Iup basketball

[IUP24]

Yeah if you don’t make at least the regional final or have a dominant team that has the postseason taken away by COVID, it’s tough to make the list. The 13-14 team that lost the 3OT game to West Lib is also worthy of consideration.

The ‘10-11 team is one I’ll always love that kind of gets overlooked because they “only” made the Sweet 16 on the heels of the dominant group the year before. If Willi Estrella had been healthy enough to give them anything in that great regional final down at WL I think they could’ve gone back to the NC game and maybe won it.

I honestly believe that the 19-20 team was the best IUP team that I can say that I watched. You had Chuckie and Malik Miller, plus all of the same guys you had over the last two years on that team. That team was dominant. They won multiple ways.

That is the "what if" team for me in thinking of IUP basketball. I can't recall how West Liberty looked that year going into the tournament, but IUP was far and away the class of the region, and there was no question that they would be hosting (as they did earn hosting rights). They also were gelling and playing their best basketball at the right time of year too. I honestly think that team could have won the national championship.

But... The cynic in me also recognizes that they would have either:
1. Run into some 7 footer who could not be stopped along the way
2. Played against an elite guard who spent the night before in the hospital before going on to drop 30+
3. Been a casualty to a team shooting nearly 60% from the floor

Do I have that right? Seems like they always run into the "story" when they make a run, or have a team that appears capable of doing so.

[Chuck Norris]

Still burns me the 'Cobo Era' is not mentioned. Not because you excluded them but because that group didn't achieve more with him as the centerpiece.

The 'Cobo Era' had two NCAA wins in 4 years. That was a great stretch for the PSAC, but, ...

Yeah if you don’t make at least the regional final or have a dominant team that has the postseason taken away by COVID, it’s tough to make the list. The 13-14 team that lost the 3OT game to West Lib is also worthy of consideration.

The ‘10-11 team is one I’ll always love that kind of gets overlooked because they “only” made the Sweet 16 on the heels of the dominant group the year before. If Willi Estrella had been healthy enough to give them anything in that great regional final down at WL I think they could’ve gone back to the NC game and maybe won it.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Interesting question. I think they’d have to find their place behind all these teams:

’09-10 Still Joe’s best imo
‘10-11
’14-15
’19-20
’21-22

Still burns me the 'Cobo Era' is not mentioned. Not because you excluded them but because that group didn't achieve more with him as the centerpiece.

The 'Cobo Era' had two NCAA wins in 4 years. That was a great stretch for the PSAC, but, ...

[Chuck Norris]

You're preaching to the choir.

I think it's simply a matter of the way he's going to coach and that's that.

Polce, Bethea and Diop this past season are perfect examples. Had he played them more his team wouldn't have been playing at turtle speed by the end.

Who knows. Perhaps barely winning Round 1 and then getting waxed in Round 3 finally woke him up. This is certainly a very different recruiting class by Joe's typical standard. These aren't kids coming in this year. This is a group of older players who can all score the basket. Hopefully Joe's theory of only letting three guys shoot the ball will look much different.

On paper, I really like the look of this upcoming team. He got much faster and bigger. They now have an actual (natural) point guard, multiple shooters, big and quick guards, etc. They also have (4) forwards that can all (and will) play. His 'rotation' will have an extra guard (or perhaps two) than a year ago.

But, as we always say, a deep bench doesn't help when you play 7 guys (and the first 5 play 30 mpg or more).

Honestly, I think Joe just knows what's coming so he loaded up as much as he could (and appears to have done a great job of it). Everybody knows Cal is loaded (and just a hunch Joe doesn't want to lose to Danny). He's also now going to get Gannon's up-and-down twice a year (at least). But, he still has to have the muscle to tangle with SRU and Mercyhurst.

It's going to be an interesting year. He has enough talent. Getting all these guys ready to play together by early November is the big challenge.


Ask yourself this: Joe's team went 32-2 last season. But, among Joe's best teams, where would you rank them?

