West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Another example of the WLU Achilles heal. Until we address it, we are always going to be vulnerable to a high quality big man.

[boatcapt]

Another example of the WLU Achilles heal. Until we address it, we are always going to be vulnerable to a high quality big man.

[Columbuseer]

Yup. This one felt like the Sleva game all over again. And it may not even be that the guards are great shooters . . . but if they're great on that night, that's all that matters. I don't remember the guy who Sleva kept kicking it out to (Justin somebody), but I think he had a higher percentage that night than normal. I don't know enough about Daemen to know if Wallace and Harris are usually lights out from deep, but, man, they couldn't miss today.

I was worried when I saw 2 3 point shooters in the high 30% range on their roster after 4 games

[Scrub]

Very good analysis. Perfect storm is:
1. great big man
2. plus a couple of great 3 point shooters to receive the kickout from big man
3. experienced well coached team.

throw in a bad night for wlu and things get ugly.

Yup. This one felt like the Sleva game all over again. And it may not even be that the guards are great shooters . . . but if they're great on that night, that's all that matters. I don't remember the guy who Sleva kept kicking it out to (Justin somebody), but I think he had a higher percentage that night than normal. I don't know enough about Daemen to know if Wallace and Harris are usually lights out from deep, but, man, they couldn't miss today.

[Columbuseer]

I'm not sure what Daemen usually looks like, but they were clearly the better team on the floor today. They absolutely manhandled the Hilltoppers. I get that when a cold-shooting team meets up with a hot-shooting team, it usually gets ugly. But all the credit here goes to Daemen. They imposed their will on the Toppers and got everything they wanted. The big boy was a force even when he wasn't anywhere near the play. The Toppers missed more layups than I've ever seen them miss. It was as though they were looking for the big guy even if he wasn't there. He was altering shots from 5 feet away just because the ball handler was looking for him when they elevated. So, in truth, the cold-shooting night for the Toppers was actually caused by the Daemen defense as much as anything else. Hats off to Daemen. They played a magnificent game, and this young Hilltopper team will need to learn a lot from this game. This is a good learning experience for the young guys. It'll be interesting to see how they rebound from this pasting. Let's just say I wouldn't want to be Salem.

Few individual observations:
-- Boswell lost his cool a few times and made dumb fouls because of it. We saw that when he was Cardinal, but that's not the Hilltopper way. He's gonna need to get that under control. The Hilltoppers are hated enough just because of being a consistently winning team; adding a hothead player into the mix only makes that worse. We haven't seen that in a Hilltopper uniform since Chris Morrow, and it's not a good look.

-- Pat Robinson had a terrible defensive day. He was regularly chasing his man after getting beaten off the first step. He looked bad today.

-- Nobody could make shots today. But Yoakum's release on the three ball today looked really wonky. He wasn't in the flow at all.

It was just one of those nights for the Hilltoppers. Again, all credit to Daemen; they matched the Hilltopper intensity and pace AND made shots. Interesting to see how the Toppers respond.

Very good analysis. Perfect storm is:
1. great big man
2. plus a couple of great 3 point shooters to receive the kickout from big man
3. experienced well coached team.

throw in a bad night for wlu and things get ugly.

[Scrub]

I'm not sure what Daemen usually looks like, but they were clearly the better team on the floor today. They absolutely manhandled the Hilltoppers. I get that when a cold-shooting team meets up with a hot-shooting team, it usually gets ugly. But all the credit here goes to Daemen. They imposed their will on the Toppers and got everything they wanted. The big boy was a force even when he wasn't anywhere near the play. The Toppers missed more layups than I've ever seen them miss. It was as though they were looking for the big guy even if he wasn't there. He was altering shots from 5 feet away just because the ball handler was looking for him when they elevated. So, in truth, the cold-shooting night for the Toppers was actually caused by the Daemen defense as much as anything else. Hats off to Daemen. They played a magnificent game, and this young Hilltopper team will need to learn a lot from this game. This is a good learning experience for the young guys. It'll be interesting to see how they rebound from this pasting. Let's just say I wouldn't want to be Salem.

