West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[boatcapt]

Was the Malone victory really "bad?" I don't think so. Certainly all the WLU warts that have popped up this season were on full display in this game (desire by some to play AAU ball, 3 pt shooting struggles, Inability to shoot free throws,...). But even with those warts on full display, WLU found a way to lead from the 13 minute mark of the first half through the final Malone 3 at the closing horn. Only five times after WLU gained the lead at the 13 minute mark in the first half did Malone come within a shot of gaining the lead. Did they keep it close? obviously yes. But except on one occasion, I never really thought WLU was in danger of losing.

Was this game frustrating? ABSOLUTELY! For a collection of players that we accuse of having such high "basketball IQ's," they play REALLY, REALLY stupid for extended periods of time!

[Columbuseer]

Observations from a Dummy: WLU versus Malone

Malone was a very disciplined and well-coached team. Both teams played very good half-court defense, limiting the effective FG% to around 50%. WLU had a sub-par game shooting the three. Most of the stats were quite close.

IMHO, WLU won the game because:
- They forced 20 turnovers on 11 steals, which is way above Malone's average. The pressure also disrupted Malone.

- Marlon Moore's rebounding and defense - Malone was getting many offensive second chances on rebounds, before he entered the game. He had the explosive jumping ability to rise above a crowd of opponents and get tough rebounds. Many times Marlon was surrounded by several Malone players and he came down with the ball. Marlon made some critical help defense blocks on Butler and blocked Ernst without fouling, whereas Ernst was drawing fouls on other players. It should be noted that Marlon kept the ball in play after the block, which allowed WLU to start their transition offense.

- WLU with Patrick, Malik and Luke shut down Butler for Malone for most of the game, although he hit some deep threes when the game was mostly out of reach late in the game.

Areas for Improvement

1. Player technical fouls are selfish actions that hurt the team and are uncharacteristic of WLU. It could have cost them the game.

2. Inexplicably, with a 17 point lead and on the verge of a blowout, WLU regressed into their stumbling, bumbling 1-on-1 drives for contested shots against multiple defenders in the last 5 minutes of first half, resulting in empty possessions and allowing Malone to go on a 17-2 run. It is simply not necessary. There is no need for difficult shots, when we have so many outstanding shooters. Empty possessions without a great shot at this level will result in a loss, as exemplified by Fairmont against Mercyhurst.

3. They missed too many block outs, which allowed rebounds.

Statistic	West Liberty Regular Season	MALONE
POINTS	94	89
FGM	36	29
FGA	80	67
FGPCT	45.0%	43.3%
3FGM	9	8
3FGA	26	28
3FGPCT	34.6%	28.6%
FTM	13	23
FTA	21	28
FTPCT	61.9%	82.1%
REBOUND OFFENSIVE	17	13
REBOUND DEFENSIVE	28	32
REBOUND TOTAL	45	45
ASSISTS	16	13
TURNOVERS	9	20
BLOCKS	5	3
STEALS	11	4
Num Possessions	81	86
Points per Possession	1.16	1.03
Assists per 100 Possessions	19.8	15.1
Assists / FG Made %	44.44%	44.83%
Assist to Turnover Ratio	1.78	0.65
Turnovers per 100 Possessions (< better)	11.1	23.3
Opponent Defensive Rebounds	32	28
Offensive Rebound Efficiency %	34.7%	31.7%
Effective FG %	50.6%	49.3%
Effective FG% Difference (team- Opp.)	1.4%	-1.4%
FGA % Diff ((team FGA-Opp.FGA)/Opp.)	19.4%	-16.3%
Forced Turnovers	20	9
Opponent Possessions	81	86
Forced Turnovers % of Opp. Possession	23.3%	11.1%

[boatcapt]

if wlu keeps regressing to 1-on-1 [lay for 5 mins like they did in first half, they won't win against a championship caliber team.