Interesting question. I think they’d have to find their place behind all these teams:

’09-10 Still Joe’s best imo
‘10-11
’14-15
’19-20
’21-22

[IUPbigINDIANS]

He needs to simply empty the bench and play them all, whatever minutes he can. There's no reason to save anyone's eligibility anymore, even a true freshman. And the likelihood that any player leaves the roster after next year anyway is very high. If a star gets mad that their minutes are cut due to Joe playing the 7th or 8th guy, then so be it. Chances are that star player probably spring boards to Northern Kentucky or Marist in the offseason anyways, so why does it matter?

You're preaching to the choir.

I think it's simply a matter of the way he's going to coach and that's that.

Polce, Bethea and Diop this past season are perfect examples. Had he played them more his team wouldn't have been playing at turtle speed by the end.

Who knows. Perhaps barely winning Round 1 and then getting waxed in Round 3 finally woke him up. This is certainly a very different recruiting class by Joe's typical standard. These aren't kids coming in this year. This is a group of older players who can all score the basket. Hopefully Joe's theory of only letting three guys shoot the ball will look much different.

On paper, I really like the look of this upcoming team. He got much faster and bigger. They now have an actual (natural) point guard, multiple shooters, big and quick guards, etc. They also have (4) forwards that can all (and will) play. His 'rotation' will have an extra guard (or perhaps two) than a year ago.

But, as we always say, a deep bench doesn't help when you play 7 guys (and the first 5 play 30 mpg or more).

Honestly, I think Joe just knows what's coming so he loaded up as much as he could (and appears to have done a great job of it). Everybody knows Cal is loaded (and just a hunch Joe doesn't want to lose to Danny). He's also now going to get Gannon's up-and-down twice a year (at least). But, he still has to have the muscle to tangle with SRU and Mercyhurst.

It's going to be an interesting year. He has enough talent. Getting all these guys ready to play together by early November is the big challenge.


Ask yourself this: Joe's team went 32-2 last season. But, among Joe's best teams, where would you rank them?

[IUP24]

He did go heavy on guards. I think even Joe realized he ran his guards last year in to the ground by playing them way too much.

His issue now will be getting them all enough minutes to stay happy. That said, I suspect 2 of the 7 guards will redshirt.

I do fully suspect we'll see 'some' 4-guard lineups at times. Depending on the grouping he could have (4) 6'4" guards on the floor so they'd still have some decent size.

He needs to simply empty the bench and play them all, whatever minutes he can. There's no reason to save anyone's eligibility anymore, even a true freshman. And the likelihood that any player leaves the roster after next year anyway is very high. If a star gets mad that their minutes are cut due to Joe playing the 7th or 8th guy, then so be it. Chances are that star player probably spring boards to Northern Kentucky or Marist in the offseason anyways, so why does it matter?

[Ship69]

He did go heavy on guards. I think even Joe realized he ran his guards last year in to the ground by playing them way too much.

His issue now will be getting them all enough minutes to stay happy. That said, I suspect 2 of the 7 guards will redshirt.

I do fully suspect we'll see 'some' 4-guard lineups at times. Depending on the grouping he could have (4) 6'4" guards on the floor so they'd still have some decent size.

They have had some good size at guard out there, which isn't always the case for D2 teams.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Really heavy on guards. They certainly won't want anything to happen to Porterfield.

He did go heavy on guards. I think even Joe realized he ran his guards last year in to the ground by playing them way too much.

His issue now will be getting them all enough minutes to stay happy. That said, I suspect 2 of the 7 guards will redshirt.

I do fully suspect we'll see 'some' 4-guard lineups at times. Depending on the grouping he could have (4) 6'4" guards on the floor so they'd still have some decent size.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I feel like one more big could help. Very thin if there was an injury.

Agreed, but the coin has to be pretty thin at this point. I'd have to guess Joe's between 9-10 equivalencies right now. Of course, if anybody is on academic money, etc., that could help free some cap space. I'd still prefer another forward added -- even if it's a high school big to develop and redshirt ... he'd still be on the roster if needed.

