VC Transfers

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Former Lock Haven guard Matt Cerruti has did a grad transfer to Albany.

[Columbuseer]

Sports in general and certainly basketball in all but lopsided blowouts is about adjustments by individual players and coaches. For example, if everytime a particular player shoots a 3, his defender is able to block it, pretty quickly the player needs to adjust by either doing an up fake and driving past his defender OR by passing the ball...during a TO, I doubt the coach is going to tell the player the answer is to "jump higher." Same thing with a coach...If the opposing team is shutting down what you do and is moving out to a large lead, the answer is probably not "try harder." Doesn't matter if you're style has resulted in 100 straight games were you've won by 40 points and in those games you've shot 100%, you are expected to adjust and adapt in THIS game.

To adjust and adapt, you have to have the "tools" to adjust. As the saying goes, if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Part of a coaches job is to stock his tool box with enough tools to allow him to pull out a wrench on the one time a year when a hammer just isn't working. Coaches answer should not always be, "hit it harder."

I think that you have touched on the beauty and advantage of the wlu style. Players have the freedom to make decisions and adjust in real time. St. Crutch explained it in an hour long podcast hosted by a basketball blogger. His goal is to get players to see the situation on the floor ( military calls it situational awareness), quickly analyze it, and then react appropriately. As a result, their basketball iq increases much faster than players running set plays all the time. Makes them harder to scout too. Wlu coaches would prefer that they never had to call a play. Of course, you still have to hit open looks, and execute fundamentals better than the opponents.

[boatcapt]

Defeats are also what happens when:

• Opponent shoots incredibly high %
• Wlu shoots abnormally low %
• Wlu departs from wlu brand of basketball
• Opponent has better players
• Etc.

I will take > 85% wins over a large sample Size (decade) over anecdotal counter-examples any day.
Without the wlu style, do you u really think great players would still be reaching out to wlu to recruit them and spurning offers from d1?
it is not like west liberty is the Lexington of D2. Before this style, how many times did wlu even make the tourney in D2?

Besides defeating a top 10 and top 20 team in the regional, imho I think Wlu could have beaten 6 teams in the elite 8 with their style.

Each year we are getting increasingly skilled and athletic players who want to play with freedom and Joy that is the wlu style

Sports in general and certainly basketball in all but lopsided blowouts is about adjustments by individual players and coaches. For example, if everytime a particular player shoots a 3, his defender is able to block it, pretty quickly the player needs to adjust by either doing an up fake and driving past his defender OR by passing the ball...during a TO, I doubt the coach is going to tell the player the answer is to "jump higher." Same thing with a coach...If the opposing team is shutting down what you do and is moving out to a large lead, the answer is probably not "try harder." Doesn't matter if you're style has resulted in 100 straight games were you've won by 40 points and in those games you've shot 100%, you are expected to adjust and adapt in THIS game.

To adjust and adapt, you have to have the "tools" to adjust. As the saying goes, if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Part of a coaches job is to stock his tool box with enough tools to allow him to pull out a wrench on the one time a year when a hammer just isn't working. Coaches answer should not always be, "hit it harder."

[Columbuseer]

Marlon could always choose to come back as well. But, yes, this means a guy like Lamont McManus (if he chooses to come back) is licking his chops!

Marlon acquitted himself quite well in the 2019 mec Tourney. Marlon puts on the superman cape in March!

[Columbuseer]

The Powell kid from D&E has already found a home at a low-major D1 (signed with Jacksonville). So much for guards not being in demand. Good for him to fulfill a dream . . . and in his hometown no less. Similar story to Yahel Hill in that way.

Good for him. Perfect fit for out of control, give me the rock, dribble drive aau offense of d1. Another team for Gonzaga to slice and dice.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The Powell kid from D&E has already found a home at a low-major D1 (signed with Jacksonville). So much for guards not being in demand. Good for him to fulfill a dream . . . and in his hometown no less. Similar story to Yahel Hill in that way.

The caveat is did he sign with Jacksonville as a scholarship player or a walk-on? A lot of times it's the latter.

[Scrub]

And if Powell was getting D1 looks, you have to figure there are mid-major programs throwing themselves at Bonner. Interested to see where he ends up.

[Scrub]

The Powell kid from D&E has already found a home at a low-major D1 (signed with Jacksonville). So much for guards not being in demand. Good for him to fulfill a dream . . . and in his hometown no less. Similar story to Yahel Hill in that way.

