West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Not at all ... just saying it's hard to get a vibe if they are 'really' strong or just really good.

I can think of another school in the Atlantic I wished took 'somewhat' more of the same path with the non-conference.

I agree that jury is still out. Some encouraging indicators that are somewhat independent of competition.
1. 4 players hitting over 50% of threes (at least 25 attempts each). Bolon is hitting 46% on 52 attempts but many of his are from NBA range. Team is averaging over 45% on over 200 attempts.

2. Incredible intensity and pressure on defense. Has to be exhausting. I bet their practices are knock down drag out battles.

3. No loss of efficiency or continuity among 12 players. They all play like starters.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Not at all ... just saying it's hard to get a vibe if they are 'really' strong or just really good.

I can think of another school in the Atlantic I wished took 'somewhat' more of the same path with the non-conference.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

It's hard to assess WL at this point.

Cheyney (0-4)
Seton Hill (3-3)
D&E (1-3)
Glenville (0-6)
WVW (0-7)
Urbana (0-6)

Total: 4-29 record

The MEC games ... you guys can't help it those three stink. From a D2 follower's view ... just hard to see what's there so far.

It is but that's how WLU has always rolled. Early season is seen almost as "extended spring training" in baseball...practice were they refine the playing rotations and work on their "strokes" while stacking up W's and preparing for the meat of the MEC season and beyond. It isn't the "accepted" way to do things but WLU has never done things the "accepted" way. Can't argue with success though.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

It's hard to assess WL at this point.

Cheyney (0-4)
Seton Hill (3-3)
D&E (1-3)
Glenville (0-6)
WVW (0-7)
Urbana (0-6)

Total: 4-29 record

The MEC games ... you guys can't help it those three stink. From a D2 follower's view ... just hard to see what's there so far.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Crutch off to the best start in school history at 5-0 down at Nova.

Wouldn't be at all surprised to see Nova listed in the others receiving votes section of the NABC poll next week! Well done sir...WELL DONE!!!

I wonder at which point coaches for bad programs start to sit up and go huuummmm...I wonder if I could do that here? Someone get me every tape you can on West Liberty and Nova this year!

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Marlon Moore in a boot last night in street clothes...Hopefully just an ankle sprain...Any word?

Another good performance from the Hilltoppers last night...the schedule will surely get tougher with each game...Probably played the worst of the MEC so far...Glenville, WVW and Urbana... But they are pounding them..

I expect Monty will get more quality shots / touches as the competition ramps up...

Great shooting and great pressure so far

If Ben coaches like Crutch, at some point around mid season he will shorten the bench somewhat with the minutes for the bottom two or three performers getting severely reduced. Think these "extra" minutes will go to the top five performers (usually the starters but not always) which should result in increased opportunities for Monty.

Biggest surprise by far so far this year has been Bolon...leading scorer AND leading rebounder. But the second biggest surprise has been Tyler Primmer...VERY solid stat line before earning a start in place of Meininger last night and he more than responded to the start with 11 points on 5 for 7 shooting and 5 rebounds in 19 minutes of work. I think these two have kind of overshadowed the two transfers we thought would be huge cogs this year.

[Layton]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Crutch off to the best start in school history at 5-0 down at Nova.

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Marlon Moore in a boot last night in street clothes...Hopefully just an ankle sprain...Any word?

Another good performance from the Hilltoppers last night...the schedule will surely get tougher with each game...Probably played the worst of the MEC so far...Glenville, WVW and Urbana... But they are pounding them..

I expect Monty will get more quality shots / touches as the competition ramps up...

Great shooting and great pressure so far

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

#9 makes sense right now. Were seeing some very very good things right now that bode well for the rest of the year. As Columbus pointed out, greatly improved 3 point shooting as a team...multiple players are stepping up from 3 range...new coach is doing his best old coach imitation...etc. We'll see how they do when competition becomes tougher but so far so good. They have the look of a team that has a chance of making some noise.

There are some team in the MEC that were picked to finish pretty high that are on the verge of playing themselves out of contention for the regular season MEC title. Some pretty big games coming up (Notre Dame at WLU...WLU at Shepherd...WJ at Fairmont)!

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I think initial rating of 17th was due to player losses, questions about height and unknowns about 30 yr old new coach.
Yes, cold shooting night will test the toppers, especially against hot shooting opponent.