[Ship69]

Roster update:


Guard

Dallis Dillard
Jaylen Stewart
Garvin Clarke
Josh Petteno
Denzel Kabasele
Anthony Watson
Jordan Lambert




Forward

Ethan Porterfield
Damir Brooks
Dolan Waldo
Gabriel Romero-Sanz



Of note:

* Lambert signed over the weekend. He is a high school recruit from Hopewell High School in Hopewell, VA.

* No confirmed status on whether KJ Rhodes is staying or not. He did graduate a few weeks back.

* Other than adding a couple walk-ons, that's probably the roster.

Really heavy on guards. They certainly won't want anything to happen to Porterfield.

[IUPalum]

Roster update:


Guard

Dallis Dillard
Jaylen Stewart
Garvin Clarke
Josh Petteno
Denzel Kabasele
Anthony Watson
Jordan Lambert




Forward

Ethan Porterfield
Damir Brooks
Dolan Waldo
Gabriel Romero-Sanz



Of note:

* Lambert signed over the weekend. He is a high school recruit from Hopewell High School in Hopewell, VA.

* No confirmed status on whether KJ Rhodes is staying or not. He did graduate a few weeks back.

* Other than adding a couple walk-ons, that's probably the roster.

I feel like one more big could help. Very thin if there was an injury.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Roster update:


Guard

Dallis Dillard
Jaylen Stewart
Garvin Clarke
Josh Petteno
Denzel Kabasele
Anthony Watson
Jordan Lambert




Forward

Ethan Porterfield
Damir Brooks
Dolan Waldo
Gabriel Romero-Sanz



Of note:

* Lambert signed over the weekend. He is a high school recruit from Hopewell High School in Hopewell, VA.

* No confirmed status on whether KJ Rhodes is staying or not. He did graduate a few weeks back.

* Other than adding a couple walk-ons, that's probably the roster.

[TheBigCat2192]

In the long run that's bad for the league as a whole, including top squads, because they get used to ho-humming their way past inferior competition in the area and then get hammered when they get out of the region and face opponents with fully their resources (or more.

You might call this “Super Region 1”.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

This will be a good litmus test for Joe and the future of the program in regard to the transfer portal. Tort came flat out and said players are free to test the waters of the portal, but if you do you're not coming back to the IUP team. Will Joe have that same mantra? Does it matter if the guy is the conference player of the year? Not saying Tomiwa wants to come back to IUP, but it's a good conversation starter. His future is as an overseas pro, which he can accomplish doing so from IUP. But if he wants to go to March Madness...then maybe the Northeast Conference is the way to go?

Well, just remember that Tort has said that about players in general. He hasn't been tested yet with one of his stars wanting to test the waters. Had Duane Brown entered the portal and then decided to stay ... do you really think Tort would have turned him down? I sure don't. Shepherd sure didn't turn away Tyson Bagent after he tested the waters.

Regardless of coach speak, all players aren't created equal -- nor is their value. Joe, my opinion, would have taken Tomiwa back in a second.

As for Tomiwa, most close to the Towson program think he's going to be a rotation player but not a starter. I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility he could be back to IUP after next year if things don't work out. Just a hunch. He does have two years left.

[hawks16]

To remotely even think IUP shouldn’t take this guy back, you’d have to be a complete moron!

I highly doubt he comes back but I’d certainly welcome him back with open arms as a fan. He’s a talented star that brings winning energy game in and game out!

This will be a good litmus test for Joe and the future of the program in regard to the transfer portal. Tort came flat out and said players are free to test the waters of the portal, but if you do you're not coming back to the IUP team. Will Joe have that same mantra? Does it matter if the guy is the conference player of the year? Not saying Tomiwa wants to come back to IUP, but it's a good conversation starter. His future is as an overseas pro, which he can accomplish doing so from IUP. But if he wants to go to March Madness...then maybe the Northeast Conference is the way to go?