Iup basketball

[IUP24]

I always wanted to hear John Reily's thoughts on that night (Gannon coach).

It's a neat idea. It just backfired miserably. Wrong opponent. Biggest crowd in there ever and it was dead silent for the first 9-10 minutes of the game. I remember Joe saying it psyched his team out.

Schedule it against Clarion, not the (then) best defense in the league.

Amazingly, IUP was winning that game at halftime.

It's a good story.

Haven't read the board for a week or so and saw Silent Night came up again.

I laugh how this topic seems to come up every single year during a lull. It's amazing how that night still lives on. I was one of the individuals who came up with the idea, so anyone with questions or complaints can direct them to me. It was unique and a ton of fun. And it worked. Here's the actual story...

What many don't know is that we started that whole thing right around Thanksgiving during the fall semester as basketball season was beginning to heat up. Myself and a few buddies were working together to increase student attendance at basketball games. And although there were things we asked for help from some individuals within IUP for, most of what we did was simple grassroots marketing. We started the "Crimson Crazies" twitter account, which got passed down after we graduated in 2015, and that account is totally inactive (sadly) now.

One night at Twisted Jimmy's, we were enjoying a few adult beverages and wanted to come up with some gimmick that would get students actually excited to attend a D2 basketball game. So we thought of Taylor University's annual "Silent Night" tradition and thought, "wouldn't that be really cool?" So we picked a Saturday night game for the spring semester and sent out a tweet that night saying that we were going to host "Silent Night," have a costume contest, etc. We got everyone involved and when we left campus for that extended break we never stopped tweeting about it. It was total grassroots. Zero university involvement (at first). Just a couple guys with a love of college basketball who wanted to create a big time atmosphere for one night. Frats and sororities were all engaged. All of the major student run IUP social media accounts which weren't IUP affiliated were part of pushing it. It gained a ton of momentum over the winter break. Everybody was talking about what ridiculous costume they were going to wear for "Silent Night." The frats and sororities were arguing about who was going to be the best dressed for a game that was 2 months away.

When we got back to campus, we wanted to see what we could do to keep the buzz going. So we decided one day to start pushing the actual goal, which was to set the attendance record. So we created the hashtag #PackTheKCAC. We pushed that so hard and it somehow just took off. We encouraged people to just randomly finish tweets with #PackTheKCAC, and they actually did it. Somewhere along the line, you could actually feel a real energy on campus getting ready for a game a few weeks out. People (not us) started putting up fliers on campus. The daily email that got sent out to students started to talk about Silent Night and #PackTheKCAC every day.

Eventually, Giant Eagle Express reached out to us via twitter and asked about the event, and soon we were contacted by the athletic department and the university got involved with really promoting the game. Giant Eagle Express ended up purchasing 800 tickets for the game and passed them out to the community, for free, to help #PackTheKCAC. The Indiana Gazette even ran a story on it. The week of the game #PackTheKCAC was actually trending in the Pittsburgh area. It was mentioned on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh. It had buzz as being "the biggest college basketball game in Western PA that weekend." We had Jim Colony and Josh Miller tweeting at us. We had twitter accounts like Eatn' Park (seriously) tweeting #PackTheKCAC.

Admittedly, I didn't know what to really expect the day of the game. But it blew away all of our expectations. The entire closed side of the KCAC was filled with students behind the basket. The primary student section across from the IUP bench was filled before halftime of the women's game. I believe a game last year broke the record from that night by about 100-200 people, but I'll do what everyone else does when talking about attendance on this message board... "That number was made up. It wasn't a butt's in seats number." I still believe we hold that record. To this day I've never seen that building filled like that.

I obviously wish IUP won the game. But I don't believe Silent Night had anything to do with the outcome. IUP led at halftime, took control early in the 2nd half, and then they just had no answer for Adam Blazek down the stretch. They came into a tough environment and won a game on the road - tip the cap... I think people too quickly jump to the final score without recognition of what truly went into that and how it became what it did. I watch these games on the stream now and students either don't show up or they are sitting on their hands. IUP could do well from having a couple students a few beers deep at a bar trying to come up with a promotional idea to generate some serious buzz for a basketball game. Silent Night got students who typically wouldn't have cared to show up to a basketball game; and maybe they had a good time and went again. That's ultimately what it's about and how you build a fanbase. The fact that it's still talked about here shows (and proves) that the end goal was successful. It's a great college memory. And it's something I am happy that I was part of.

[Ship69]

My question at this point is more regarding roster construction and not necessarily with roster management. I think there was a pretty clear understanding that this team was going to be different than the last four. I recognize that at this point there are injuries and other factors, but this team at this stage is just bad. Not sure how else to describe them. And it makes me ask this question... How did it get here?