But there are encouraging observations so far in young season.
1. Many more great, not just good, 3 pt shooters lowers risk of all them being ice cold. Note different hot shooters from prior games:
Wvwc - french and meininger
Gsu - monterosa, Watson, saben
D&e- bolon, Griffin, Watson
Shu- bolon, Watson, french
Cheyney- bolon, Watson, meininger, Griffin, allen, saben,. French
2. To date, they have made 95 of 210 three point shots which is 45.2%. last year the team averaged 35.9% for entire season. Given the shooters they lost last year, that is a huge and unexpected improvement.
3. Increased sharing - 27 assists, + 17 turnover margin, 17 steals per game.

I expect some stats to tighten up as schedule gets tougher, but so far it is promising. These eye popping stats may have played a role in their climb to #9.

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I think WLU was ranked so far down almost solely because Crutch left and we had a rookie coach. Same exact team with him at the helm probably gets ranked around 5. Seeing how WLU has performed and how Big Ben has coached has convinced the polsters that maybe WLU is not going to have a major drop off without Crutch. If they continue to rack the Ws when the sched gets tougher, they will float back up to the top 3 were we are acoustomed to being.

Boat-that was a perfect opportunity to debut a new conspiracy theory on how the NCAA wanted to keep WLU down in the rankings early in the season, so it's harder for them to host the regional? Come on, we expect more out of you...

Actually, I think they were voted so far down (for them!) in the preseason polls bc they lost a starting team...Dennis, Clay, Hoehn, Grossenbacher...that's a TON to lose, and to assume they would not miss a beat, would be crazy...but as it turns out...This team gets after it. Love the pressure / hustle / effort.
I know they are not going to go undefeated, but it will be interesting to see who can withstand their pressure for 40 mins and get a win...

Of course the night they shoot 7-41 three's, they'll have to overcome, but great start to the Coach Howlett era...

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I think WLU was ranked so far down almost solely because Crutch left and we had a rookie coach. Same exact team with him at the helm probably gets ranked around 5. Seeing how WLU has performed and how Big Ben has coached has convinced the polsters that maybe WLU is not going to have a major drop off without Crutch. If they continue to rack the Ws when the sched gets tougher, they will float back up to the top 3 were we are acoustomed to being.

[CelticCoach]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

From watching on the net, I am seeing the team embrace his style and get more effective each game. Two of his freshmen, Hardy and stampley are very athletic. Nick smith is another frosh who is a perfect fit too. Hardy is so smooth I wonder why he is not at d1 as he is the complete package and scored 28 in one game. Last game they hit 45 % of their threes.

Signed two 6-6 guys for next year.

Imho only two of their bigs have bought in - Gibson and tarin.
A big risk for this season - The other bigs are not playing. By all rights Linn should have beaten them as their bigs dominated them and their guards were very good.
In the last 5 mins nova had to go to a zone. Linn lost because they did not play unselfishly and did not play smart.

I agree familiarity will help opponents. Unfortunately kids are used to taking and making difficult shots on the playground and not playing against intense defensive pressure, but also having success on the court with these habits.

Teams find it difficult to suddenly change their style and treasure every possession 2 times a year when playing against crutch. Fairmont comes to mind. Dominating athletes. But I could really count on them to have at least 7 bad possessions a game which is all west lib needed.

Every possession no matter what your system is important. However, I think WLU jumped up in the polls based on stats not on opponent or schedule. I think this is a solid team but teams they have played have not won many games. I would like to see them strengthen the schedule and play crossover with GMAC and Western PSAC teams

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I don't know, Boat. Who is to say he won't keep recruiting the area he knows best? He got Nick Smith down there. I could see him continuing to hit Ohio and WV hard. He certainly has the connections -- and a ton to offer.

Would not surprise me to use Ohio contacts. However, Two early signers for next year are from Florida. His two true freshman from Florida are at an entirely different athletic level from the ohio/pa/wv guys he has signed.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

From watching on the net, I am seeing the team embrace his style and get more effective each game. Two of his freshmen, Hardy and stampley are very athletic. Nick smith is another frosh who is a perfect fit too. Hardy is so smooth I wonder why he is not at d1 as he is the complete package and scored 28 in one game. Last game they hit 45 % of their threes.

Signed two 6-6 guys for next year.

Imho only two of their bigs have bought in - Gibson and tarin.
A big risk for this season - The other bigs are not playing. By all rights Linn should have beaten them as their bigs dominated them and their guards were very good.
In the last 5 mins nova had to go to a zone. Linn lost because they did not play unselfishly and did not play smart.

I agree familiarity will help opponents. Unfortunately kids are used to taking and making difficult shots on the playground and not playing against intense defensive pressure, but also having success on the court with these habits.

Teams find it difficult to suddenly change their style and treasure every possession 2 times a year when playing against crutch. Fairmont comes to mind. Dominating athletes. But I could really count on them to have at least 7 bad possessions a game which is all west lib needed.