Iup basketball

[IUPalum]

Re: Iup basketball

Bowie State visits the KCAC on (Wed) Nov. 14

Quality game very early!!!

I hope they get a good exhibition game this year.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

IUP has signed 6'10" center Shawn Ulrich from Passaic County Community College. Two years eligibility.

He had 15 boards per game last season and 139 blocks while averaging 17 ppg.

He also shoots the trey. Built like a clone of Sleva. Hope he plays like him.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

2018-19 Roster

Guards

Dante Lombardi
Malik Miller
Blake Morrow
Charles Humphries
Armani Foster

Post

Cobo Diaz (6'9")
Dom Keyes (6'8")
Willem Brandwijk (6'10")
Marko Krivacevic (6'9")
Jalen Vaughns (6'6")
Shawn Ulrich (6'10")

That's Joe's "all-in" roster.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

IUP at Fairmont State

Dec. 14


Should be a showdown of two of the top teams in Atlantic ... and country.


Brutal 3-game stretch .... Ship, @FSU, WCU

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

IUP is again hosting two November weekends.

Tip-off tournament Nov. 9 & 10

IUP Tournament Nov. 23 & 24

As usual, UPJ playing in both. Opponents TBA.

[IUP24]

IUP at Fairmont State

Dec. 14


Should be a showdown of two of the top teams in Atlantic ... and country.


Brutal 3-game stretch .... Ship, @FSU, WCU

Why would they schedule a game like that the night before the football team plays in the national championship game? Who makes these decisions? Sad!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

As per the norm everything is locked up in Fort Knox down around the KCAC. Yesterday's signing was a bit odd but that kids tape is scary good.

This will definitely be Joe's biggest team ever size-wise.

The roster as of today (so we think) has 11 scholarship players (10 on the books as Dante gets free admission).

As expected all incoming players are ready-to-play transfers. Joe wants to send Dante out in style.

I also think after two years in a row with depth issues they decided to open the checkbook.

The guard spot is still the somewhat question but Morrow and Foster are huge additions. Humphries role, I'm guessing, will be a hybrid but mainly guard. The post is insane. Athletes, shooters, blockers, .... all bases covered. The post rotation is a legit six deep.

The question may be keeping all these guys happy. There's only 200 man minutes per game.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: Iup basketball

Why would they schedule a game like that the night before the football team plays in the national championship game? Who makes these decisions? Sad!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like how you think here!

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[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: Iup basketball

2018-19 Roster

Guards

Dante Lombardi
Malik Miller
Blake Morrow
Charles Humphries
Armani Foster

Post

Cobo Diaz (6'9")
Dom Keyes (6'8")
Willem Brandwijk (6'10")
Marko Krivacevic (6'9")
Jalen Vaughns (6'6")
Shawn Ulrich (6'10")

That's Joe's "all-in" roster.

Yeah, that is some really impressive size I freely admit. But doesn't it seem like year after year we get excited over some tall dudes and then they would be nothing more than chum in the water for the Mighty Webb who stood "only" 6-5 or 6-6. Let's see some of these guys prove something on the court. You gotta do a lot to be listed in the same category as legendary bigs like Webb or Mims.

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[Bart]

Re: Iup basketball

2018-19 Roster

Guards

Dante Lombardi
Malik Miller
Blake Morrow
Charles Humphries
Armani Foster

Post

Cobo Diaz (6'9")
Dom Keyes (6'8")
Willem Brandwijk (6'10")
Marko Krivacevic (6'9")
Jalen Vaughns (6'6")
Shawn Ulrich (6'10")

That's Joe's "all-in" roster.

They will look impressive walking through airports.

[IUP24]

Yeah, that is some really impressive size I freely admit. But doesn't it seem like year after year we get excited over some tall dudes and then they would be nothing more than chum in the water for the Mighty Webb who stood "only" 6-5 or 6-6. Let's see some of these guys prove something on the court. You gotta do a lot to be listed in the same category as legendary bigs like Webb or Mims.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Cobo and Dante never leave the floor, either.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

The consensus around town seems to be the short rotation of the past just isn't working anymore. They've run in to major depth issues three straight seasons -- and missed two NCAAs because of it. Think about the past three seasons ... two of them had walk-ons playing major minutes in the final games of the season. Stuff happens but it should have never got to that point.

One big question will be if Joe is actually going to let all these imports play and not redshirt any of them. None of the four new guys have ever taken a redshirt year.

The post is getting a lot of the buzz. I don't care so much about the heights but rather what each brings to the table. Last year, hate to say it, they were kind of soft in the low post defensively. Willem came on as the year went a long.