To be clear, I think the critical domino that put this team in this position was the unexpected transfer of Tomiwa after last year. Even with this roster, they are probably way better with him on the team.

But I do question what Joe is evaluating, or what he thinks he's getting, with many of the guys he's bringing in. We talk about the "Joe Doghouse" and him not playing guys. Jaheim Bathea was hyped as perhaps the best high school PG he ever recruited. He played in like 4 games and Joe tossed him to Siberia. We have Dolan Waldo this year. Those are just two very, very recent examples. But it seems as though he's missing on a ton of high school recruits. He has a higher hit rate on some of the international guys he brings from the prep ranks (Cobo, Tomiwa, Marcel, etc.) and the multi-year D1 transfers (Jones, Morris, etc.). From a foundational perspective, it's going to be much, much harder to both get and keep the multi-year guys transferring down. You simply have to be able to identify high school talent who can play for your program. And I'm not saying that as though he's not gotten great high school players (Ethan Porterfield, Malik Miller, Armoni Foster, etc.). It does seem though that the quality of guy he is brining in seems to be dropping, and he seems to be giving up on those guys way earlier than before.

I guess my ultimate point here is that it seems that there are valid questions regarding multiple things:
1) How did this roster (at this program) have so little high end talent (with the understanding that this was going to be a "down" year)?
2) Why does it seem like so many of the highly hyped high school recruits of late seem to not live up to it?
3) Why do those guys seem to get benched so quickly and not provided game action to figure it out at the college level?

I'm not necessarily saying I am pinning everything on Joe (although I don't think he's done a great job this year). It is just pretty wild to me how bad this entire team is. That just doesn't happen overnight.

With the portal and the uncertainty about how HS prospects will turn out, I don't think it's ever been harder to maintain quality depth at a D2 program. If you're not in the top echelon and get a potentially star player, you immediately start to worry about who might poach him from you. If you're at a place like IUP or WL, you might lose a star to a low-level D1 program. If you're a run-of=the-mill PSAC team, you might lose out to a stronger PSAC team or another D2 conference.

The loss of Tomiwa obviously had a big impact on the IUP front line this season, and the loss of the guards to injury and academia has compounded that. There are a lot of PSAC teams who are a player or two away from being pretty good. I think Ship's prospects will improve when 6-8 transfer Donovan Hill hits the court, although I imagine it will take him a while to get integrated into the team. The Raiders still won't be world-beaters as a lot of the players have been inconsistent, but the addition of another big will mean better adjustments on defense and fewer guys playing out of position. They recently had 6-3 Denzel Figueroa guarding Edinboro's 7-footer at times.

Conversely, a lot of good or above-average PSAC teams are only an injury or two away from dropping to average or below. Although this was never a vintage IUP team, they were certainly above the league average with Dillard and Clarke in the lineup. Without those guys, they will struggle. I'm with you in wondering why Lombardi doesn't give some of these guys more minutes in his current situation, but I know far less about what goes on with him than you.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

My question at this point is more regarding roster construction and not necessarily with roster management. I think there was a pretty clear understanding that this team was going to be different than the last four. I recognize that at this point there are injuries and other factors, but this team at this stage is just bad. Not sure how else to describe them. And it makes me ask this question... How did it get here?

To be clear, I think the critical domino that put this team in this position was the unexpected transfer of Tomiwa after last year. Even with this roster, they are probably way better with him on the team.

But I do question what Joe is evaluating, or what he thinks he's getting, with many of the guys he's bringing in. We talk about the "Joe Doghouse" and him not playing guys. Jaheim Bathea was hyped as perhaps the best high school PG he ever recruited. He played in like 4 games and Joe tossed him to Siberia. We have Dolan Waldo this year. Those are just two very, very recent examples. But it seems as though he's missing on a ton of high school recruits. He has a higher hit rate on some of the international guys he brings from the prep ranks (Cobo, Tomiwa, Marcel, etc.) and the multi-year D1 transfers (Jones, Morris, etc.). From a foundational perspective, it's going to be much, much harder to both get and keep the multi-year guys transferring down. You simply have to be able to identify high school talent who can play for your program. And I'm not saying that as though he's not gotten great high school players (Ethan Porterfield, Malik Miller, Armoni Foster, etc.). It does seem though that the quality of guy he is brining in seems to be dropping, and he seems to be giving up on those guys way earlier than before.

I guess my ultimate point here is that it seems that there are valid questions regarding multiple things:
1) How did this roster (at this program) have so little high end talent (with the understanding that this was going to be a "down" year)?
2) Why does it seem like so many of the highly hyped high school recruits of late seem to not live up to it?
3) Why do those guys seem to get benched so quickly and not provided game action to figure it out at the college level?

