West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

FYI official press release of final 4 players in 2019-2020 recruiting class
https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...er-roster.aspx

I like Butler ... saw him many times at Latrobe games. He's a WL type. His grandfather attends a lot of IUP games.

He's nowhere near 6'5" but ... none of them are. He needs a solid year in the weightroom. I'd guess he is about 165 lbs. Max.

Get that year done and he'll be a big player down there.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

FYI official press release of final 4 players in 2019-2020 recruiting class
https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...er-roster.aspx

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Spread the word about WLU Men's Basketball!

The folks in the Wheeling/Steubenville/Pittsburgh area don't realize don't realize how fortunate they are to have an extraordinarily high level of basketball being played in their backyard by athletes who are actually serious students, as evidenced by many statistics. If I were a coach or a parent who had an aspiring basketball team/player, I would take my team/child to the ASRC as much as I could to watch how WLU plays the game. A few statistics to support my assertion:

Scoring: > 100 points per game - # 1 in D1 and D2 - They have averaged over 100 pts a game for something like 12 out of the last 14 years.
Points per possession: > 1.25, - #1 in D1 and D2
Team 3 point shooting - >42% - #1 in D1 and D2
Winning % over the last decade - 90% - #1 in D1 and D2
Effective Field Goal % (Accounts for higher value of 3 point shots ) - 5 players over 60% (Steph Curry averages 60%, albeit from greater distance).
Team free throw percentage well over 70%
At least one Academic All American (only 15 chosen nationwide) for seven consecutive years.
National Player of the Year 3 out of last 8 years
Low turnovers per game
Intense pressure, trapping defense on makes and misses.
Great team ball movement on offense and unselfish passing where a player passes up a good shot to give a teammate a great shot.
A team that goes 10 deep - if you are good enough to play, you will play significant minutes - 9 players average over 10 minutes per game as WLU uses a two platoon system.
Some of their players have had the opportunity to play professionally outside USA after graduation.
In 2018, they had one All-American and one freshman All-American!

What you won't see at WLU.
- 6-9 guys who can do amazing dunks but for whom every foul shot is an adventure
- Boring NBA-like dribble drive, where one or two players monopolize the ball on offense (e.g., Houston Rockets and the James Harden offense)
- Poor team passing skills
- Selfish play
- Exorbitant ticket and concession prices

Given the quality of basketball, it should take a season ticket to even a get a seat in the ASRC for all games! It is approximately $70 for something like 15 games, which is less than $5 per game. They don't gouge you on the concession prices, so it an affordable family event.

Spread the word!

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Can't tell for sure until the rosters are out but I can't see more than 1-2 losses for WL on that schedule. I don't see anybody within a mile of them in the MEC next year. Concord and ND were gutted. WJ is a mess. Shepherd is gone. Fairmont may be competitive but will be nowhere near WL. If they can win at Daemen I could see an undefeated regular season. There's been several years the MEC is extremely deep. I just can't see it this coming season.

Fairmont has some very talented RS Fr and Freshmen coming in. But the style will be very different than Mazzula. They may be much better at the end of the season just like WL was last year.

Some really high end talent has left that gave WL fits for years.
Voorhees and Thurman[sic] (all Philly Guard) from ND
Jolly and company from FSU and Emrick transferred to Findlay
Woody and Cannady and everyone else from WJU
Bolte from Concord
The big guy who could shoot threes from Europe for WVW


The outlook for WL is intriguing
Will the pirate give up his patch?
How do you defend BBY - Bolon, Boswell and Yoakum?
Dyer is a solid PG
Will anyone challenge Moore for the 5th spot?
I am really interested in seeing how Alessandro plays after redshirting. He is a bigger stronger version of Yoakum, based on seeing both in high school.
McKinney and Robinson look the part of D1 guards - Robinson was Freshman of year in his conference. How quickly can they adjust?
Which of the Freshmen will redshirt?

Watching Butler play, I was really impressed by his basketball IQ and skills.
In an all star game and down by 30, Conley called time out before the half and took charge, telling the team "we're going to an aggressive 1-3-1 zone and proceeded to give them a crash course during the time out. They came back and won.
Hazelbaker - high basketball IQ and very coachable. Hit 38% of 3s and is an aggressive rebounder at 6-8.
Shifflett - play on national level prep team and hit 46% of 3s.

Looks like we won't have guys languishing at the end of the bench because they have not bought in to the style, based on the highlights I saw.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Sweeping the MEC is a tall order just to take a chance at a couple of "statement" games at the beginning of the season. Hope it doesn't come back to bight us either via a lower tourney seeding because of "extra" losses or as happened to IUP, no tourney at all because of injuries or other unexpected losses.

Seems like quite the gamble.