What they add this year to go along with Cobo and Willem:

* Shawn Ulrich is 6'10" but doesn't play like it. Nasty rebounder and shot blocker. Ultra athletic. Shoots the trey. Very quick for his size. Plays very aggressive.

* Dom Keyes comes off redshirt after playing his freshman year at UPJ and then one season at Harford CC. Big-time rim protector at 6'8" and strong defender. His role won't be to score much.

* Marko Krivacevic, the 6'9" Duquesne transfer, was the exact piece this team needed. By all reports he's a bit of a hot head ... very intense and gets after you. Big rebounder and also shoots deep well.

* Jalen Vaughns is said to be the best athlete on the team -- and would put up 30 a game on the playground. His freshman year was, well, a freshman year. Nice thing with freshmen is they turn in to sophomores. He showed flashes of offense last season but seemed overwhelmed in the system. Recall he was added in (very) late August last summer. Late start. Lot of upside down the road.


Guards (new additions):

* Armoni Foster comes off redshirt (if it ever comes in to play, it will be a 'medical' redshirt as he was injured in camp last season). Big PG at 6'3" or so. He's a scorer by all accounts.

* Blake Morrow (6'4" SG) was the sixth man at Eckerd -- a very solid member of the SSC. Two years at IUP. Probably the first pure 'shooting guard' here in several years.

* Charles Humphries is probably the most intriguing member of the class. A former superstar at Aliquippa (and West Liberty recruit), he played two years of JUCO. He's not the 175 pounds he was two years ago. He's really developed and is probably in the 210-215 range to go with his 6'6" height. Big-time athlete. Instant (huge) upgrade on defense from the guard position. Likely to play a hybrid role at IUP and will be the point on the press.


How you blend all this talent together with returning players Cobo Diaz (likely preseason All-Everything), Dante Lombardi, Malik Miller and Willem, ... that's why Joe makes the big bucks. I think we all knew Joe wasn't taking any high school players in the this class. He's pretty set up for the next two years -- this upcoming season in particular.

The non-West schedule, what's known of it so far, is pretty challenging. Bowie, (at) Fairmont, and the Big 4 of the East. The opponents for IUP's two weekend tournaments haven't been announced yet. It will be interesting to see if Virginia State returns. Urbana has come for the past 5-6 years. U of Sciences usually does, too.

The roster is at 11 players right now (not counting a couple walk-ons).

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: Iup basketball

That is some nice work there, IUPBigIndians. The depth issues the past couple of seasons have been completely unacceptable for the calibre of program that Bravado has built in his time at IUP. Using a six or seven man rotation simply does not work. I actually hope that none of these guys get redshirted. Time to turn the entire stable loose.

One thing that has drawn a fair amount of speculation is if this is Bravado's last stand at IUP. Some seem to think that he is gearing up for one final NCAA run and then will leave with Dante. I have no idea on any of that, but it certainly is a subject that has raised some conjecture.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Hard to say. I've heard the rumblings of him riding in to the sunset. Then again, he's only 58 and IUP is a sweet gig.

This is a big year on several levels. First and foremost, expectations are very high. Joe has a pretty big hand to play. This has been the target year for a long time.

Secondly, it's become clear some have been turned off a bit the past three years. The depth thing has got real old. They've lost some fans ... and I'm not talking about the type who worry about the gate price. They've lost a ton of those, too.

I think for the first time in the Joe era he's also kind of got passed by here recently. Tort and Tom are both coming off Regional and Final Four appearances.

It's not like things have been catastrophic. Joe's gone 71-20 the past three seasons including a 57-9 record in PSAC play. He's also won three straight West titles and had three straight West Players of the Year.

But, despite those fancy numbers, they've only won one NCAA game and missed the dance twice. No PSAC titles, either.

The 'how' and 'why' is what has turned many off.

You can clearly argue the two NCAA misses came in Greensburg. The infamous 2015 upset loss and then the also infamous goon fest of this past season.

All three of the past three teams should have went dancing. Not a doubt in my mind they were all good enough. This past year was one bomb after another and the lack of depth finally was really exposed. Watching that PSAC Tournament game against Edinboro minus Dante and Glover was just painful. When Malik went down for a month he was replaced with a walk-on. It's been a constant issue.

In 2015 when Cottrell was lost for the season he was replaced with a walk-on they got from the intramural court. Still, with Norfleet and Daddy, that team was still very good. Everybody remembers the Seton Hill loss but don't forget the week before they blew a huge second half lead and lost at Slippery Rock.

This group has also lost some swagger in big games. I think this class addressed all those items.

I totally agree with you. Put the hammer down. No redshirts this year.