Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

New Castle's Ralphie Blundo is now 'finally' official.

He's going to be fun to watch.

[TheBigCat2192]

Big shout out to Manny Yarde for partaking in the IUPatty's chaos.

Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long, long time.

[IUP24]

Hey, maybe he follows the Stefan Osborne track — can't get on in the floor after December but shows up in March in the Elite 8!

Big shout out to Manny Yarde for partaking in the IUPatty's chaos.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Hey, maybe he follows the Stefan Osborne track — can't get on in the floor after December but shows up in March in the Elite 8!

Ask old Manny about that one lol

[hawks16]

My point is he the exact type of guy that we sit here in August gushing over being an ace in the hole off the bench, but never plays - at all - when they start playing games.

Joe has a lot of work to do to prove me wrong in that assessment.

Hey, maybe he follows the Stefan Osborne track — can't get on in the floor after December but shows up in March in the Elite 8!

[IUP24]

Very similar.

Sfanos is less reserved. Sfanos will chuck from all over and can create shots. Police kind of parked in the corner and waited for the ball.

Kyle was a better defender. Call it close to even overall.

My point is he the exact type of guy that we sit here in August gushing over being an ace in the hole off the bench, but never plays - at all - when they start playing games.

Joe has a lot of work to do to prove me wrong in that assessment.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Granted, it only took a couple years for Joe to go from Andrew Weigand down low to the Tevin Hanners and Cobo Diaz types -- or teams that thrived scoring 55 ppg to teams that scored 75 ppg. Isn't now the time to change the style up and try to score 90 if you have any aspirations of competing with Gannon and West Liberty (in your region) or, gulp, Nova Southeastern if your true goal is to win a national title? An eight-man rotation isn't going to win in 2025. And an eight-man rotation in the transfer portal era is just bad strategy? Unless Mark Arbuckle is going to outfit everyone on the team with new cars and six figures in NIL money, IUP's going to have to start hitting and winning on the fringes.

Joe's going to have a deep bench next year.

However, him using said deep bench is a different subject. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

I suspect we'll have 1-2 more years of Joe's 1990s ball and then the next coach will be hired to play a more modern style.

Joe's system has won an awful lot of games. He's just built back to back poor rosters. He's going to get one more year with these young guys. I suspect 1-2 of them leave after next season.

[hawks16]

Correct, which will be his role next year. He's going to certainly play a good bit but based on Joe's history, the fourth guard has a fairly limited role.

Granted, it only took a couple years for Joe to go from Andrew Weigand down low to the Tevin Hanners and Cobo Diaz types -- or teams that thrived scoring 55 ppg to teams that scored 75 ppg. Isn't now the time to change the style up and try to score 90 if you have any aspirations of competing with Gannon and West Liberty (in your region) or, gulp, Nova Southeastern if your true goal is to win a national title? An eight-man rotation isn't going to win in 2025. And an eight-man rotation in the transfer portal era is just bad strategy? Unless Mark Arbuckle is going to outfit everyone on the team with new cars and six figures in NIL money, IUP's going to have to start hitting and winning on the fringes.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Obviously the others will load up, but Joe is in a significantly better spot today than he was a year ago.

Yes, this is a far better spot than the roster has been in the last two years at this exact time. Now they just have to avoid the late departure that nobody saw coming like when Clarke left last year. I’d definitely still like to see them bring in a proven forward. You know exactly what you have in Damir, but not really Bautista. He could be great or he could be Romero-Sanz 2.0. We won’t know until we actually see him play.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

You're forgetting Herring and Grove logging some minutes somewhere.

Sure did. Herring will certainly play a lot.

I assume Grove and Bautista start underneath.

[IUPalum]

No matter how one looks at it, Joe is replacing Sarp's starting spot with Dallis, and now also has an experienced deep threat as the fourth guard. It's overall a very significant upgrade.

Merraro, Dallis and Moore will obviously play very heavy minutes. Unless in foul trouble, Joe won't sit those three very often. Dallis is a night and day upgrade at both ends.

As of now, Joe has Sarp, Pickens and Sfanos off the bench.

Underneath, they have Bautista (finally), Damir, Grove and Triggs.

That's (10) guys. We know they are adding another post player, which will make (11).

I suspect he'll sign one high school player (12) and then 1-2 walk-ons for extra practice bodies.

That should do it.

The others in the West took heavy losses. Joe is going from the having the kiddie table to having the experienced roster.

Obviously the others will load up, but Joe is in a significantly better spot today than he was a year ago.

You're forgetting Herring and Grove logging some minutes somewhere.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I thought the same thing. Hard to compare the two right now as Polce was the better player this year but was also a senior while Sfanos was just a sophomore. The other big difference is strength. I’m not sure Sfanos could beat my wife in arm wrestling so he’s going to have to spend some time in the weight room. He is quick though and I was impressed with his motor when they played at IUP. Getting him for two years is really helpful.

No matter how one looks at it, Joe is replacing Sarp's starting spot with Dallis, and now also has an experienced deep threat as the fourth guard. It's overall a very significant upgrade.

Merraro, Dallis and Moore will obviously play very heavy minutes. Unless in foul trouble, Joe won't sit those three very often. Dallis is a night and day upgrade at both ends.

As of now, Joe has Sarp, Pickens and Sfanos off the bench.

Underneath, they have Bautista (finally), Damir, Grove and Triggs.

That's (10) guys. We know they are adding another post player, which will make (11).

I suspect he'll sign one high school player (12) and then 1-2 walk-ons for extra practice bodies.

That should do it.

The others in the West took heavy losses. Joe is going from the having the kiddie table to having the experienced roster.

Obviously the others will load up, but Joe is in a significantly better spot today than he was a year ago.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Sounds a lot like Kyle Polce... LOL

I thought the same thing. Hard to compare the two right now as Polce was the better player this year but was also a senior while Sfanos was just a sophomore. The other big difference is strength. I’m not sure Sfanos could beat my wife in arm wrestling so he’s going to have to spend some time in the weight room. He is quick though and I was impressed with his motor when they played at IUP. Getting him for two years is really helpful.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Sounds a lot like Kyle Polce... LOL

Very similar.

Sfanos is less reserved. Sfanos will chuck from all over and can create shots. Police kind of parked in the corner and waited for the ball.

Kyle was a better defender. Call it close to even overall.

[IUP24]

Statistically he’s been a solid player off the bench. He only had one start at USCB and averaged 8.2 ppg. He seemed to be a fit for the USCB system but maybe he got homesick. Having a guy that can come off the bench and be a threat to hit 2-3 3’s per game certainly won’t hurt IUP.

Sounds a lot like Kyle Polce... LOL