Can't tell for sure until the rosters are out but I can't see more than 1-2 losses for WL on that schedule. I don't see anybody within a mile of them in the MEC next year. Concord and ND were gutted. WJ is a mess. Shepherd is gone. Fairmont may be competitive but will be nowhere near WL. If they can win at Daemen I could see an undefeated regular season. There's been several years the MEC is extremely deep. I just can't see it this coming season.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Good points - I agree with you that Ben has the right balance. Gives you exposure to multiple conference competition and possibility of statement win on the road (Daemen). If we sweep the MEC (which had a lot of talent leave) and the tourney, then one or 2 losses early probably should not hurt us.

Sweeping the MEC is a tall order just to take a chance at a couple of "statement" games at the beginning of the season. Hope it doesn't come back to bight us either via a lower tourney seeding because of "extra" losses or as happened to IUP, no tourney at all because of injuries or other unexpected losses.

Seems like quite the gamble.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I would not be surprised if the WLU second platoon is much, much stronger than the second platoon of last year. I think we have WL type players but this year they have much more raw athletic ability and scoring versatility. If true, that does not bode well for our opponents.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

The 17-18 IUP team you reference wasn't ready for that opening weekend against Findlay and Ferris State. Cobo missed the entire fall camp and those games were his first action of the season. That was a a good team by March -- up until the Seton Hill debacle which saw Glover suspended and Dante break his wrist. If those events didn't happen in Greensburg that was a team headed for the Regional.

Joe played probably the toughest schedule I've ever seen last year. I actually believe they were wore out by the end and had regressed. Figure they went 30-3 and lost twice to one team. They beat every good team in the Region (minus WL as they didn't play).

I think it's a fine-line scheduling the non-conference. I like what Ben did. He took one marquee game, a couple 'semi-tough' games and a few cream puffs.

Good points - I agree with you that Ben has the right balance. Gives you exposure to multiple conference competition and possibility of statement win on the road (Daemen). If we sweep the MEC (which had a lot of talent leave) and the tourney, then one or 2 losses early probably should not hurt us.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

It is high risk/reward...the risk being that you torpedo your season in the first week! The only reward is that you might be a better team in 5 months...assuming you are playing in 5 months!

The 17-18 IUP team you reference wasn't ready for that opening weekend against Findlay and Ferris State. Cobo missed the entire fall camp and those games were his first action of the season. That was a a good team by March -- up until the Seton Hill debacle which saw Glover suspended and Dante break his wrist. If those events didn't happen in Greensburg that was a team headed for the Regional.

Joe played probably the toughest schedule I've ever seen last year. I actually believe they were wore out by the end and had regressed. Figure they went 30-3 and lost twice to one team. They beat every good team in the Region (minus WL as they didn't play).

I think it's a fine-line scheduling the non-conference. I like what Ben did. He took one marquee game, a couple 'semi-tough' games and a few cream puffs.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Imho it seems like high risk high reward scenario. I think SOS matters as a tie breaker to host. If u win conference regular season and tourney SOS might offset one or two close losses to allow a 25-3 team to host over a 27-1 team with weak SOS.

It is high risk/reward...the risk being that you torpedo your season in the first week! The only reward is that you might be a better team in 5 months...assuming you are playing in 5 months!

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Can we block Boat from seeing Ben's quotes about a tough non con schedule? That's gonna ruin his narrative this upcoming season about how it cost them the hosting rights....

For the record, it's the direction that WL was going last year with WC and Kutz on opening weekend...and it's continuing...Most of us on this board liked the tougher games... except for a select one or two...

Glad they are scheduling tougher.. I didn't study the teams that rec'd bids and determine if SOS tipped the scales for any teams, but may be it did...

What will ruin their chance at hosting will be if they lose all three or perhaps even two of three. As IUP learned in 17-18, impossible to overcome going 1-3 to start the season to even make the NCAA field, much less having a chance to host the regionals.

But at least IUP would have been prepared to play in the NCAA if they had made it because they played tough games to open the season! Unfortunately, those tough game losses to start the season basically ended their season before it began.

As I've said many times, losses mean MORE than SOS.[/QUOTE]

Imho it seems like high risk high reward scenario. I think SOS matters as a tie breaker to host. If u win conference regular season and tourney SOS might offset one or two close losses to allow a 25-3 team to host over a 27-1 team with weak SOS.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Can we block Boat from seeing Ben's quotes about a tough non con schedule? That's gonna ruin his narrative this upcoming season about how it cost them the hosting rights....

For the record, it's the direction that WL was going last year with WC and Kutz on opening weekend...and it's continuing...Most of us on this board liked the tougher games... except for a select one or two...

