess "Saint Crutch" is still teaching lessons for those who care to pay attention.

A few points...
1. Imho Nova could have made a serious run at nwmsu last season as well as this season. Slight recruiting advantage at Nova- population, beach, med school etc. Lol. But we may still have better athletes at guard.

2. Although an understandable presumption, u might want to confirm with rj who recruited him. Mazulla had the nba siren song lol.
He left when mazulla left... and went to Nova... hmm. He is an incredible d1 level player. Dominant in Akron pro am league inside and outside. We recruited Malik who shot under 30% at Seton Hill. In 2020 he was over 40% from three.
3. Wlu averaged 1.25 ppp across all games while shooting 49.3% and having 11.5 turnovers per game. If they make one more 2 pt fg per game (50.6%, which is comparable to their 2020 50.5%) and commit 2 fewer turnovers (9.5), their ppp average is 1.32. I looked at a sample of 5 regular season games. They averaged about 3 offensive fouls per game.
Also, if they also refrain from trying to drive between two defenders and getting the ball stripped, this reduction in turnovers is possible (albeit with much effort and buy-in)..

IMHO, reducing turnovers is harder than it sounds. High school, AAU, and pickup games are generally devoid of help defense. If you beat your man, u can sky toward the rim. If anyone comes to help your defender, they get there late. So your eyes are on the rim rather than the help side defender. Result in college game is a charge or a ball strip by help side defender. So folks have to unlearn really bad habits. One game in my sample had 5 charges!

Golek from fsu is especially adept at drawing charges. Patrick outsmarted him at home by driving and adroitly sidestepping him for an easy uncontested layup while he stood frozen as a statue! Lol