[Columbuseer]

Defeats are also what happens when:

• Opponent shoots incredibly high %
• Wlu shoots abnormally low %
• Wlu departs from wlu brand of basketball
• Opponent has better players
• Etc.

I will take > 85% wins over a large sample Size (decade) over anecdotal counter-examples any day.
Without the wlu style, do you u really think great players would still be reaching out to wlu to recruit them and spurning offers from d1?
it is not like west liberty is the Lexington of D2. Before this style, how many times did wlu even make the tourney in D2?

Besides defeating a top 10 and top 20 team in the regional, imho I think Wlu could have beaten 6 teams in the elite 8 with their style.

Each year we are getting increasingly skilled and athletic players who want to play with freedom and Joy that is the wlu style

[boatcapt]

What happens is you go home.

That's what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket and your opponent figures out how to steal your basket!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Marlon can certainly be effective playing an opponents big but do we really want to have our only answer to an active skilled big be a 6'5" guy who gives up 20 to 30 pounds? You may get away with it during the regular season when you're playing teams with MAYBE one big who is decent, but what happens come tourney time when you are facing teams with a couple of skilled bigs and even several guards that are as big as the guy you have guarding their "center?"

Guess the answer is to hope that they have a bad night and/or hope you shoot 50%+ from 3. As we used to say, hope is not a strategy!

What happens is you go home.

[boatcapt]

I think the sky is the limit for Sarson and Watson. As freshmen, both had strong bodies that were able to play high level D2.
Elijah just needs to slow down a little, as I thought he was playing too fast, which is common for a freshman. But I saw glimpses that indicated he could be a matchup nightmare in a couple of years both inside and out.

Ben progressed very rapidly in getting comfortable with the speed of the game and is demonstrating a beautiful three point stroke.

If they work hard this summer and get stronger physically and in their basketball skills, they could be our answer to competing with teams with two bigs while also playing the wlu style. They both move very well, so they could play in front of bigs successfully. They will also be able to draw bigs away from the basket to defend their outside shot.

I'll give you Sarson...GREAT progress from early in the season to the end. Very, very smooth and could be the next "star" for the Toppers. Watson is a different story. Not that I think he doesn't have the tools to be good, but as you point out, he just seems to want to play at 200 miles per hour. He needs to learn when to go fast and when to slow down. I saw a number of times were he got the ball, mad a quick jump and actually shot the ball before getting to the top of his jump...funny part was that he got the ball and jumped so fast that his defender was left flat footed so he didn't need to rush the actual shot. If he can figure out when to go fast and when to slow down, he could be good...but that's not a sure thing. He does need to pack on some weight though!!

[Columbuseer]

I think the sky is the limit for Sarson and Watson. As freshmen, both had strong bodies that were able to play high level D2.
Elijah just needs to slow down a little, as I thought he was playing too fast, which is common for a freshman. But I saw glimpses that indicated he could be a matchup nightmare in a couple of years both inside and out.

Ben progressed very rapidly in getting comfortable with the speed of the game and is demonstrating a beautiful three point stroke.

If they work hard this summer and get stronger physically and in their basketball skills, they could be our answer to competing with teams with two bigs while also playing the wlu style. They both move very well, so they could play in front of bigs successfully. They will also be able to draw bigs away from the basket to defend their outside shot.

[boatcapt]

Marlon could always choose to come back as well. But, yes, this means a guy like Lamont McManus (if he chooses to come back) is licking his chops!

Marlon can certainly be effective playing an opponents big but do we really want to have our only answer to an active skilled big be a 6'5" guy who gives up 20 to 30 pounds? You may get away with it during the regular season when you're playing teams with MAYBE one big who is decent, but what happens come tourney time when you are facing teams with a couple of skilled bigs and even several guards that are as big as the guy you have guarding their "center?"

Guess the answer is to hope that they have a bad night and/or hope you shoot 50%+ from 3. As we used to say, hope is not a strategy!

[Scrub]

Big but not huge loss. More what we think he was poised to become as opposed to what he did at WLU. Also hurts to lose the one WLU player who could be classified as a "big" even though WLU didn't have him play in that role. Effectively this transfer leaves us with rail thin Elijah Watson as our only big.

Marlon could always choose to come back as well. But, yes, this means a guy like Lamont McManus (if he chooses to come back) is licking his chops!