Glad they are scheduling tougher.. I didn't study the teams that rec'd bids and determine if SOS tipped the scales for any teams, but may be it did...

What will ruin their chance at hosting will be if they lose all three or perhaps even two of three. As IUP learned in 17-18, impossible to overcome going 1-3 to start the season to even make the NCAA field, much less having a chance to host the regionals.

But at least IUP would have been prepared to play in the NCAA if they had made it because they played tough games to open the season! Unfortunately, those tough game losses to start the season basically ended their season before it began.

As I've said many times, losses mean MORE than SOS.[/QUOTE]



I'd relax a bit.

Shaw was just 17-13 last year and that was with Amir Hinton. Saint Augustine's is the CIAA version of Edinboro (11-17 a year ago). Ohio Dominican was 17-11 a year ago and took some beatings against better teams.

Salem and Ohio Valley will be glorified scrimmages for WL.

The trip to Daemen will be tough but the rest of the non-conference schedule will be 25-35-point wins.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[QUOTE
"With that in mind, I'm really excited about our schedule. Having our first three games on the road against quality competition is perfect. The CIAA teams are always tough at home and Daemen has just about everybody back from last year's Top 25 team. That's a great early-season challenge."
Non-conference foes coming to the hilltop this season include Salem (W.Va.), Ohio Valley (W.Va.) and an Ohio Dominican team that returns two 1,000-point scorers and the leading rebounder in the nation.
Howlett believes playing a strong non-conference schedule not only helps prepare the Hilltoppers for the grind of the MEC season, it also helps West Liberty's post-season resume when the NCAA ranking committee reviews the team's body of work.
"Winning is hard," said Howlett, who is an eye-popping 57-9 in his two seasons at the WLU helm. "Our conference puts multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament every year so you have to be ready to play every night. You have to learn how to work through adversity as a group. You have to learn how to win."

Can we block Boat from seeing Ben's quotes about a tough non con schedule? That's gonna ruin his narrative this upcoming season about how it cost them the hosting rights....

For the record, it's the direction that WL was going last year with WC and Kutz on opening weekend...and it's continuing...Most of us on this board liked the tougher games... except for a select one or two...

Glad they are scheduling tougher.. I didn't study the teams that rec'd bids and determine if SOS tipped the scales for any teams, but may be it did...[/QUOTE]

What will ruin their chance at hosting will be if they lose all three or perhaps even two of three. As IUP learned in 17-18, impossible to overcome going 1-3 to start the season to even make the NCAA field, much less having a chance to host the regionals.

But at least IUP would have been prepared to play in the NCAA if they had made it because they played tough games to open the season! Unfortunately, those tough game losses to start the season basically ended their season before it began.

As I've said many times, losses mean MORE than SOS.

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[QUOTE
"With that in mind, I'm really excited about our schedule. Having our first three games on the road against quality competition is perfect. The CIAA teams are always tough at home and Daemen has just about everybody back from last year's Top 25 team. That's a great early-season challenge."
Non-conference foes coming to the hilltop this season include Salem (W.Va.), Ohio Valley (W.Va.) and an Ohio Dominican team that returns two 1,000-point scorers and the leading rebounder in the nation.
Howlett believes playing a strong non-conference schedule not only helps prepare the Hilltoppers for the grind of the MEC season, it also helps West Liberty's post-season resume when the NCAA ranking committee reviews the team's body of work.
"Winning is hard," said Howlett, who is an eye-popping 57-9 in his two seasons at the WLU helm. "Our conference puts multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament every year so you have to be ready to play every night. You have to learn how to work through adversity as a group. You have to learn how to win."
[/QUOTE]

Can we block Boat from seeing Ben's quotes about a tough non con schedule? That's gonna ruin his narrative this upcoming season about how it cost them the hosting rights....

For the record, it's the direction that WL was going last year with WC and Kutz on opening weekend...and it's continuing...Most of us on this board liked the tougher games... except for a select one or two...

Glad they are scheduling tougher.. I didn't study the teams that rec'd bids and determine if SOS tipped the scales for any teams, but may be it did...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Nearly everyone is back from NCAA tourney team - They average about 80 points a game and 38% of threes. They have a returning 6-9 2nd team All American. This will be a good test for WLU in competing against a team with a dominant big man and with 3 point shooters.

Don't know much about Shaw or St. Augustine, but I would expect them to have some great players and be difficult to guard in one-on-one dribble-drive situations, if Va State is indicative of the conference.

These 3 games will reinforce the coach's emphasis about the extraordinary effort required to win for the freshmen and transfers; If they don't quite buy in yet and are not ready to give 100%, they could lose some of these games.

I remember Daemen lost to Mercyhurst by two last year real early in the season. They played Slippery Rock for a few years prior.