Few individual observations:
-- Boswell lost his cool a few times and made dumb fouls because of it. We saw that when he was Cardinal, but that's not the Hilltopper way. He's gonna need to get that under control. The Hilltoppers are hated enough just because of being a consistently winning team; adding a hothead player into the mix only makes that worse. We haven't seen that in a Hilltopper uniform since Chris Morrow, and it's not a good look.

-- Pat Robinson had a terrible defensive day. He was regularly chasing his man after getting beaten off the first step. He looked bad today.

-- Nobody could make shots today. But Yoakum's release on the three ball today looked really wonky. He wasn't in the flow at all.

It was just one of those nights for the Hilltoppers. Again, all credit to Daemen; they matched the Hilltopper intensity and pace AND made shots. Interesting to see how the Toppers respond.

[Columbuseer]

[Twitter Generation friendly LOL]

Shaw game Notes 1
Shaw chose an up-and-down fast paced game and attacked the press. Fatigue affected defense and shot selection between 15 & 10 min. of 1^st half. Numerous WL mini-runs, with a blackout between 15 and 12 min. of 2nd half. 2^nd platoon played more than 1^st

[Columbuseer]

Jeez Columbus...your post is MUCH too short!!!

ROFL. Good one Boat!
243 characters - I may decide to get a twitter account yet!

[boatcapt]

You probably know this but replay is on Shaw athletic web site. Historic gym with windows with concrete wall 3 ft behind end line. Guys would shield their eyes from sun at times. I enjoyed it.

think you are going to really like this team. Robinson is an incredible athlete with high basketball iq.

Jeez Columbus...your post is MUCH too short!!!

[Columbuseer]

FYI
first Miami heat, now Boston Celtics invite st. Crutch to meet with their coaches.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.mia...236519008.html

[Columbuseer]

Hey, I can make it all the way to 280 characters...most days....if I had my nap.

Haha. Good one.
Twitter doubled the length to 280 to allow more room for ending the tweet with an ad hominem argument. LOL.
(football boards are notorious for this LOL)

[Columbuseer]

We're grateful to Columbus for his insights (he apparently went to Raleigh last week, I'm assuming). We're itching to get a look at our 2019 Toppers. There was no live feed (that I could find) provided by Shaw, and the student TV crew was dispatched to Buckhannon for the football game as opposed to making the trip to Raleigh last weekend. So, absent the ability to get a look, we're relying on Columbus's recaps here. But yes, Cal69, I suspect the recaps will get shorter once we all have access to the ability to actually watch the games. ; )

You probably know this but replay is on Shaw athletic web site. Historic gym with windows with concrete wall 3 ft behind end line. Guys would shield their eyes from sun at times. I enjoyed it.

think you are going to really like this team. Robinson is an incredible athlete with high basketball iq.

[CALUPA69]

LOL.

General is not a synonym for brief.
They term general alluded to the entire Wl team as opposed to specific individuals.

But your point is well taken. I had forgotten that complete understanding of any issue or complex social problem can be achieved in 140 characters or less, which matches the attention span of a lot of folks today. LOL. Just kidding...

Hey, I can make it all the way to 280 characters...most days....if I had my nap.

[Scrub]

We're grateful to Columbus for his insights (he apparently went to Raleigh last week, I'm assuming). We're itching to get a look at our 2019 Toppers. There was no live feed (that I could find) provided by Shaw, and the student TV crew was dispatched to Buckhannon for the football game as opposed to making the trip to Raleigh last weekend. So, absent the ability to get a look, we're relying on Columbus's recaps here. But yes, Cal69, I suspect the recaps will get shorter once we all have access to the ability to actually watch the games. ; )

[Columbuseer]

If this general, I'm guessing specific is probably short story ish !!! LOL

LOL.

General is not a synonym for brief.
general observations are typically accurate but not always. I should have warned folks it was long or broken it up into team comments, game notes and individual comments in separate posts.

But your point is well taken. I had forgotten that complete understanding of any issue or complex social problem can be achieved in 140 characters or less, which matches the attention span of a lot of folks today. LOL. Just kidding...

at least I gave u a scouting report on Mansfield! LOL