I'm not necessarily saying I am pinning everything on Joe (although I don't think he's done a great job this year). It is just pretty wild to me how bad this entire team is. That just doesn't happen overnight.

I think (1) Joe's in the twilight stage and (2) he lost his top recruiters (Fudala, etc.). Put it this way, I don't think he's sitting in the bleachers watching too many high school games. Add to it, he's missing on many of the transfers he's signing -- something he rarely did years back.

I have no idea why Bethea got in the dog house. Joe gave up on him way too early. Same with Kyle Polce. Add to it his refusal to play (at all) Ousmane Diop, his love fest with a current player, etc.

I do think had this team stayed healthy, it could have finished in the 20-8 range and perhaps snuck in to the NCAAs - acceptable for a 'rebuild' year. Now, obviously, that's not even a pipe dream. I don't think they'll even finish at .500. Joe's teams are essentially built around 3 players -- and 2 of them are gone. He's left with a hodge podge of role players -- most now playing out of position. Bryce Radford would have been a great addition to this team in his intended role (sniper off the bench playing 10-12 mpg). Now, he's going to play 35 mpg -- and, that's clearly not his strength.

Dallis Dillard was just unfortunate. It happens. Garvin Clarke is a whole different animal. It blows my mind how players in the program can be academically ineligible. Apparently they don't monitor this stuff like they used to.

What's left of this team is going to struggle to score 55 points a game. How many games can they win scoring at that low number? My guess is not too many. They just lost their two best defenders, too. Ethan is going to get double-teams the rest of the season.

[IUP24]

Upon closer look, I'd project the following:

Shepherd - Likely a loss but possible. Rams can be real good or real average.

UPJ - 1-1
SRU - 1-1
Clarion - 1-1
SH - 1-1
Mercy - 1-1
Boro - 2-0
Cal - 0-2
GU - 0-2


That has them finishing the season 7-10 (in final 17 games). This would put them at 14-14 overall.

If they somehow get Clarke back, obviously that would help tremendously.

If they don't get him back, and Joe doesn't add the redshirts, things could get ugly. There's just so little scoring aside from EP (and every team knows it).

I actually have serious doubts if this remaining roster (assuming no Clarke and no redshirts) can actually split with SRU, Clarion, SH and Mercy. Cal and GU will hammer them.

Playing at ESU (very good) with a makeshift lineup was doomed from the start. I suspect they look more in sync Wednesday.

Dillard and Clarke was just such a massive loss on both ends of the floor (who both played 37 mpg).

My question at this point is more regarding roster construction and not necessarily with roster management. I think there was a pretty clear understanding that this team was going to be different than the last four. I recognize that at this point there are injuries and other factors, but this team at this stage is just bad. Not sure how else to describe them. And it makes me ask this question... How did it get here?

To be clear, I think the critical domino that put this team in this position was the unexpected transfer of Tomiwa after last year. Even with this roster, they are probably way better with him on the team.

But I do question what Joe is evaluating, or what he thinks he's getting, with many of the guys he's bringing in. We talk about the "Joe Doghouse" and him not playing guys. Jaheim Bathea was hyped as perhaps the best high school PG he ever recruited. He played in like 4 games and Joe tossed him to Siberia. We have Dolan Waldo this year. Those are just two very, very recent examples. But it seems as though he's missing on a ton of high school recruits. He has a higher hit rate on some of the international guys he brings from the prep ranks (Cobo, Tomiwa, Marcel, etc.) and the multi-year D1 transfers (Jones, Morris, etc.). From a foundational perspective, it's going to be much, much harder to both get and keep the multi-year guys transferring down. You simply have to be able to identify high school talent who can play for your program. And I'm not saying that as though he's not gotten great high school players (Ethan Porterfield, Malik Miller, Armoni Foster, etc.). It does seem though that the quality of guy he is brining in seems to be dropping, and he seems to be giving up on those guys way earlier than before.

I guess my ultimate point here is that it seems that there are valid questions regarding multiple things:
1) How did this roster (at this program) have so little high end talent (with the understanding that this was going to be a "down" year)?
2) Why does it seem like so many of the highly hyped high school recruits of late seem to not live up to it?
3) Why do those guys seem to get benched so quickly and not provided game action to figure it out at the college level?

I'm not necessarily saying I am pinning everything on Joe (although I don't think he's done a great job this year). It is just pretty wild to me how bad this entire team is. That just doesn't happen overnight.

[Ship69]

Upon closer look, I'd project the following:

Shepherd - Likely a loss but possible. Rams can be real good or real average.

