WKU Basketball: Five Things to Look For at Hilltopper Hysteria

It feels like it’s been an eternity since basketball season ended but it’s finally back, folks. Our wait for Hilltopper basketball is just…

It feels like it’s been an eternity since basketball season ended but it’s finally back, folks. Our wait for Hilltopper basketball is just about over.

Hilltopper Hysteria is finally upon us and this year the team will be playing an entire full scrimmage for the public giving us even more time to see how this team looks at its earliest stages. There will be many things to look at but we’ll share five of the biggest things to look for during the scrimmage.

Lineups

We all want to know who is potentially going to start. Usually the white team ends up having the players that eventually start but sometimes coach Stansbury likes to mix things up and keep people guessing until November by balancing out the teams.

I would put safe money on Charles Bassey and Taveion Hollingsworth being starters again (and I’d even throw Josh Anderson in there as well) but the point guard and power forward positions will be the most interesting to see who ends up playing the most and eventually starting at those spots.

With the lineups Stansbury uses look to see which ones work out to be most efficient scoring, which players have good chemistry together, which lineup looks the strongest, and so on. He should have endless possibilities and it will be interesting to see what kind of rotations he could potentially use.

Newcomers

This team is going to have a lot of new faces so looking at them and seeing who can already look like an instant impact player will be fun.

With freshmen like Jordan Rawls and Isaiah Cozart and older players like Camron Justice and Carson Williams, one (or maybe even all of them) could end up having major roles on this team and be an instant impact player.

He should be able to play for Hysteria but I’m still hoping grad transfer Kenny Cooper gets cleared by the NCAA soon so the Tops can have more depth at point guard as well but I trust the NCAA about as much as I do gas station sushi at this point so we’ll see how that ends up.

Three Point Shooting

One thing the Tops needed last season was a couple more knock-down shooters on the court. Jared Savage made the most threes but still had some games where he was off with no one else was able to step up and consistently hit big shots when they needed them. Hopefully that changes this season.

With new players like Carson Williams, Camron Justice, and Jordan Rawls, the Tops should have more depth with three point shooting. Obviously Taveion Hollingsworth is capable of knocking some down and Josh Anderson has continued to work on his shot as well but having multiple deep shooting threats on the court at the same time can stretch the floor and keep teams from doubling Bassey in the paint.

Jeremiah Gambrell is another player who didn’t get to play much last year who could be like Jake Ohmer was by coming in and hitting a much needed three as well. Coach Stansbury should definitely have more consistent shooters this year.

“Defense Tops, Defense”

We can already tell that WKU is going to have multiple offensive threats but one thing I’m going to be looking for is how the defense does.

How do they do as a whole guarding their man? What kind of defenses will coach Stansbury run? Can we expect a nightly block party in Diddle Arena this year? All of these are valid questions.

Coach Stansbury has already eluded to his team scoring well over 70 points this season. Last season they averaged 71.4 PPG on offense while the defense held opponents to averaging just 69.3 (nice) PPG. I’d love to still see the defense hold opponents under 70 while the offensive production goes up. With shot blocking threats like Bassey and Cozart mixed with Anderson and Cooper who can get a lot of steals should help the defense continue to do solid work this year.

Explosiveness

Not sure about you guys but I want to see some big plays and high energy. Even with it just being a scrimmage I’d still expect a big Josh Anderson dunk and Bassey with some big slams as well but having explosiveness, especially coming out of the fast break, is what makes WKU so fun to watch.

Seeing plays last year where Josh Anderson gets a steal and runs the floor to literally commit murder on a basketball rim leaves fans on the edge of their seat and then out of their seats as he gets another SportsCenter Top 10 play as momentum turns in a ball game. I hope that continues this year not just with him but even more guys on the roster.

Whether it’s a huge dunk, an emphatic block, or even some flashy pass plays I expect this team to have some pizazz. I don’t want them to force it or try to do something dumb, especially in close game situations like we saw a little bit of last year but still have those plays that make the Diddle Arena crowd go absolutely bonkers helps make it one of the hardest arenas to play in. Just ask the Wisconsin Badgers.

I hope Hilltopper Hysteria goes well and everyone stays healthy. I can’t wait to see how this team looks and how they continue to develop as the season progresses. Now is the time for this team to get the job done, even with high expectations. They have the right schedule, players, and coaching staff to do something special so let’s get our red towels ready for some Hilltopper hoops in 2019.