As a one-on-one team, WLU is average at best and probably not even a playoff team. Yet, we have a couple of players who just don't get that. Seems like every few games this starts to pop up and doesn't "go away" until we either lose OR almost lose to a bad team.

[Scrub]

Did he get ejected in first half or second? If second, he can't play today regardless.

Whatever it was happened in the first half. Not actually sure if it was an ejection or just a technical. He didn't play in the second half, but that could be as much about Howlett's dog house as an ejection.

But what I find curious is that the box score only lists one technical--Luke Dyer's second half T. There's no mention of a T or an ejection relating to Sarson in the box score. And once again, due to COVID, the play-by-play crew is in the crow's nest, so they didn't really know what happened either.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Did he get ejected in first half or second? If second, he can't play today regardless.

[boatcapt]

I am sure he has learned his lesson.

It may not be relevant to the technical, but I think the common practice of talking to the refs after a foul is quite pointless to say the least and breaks concentration and focus. The vast majority of calls are quite indisputable, and players appear childish for disputing them. Another immature practice that has trickled down from NBA.

And when was the last time you saw a ref change his call after a player "discusses" a foul call with him? Nothing good ever comes from it...only bad.

[Columbuseer]

Yes, but as one of the guys who got T'd up, you have to wonder if that little experiment is over. Coach asks you to step up and take on big minutes in the biggest spotlight. You respond with a few monster rebounds on good block outs against a good rebounding team . . . and then get a stupid technical which stops the momentum of your team's blackout and spurs a Malone run to get back in it. Coach might think twice about entrusting you with those same minutes today.

I actually expect we'll see a bit more of Hazelbaker today. Ernst was too athletic for Hazelbaker, so Moore & Sarson took some of those minutes down low yesterday. But Sarson isn't hanging with McManus. Hazelbaker is the only one strong enough to challenge McManus in a back-to-the-basket situation. And Marlon is going to need one of his patented heroic playoff performances today.

I am sure he has learned his lesson.

It may not be relevant to the technical, but I think the common practice of talking to the refs after a foul is quite pointless to say the least and breaks concentration and focus. The vast majority of calls are quite indisputable, and players appear childish for disputing them. Another immature practice that has trickled down from NBA.

[Scrub]

How about Sarson getting run? That came out of nowhere. Did he play much during the regular season? He gave some good minutes

Yes, but as one of the guys who got T'd up, you have to wonder if that little experiment is over. Coach asks you to step up and take on big minutes in the biggest spotlight. You respond with a few monster rebounds on good block outs against a good rebounding team . . . and then get a stupid technical which stops the momentum of your team's blackout and spurs a Malone run to get back in it. Coach might think twice about entrusting you with those same minutes today.

I actually expect we'll see a bit more of Hazelbaker today. Ernst was too athletic for Hazelbaker, so Moore & Sarson took some of those minutes down low yesterday. But Sarson isn't hanging with McManus. Hazelbaker is the only one strong enough to challenge McManus in a back-to-the-basket situation. And Marlon is going to need one of his patented heroic playoff performances today.

[Layton]

How about Sarson getting run? That came out of nowhere. Did he play much during the regular season? He gave some good minutes

[Scrub]

the technical fouls are selfish and inexcusable.

I didn't see them on the broadcast. It seemed like those fouls happened off camera or away from the ball. And with the announcers positioned up on the track instead of at the scorer's table (due to distancing and COVID), they didn't really have a lot of insight into those fouls either. Do you know what happened? That kind of thing is very uncharacteristic of WLU players.

[Layton]

Definitely give credit to Malone but we should be closing better than that

[Columbuseer]

the technical fouls are selfish and inexcusable.

[Columbuseer]

if wlu keeps regressing to 1-on-1 [lay for 5 mins like they did in first half, they won't win against a championship caliber team.

[Scrub]

What an implosion before halftime

Credit to Malone. A lot of teams will just fold up the tents after a blackout. Malone withstood about 3 of them and hung around all game. Great effort by the Pioneers.

[Layton]

What an implosion before halftime