UPJ - 1-1
SRU - 1-1
Clarion - 1-1
SH - 1-1
Mercy - 1-1
Boro - 2-0
Cal - 0-2
GU - 0-2


That has them finishing the season 7-10 (in final 17 games). This would put them at 14-14 overall.

If they somehow get Clarke back, obviously that would help tremendously.

If they don't get him back, and Joe doesn't add the redshirts, things could get ugly. There's just so little scoring aside from EP (and every team knows it).

I actually have serious doubts if this remaining roster (assuming no Clarke and no redshirts) can actually split with SRU, Clarion, SH and Mercy. Cal and GU will hammer them.

Playing at ESU (very good) with a makeshift lineup was doomed from the start. I suspect they look more in sync Wednesday.

Dillard and Clarke was just such a massive loss on both ends of the floor (who both played 37 mpg).

Shepherd's matchup against IUP gets a ton better with Dillard and Clarke out as the strength of the Rams team is at guard, led by Dan McClain-Corley and Phillip Jordan. I thought that McClain-Corley was one of the harder guards to defend one-on-one of any Ship played last season.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Upon closer look, I'd project the following:

Shepherd - Likely a loss but possible. Rams can be real good or real average.

UPJ - 1-1
SRU - 1-1
Clarion - 1-1
SH - 1-1
Mercy - 1-1
Boro - 2-0
Cal - 0-2
GU - 0-2


That has them finishing the season 7-10 (in final 17 games). This would put them at 14-14 overall.

If they somehow get Clarke back, obviously that would help tremendously.

If they don't get him back, and Joe doesn't add the redshirts, things could get ugly. There's just so little scoring aside from EP (and every team knows it).

I actually have serious doubts if this remaining roster (assuming no Clarke and no redshirts) can actually split with SRU, Clarion, SH and Mercy. Cal and GU will hammer them.

Playing at ESU (very good) with a makeshift lineup was doomed from the start. I suspect they look more in sync Wednesday.

Dillard and Clarke was just such a massive loss on both ends of the floor (who both played 37 mpg).

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I asked this here a couple weeks ago and ... is IUP good?

If they finish .500 it will be a small miracle.

[hawks16]

I asked this here a couple weeks ago and ... is IUP good?

[hawks16]

It's been the worst IUP sports year I can remember.

IUP volleyball would like a word.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP has an off day this Saturday (bye date). With just one game this week, it's the perfect spot to break in Denzel and Romero-Sanz.

I don't see how Joe can't activate both of them. What happens if this current mish-mash active roster gets another sprained ankle, illness, etc.?

Keeping them in tracksuits, my opinion, is throwing in the towel on the season.

Granted, these two aren't going to save the season, but at the very least they should at least make IUP more competitive.

[IUPalum]

No doubt. Denzel and Romero-Sanz need activated ASAP. Watson (third redshirt) is also injured and likely out for the season.

Redshirted players are there for an emergency. Joe has a CODE RED emergency.

S.O.S.

Bryce Radford can’t be your code red savior!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

EP did things on the court yesterday that he’s never had to do. He’ll wear out quickly if he has to dribble up the court, dribble drive, etc!

It’s time to open up the cupboard and have all hands on deck.

No doubt. Denzel and Romero-Sanz need activated ASAP. Watson (third redshirt) is also injured and likely out for the season.

Redshirted players are there for an emergency. Joe has a CODE RED emergency.

S.O.S.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

EP did things on the court yesterday that he’s never had to do. He’ll wear out quickly if he has to dribble up the court, dribble drive, etc!

It’s time to open up the cupboard and have all hands on deck.

I guess this was one way to get Waldo a ticket off Joe Island.

[IUPalum]

Correct. EP is going to get smothered with double-teams, etc.

Further reason to activate the redshirts.

Without help, it's going to be a VERY long winter.

EP did things on the court yesterday that he’s never had to do. He’ll wear out quickly if he has to dribble up the court, dribble drive, etc!

It’s time to open up the cupboard and have all hands on deck.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Fresh off of Christmas break IUP competed very hard against a high caliber opponent. But the grind of playing every few days in January and February is set to begin. This team is going to struggle to score 50 points a game and their best player left standing, who has a long history of his own health issues, is going to draw even more attention from opponents. And a lot teams Joe has beat up on over the years are going to relish the opportunity to have a legit opportunity to beat him twice.

It’s going to be a long winter, just gotta hope that guys who are going to be here in the future get some good experience.

Correct. EP is going to get smothered with double-teams, etc.

Further reason to activate the redshirts.

Without help, it's going to be a VERY long winter.