Iup basketball

[IUPalum]

Confused why Sarp plays so much. Most of the time he’s like a fish out of water.

Merraro was very good but he didn’t get a ton of help.
Grove was really good on offense, got abused on defense. I agree, I’m not sure why Triggs didn’t play more. He was giving them an offensive punch.

The halftime video was a nice touch.

Slippery Rock played great. Credit to them.

Merraro and Grove will be good D2 players. Merraro is undersized so he'll always be a liability on D but his speed makes up for a lot of his size short comings. Grove just needs to get stronger and keep learning.

The Sarp situation is similar to the KJ situation last year. WHY do they see the minutes that they do??? We'll never know that answer other than our hunches. Neither is/was a good D2 player.

[IUPHawks24]

Sarp 23 worthless minutes

Grove and Triggs start to get hot and Joe pulls them right away.

That's all that needs said.

Confused why Sarp plays so much. Most of the time he’s like a fish out of water.

Merraro was very good but he didn’t get a ton of help.
Grove was really good on offense, got abused on defense. I agree, I’m not sure why Triggs didn’t play more. He was giving them an offensive punch.

The halftime video was a nice touch.

Slippery Rock played great. Credit to them.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Sarp 23 worthless minutes

Grove and Triggs start to get hot and Joe pulls them right away.

That's all that needs said.

They lost that game before it tipped off.

This team needs to bring a little juice. It isn't good enough to just show up.

I hope to see a little more fire and excitement Wednesday night.

[TopperNation]

I also want to share this, in case anyone didn't know: https://tonycoccagna.substack.com/p/...eeman?r=411ko9

Thanks for posting this. D Free is from my H.S. and is a hometown legend, as he would come back and workout against my H.S. team from time to time. He was a great ball player and an even better human being.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Personnel decisions aside, they just don’t have any punch. They’re too young at key positions and they don’t have a true “go to” guy in big spots. I found myself thinking there’s some talent on the team and probably enough pieces to build around, but as currently constructed it’s easily the weakest roster in recent memory. That has nothing to do with the heart and hustle they show, or how hard they’re working (per Joe’s post-game interview). I believe all that to be true.

The other problem is young teams typically don’t defend well and that has been a challenge for this team all year. When they get down 8-10, they can’t get stops when they need them and even when they do they lack the offensive punch to cut into leads. I think we all know when they get down by double digits it’s over. All that’s left for this season is either just miss the PSAC tournament or get knocked out in the first round. I wonder what the alumni players that were there yesterday were thinking.

[IUPalum]

Sarp 23 worthless minutes

Grove and Triggs start to get hot and Joe pulls them right away.

That's all that needs said.

[tonyc]

Saturday's IUP-Rock game story: https://open.substack.com/pub/tonyco...meOnShare=true

[IUPbigINDIANS]

UPJ and Seton Hill both also lost.

IUP needs one this week if it wants to keep playing.

Today isn't worth talking about.

[Fightingscot82]

Once again, Joe is burnt toast. Woof.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I hate to say it, but I think there’s a good chance the SRU losing streak in Indiana ends today. Last year the winning streak over Cal came to an end and all good things eventually do. The wild card is IUP plays much better at home and they should have brought back some confidence after the win at Seton Hill.

It has been a while, but IUP was actually up 6 at halftime at Rock, but then got demolished 44-28 in the second half. It’s worth noting that Rock went on a four game losing streak after beating IUP, but during that stretch they had only won 3 of 10. They’ve since won two in a row, although against two of the teams near the bottom in Clarion and UPJ. In other words, it’s hard to say what Rock team will show up today. I wouldn’t bet on this game if I was a gambler.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

If Joe wants to win this game Herring better play 30+

Rock's guards are way too big and fast for Joe's normal lineup.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

For you degenerates out there, the men's line today is:

SRU -5.5

Over-Under, combined points, 144.5

Over-Under IUP 69.5 points

[IUPbigINDIANS]

UPJ and Clarion both lost last night.

IUP is now tied with Seton Hill (both 7-10 conference records). However, IUP swept the Griffins this year.


Looking ahead at what remains for the current bubble teams:

IUP - SRU, Cal, at Clarion

UPJ - Gannon, at Seton Hill,

Seton Hill - at Edinboro, UPJ, at Gannon

Clarion - IUP



Based on the schedule ... it's still hard to predict anything. This league is so jacked up this year.

IUP has SRU and Cal, but both games are in the KCAC. The finale, at Clarion, is a wild card. Clarion will likely be eliminated. So, we'll see how interested they are ... last year they had a player skip the last game to go on Spring Break. Not joking. So, we'll see. Joe has to be looking at 2-1.

UPJ has a tough path. Winning in Erie will be very difficult. Playing in Greensburg isn't easy, either. Seton Hill's zone complicates a lot of the UPJ offense. That could literally be a play-in game, which means the McKenna Center will be humming.

Seton Hill - The Griffins also have a tough finish. They'll be underdogs in McComb and at Gannon. Keep in mind they did beat Gannon this year in Greensburg.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Freeman was so much fun to watch. He was a great all-around player but what I remember most were his thunderous dunks. He had a knack for getting them in big moments too and would bring down the fieldhouse when he did.

RIP Derrick. :(

[Chuck Norris]

I also want to share this, in case anyone didn't know: https://tonycoccagna.substack.com/p/...eeman?r=411ko9

Oh man, that is terrible news. To me, the 94-95 team is still the best in school history and Derrick and Darryl Webb are the best players I’ve personally ever seen at IUP. I was a teenager during that 93-96 run that put IUP basketball on the national map and have a lot of great memories of games in the Field House, especially against Cal, where the place got crazy in a way that the KCAC, for all it’s great amenities, just can’t match.

Rest in peace, Derrick.