Iup basketball

[IUP24]

Joe's certainly the favorite down there tonight. But, I would add this is also the best version of Seton Hill since the year IUP lost down there (only loss in series history). Their last two teams were God awful and poorly coached. So, that's a tough comparison.

Sean Dillon is also playing tonight (he missed the first meeting). That's a huge upgrade compared to what IUP faced a month ago. IUP won that game, 76-55, but was up just 6 at the half and just 10 with 7 minutes left in the game. So, it was a pretty tight game even sans Dillon for 34 minutes. Seton Hill also played at the KCAC without its head coach, who was out with Covid. IUP forced 17 turnovers in that game against their converted point guard. IUP also shot a dismal 22.2% from deep (6-27) against their zone. Tomiwa battled foul trouble and played just 24 minutes. That surely didn't help.

With their best player back and now with the game being played in the yellow shoebox, I think there is some cause for concern tonight.

Consider this: Seton Hill has defeated Shippensburg, East Stroudsburg and Pitt-Johnstown in Greensburg this year. Those aren't pushovers.


OK. That was the Lou Holtz "what are we going to do" rant.

In all seriousness, this is a duplicate of last Wednesday at Slippery Rock. Start Fast. Eliminate hope. Eliminate the crowd. Get it done. IUP is much better today than it was a month ago -- largely due to Jaylen Stewart's emergence since then.

But, if they start slow and get the crowd rocking tonight -- much like that night 7 years ago -- it can get dicey down there in a hurry. I do expect a large IUP road crowd tonight so that will help.

I just started a new job out here 2 weeks ago. I was talking college basketball with my coworkers early this morning. I think they may think I'm deranged discussing that I'm a little nervous for IUP playing a road game at Seton Hill. Considering that none of the folks I was talking to have even heard of either school LOL.

Big night of hoops. I'll have the boys from Oakland in Chapel Hill on the big screen and likely be working two computers to watch IUP-Seton Hill and WLU-WVSU.

This is March.. Wait.. February...

[IUPalum]

Joe's certainly the favorite down there tonight. But, I would add this is also the best version of Seton Hill since the year IUP lost down there (only loss in series history). Their last two teams were God awful and poorly coached. So, that's a tough comparison.

Sean Dillon is also playing tonight (he missed the first meeting). That's a huge upgrade compared to what IUP faced a month ago. IUP won that game, 76-55, but was up just 6 at the half and just 10 with 7 minutes left in the game. So, it was a pretty tight game even sans Dillon for 34 minutes. Seton Hill also played at the KCAC without its head coach, who was out with Covid. IUP forced 17 turnovers in that game against their converted point guard. IUP also shot a dismal 22.2% from deep (6-27) against their zone. Tomiwa battled foul trouble and played just 24 minutes. That surely didn't help.

With their best player back and now with the game being played in the yellow shoebox, I think there is some cause for concern tonight.

Consider this: Seton Hill has defeated Shippensburg, East Stroudsburg and Pitt-Johnstown in Greensburg this year. Those aren't pushovers.


OK. That was the Lou Holtz "what are we going to do" rant.

In all seriousness, this is a duplicate of last Wednesday at Slippery Rock. Start Fast. Eliminate hope. Eliminate the crowd. Get it done. IUP is much better today than it was a month ago -- largely due to Jaylen Stewart's emergence since then.

But, if they start slow and get the crowd rocking tonight -- much like that night 7 years ago -- it can get dicey down there in a hurry. I do expect a large IUP road crowd tonight so that will help.

IUP has to make their shots around the elbow (Jones/Ethan). That's the key. They make those early and it will open the rest of the offense.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I expect IUP to win easily. They’ve blown them out of their own building the last two trips down there and while Seton Hill has improved, this is the best version of IUP they’ve faced.

Joe's certainly the favorite down there tonight. But, I would add this is also the best version of Seton Hill since the year IUP lost down there (only loss in series history). Their last two teams were God awful and poorly coached. So, that's a tough comparison.

Sean Dillon is also playing tonight (he missed the first meeting). That's a huge upgrade compared to what IUP faced a month ago. IUP won that game, 76-55, but was up just 6 at the half and just 10 with 7 minutes left in the game. So, it was a pretty tight game even sans Dillon for 34 minutes. Seton Hill also played at the KCAC without its head coach, who was out with Covid. IUP forced 17 turnovers in that game against their converted point guard. IUP also shot a dismal 22.2% from deep (6-27) against their zone. Tomiwa battled foul trouble and played just 24 minutes. That surely didn't help.

With their best player back and now with the game being played in the yellow shoebox, I think there is some cause for concern tonight.

Consider this: Seton Hill has defeated Shippensburg, East Stroudsburg and Pitt-Johnstown in Greensburg this year. Those aren't pushovers.


OK. That was the Lou Holtz "what are we going to do" rant.

In all seriousness, this is a duplicate of last Wednesday at Slippery Rock. Start Fast. Eliminate hope. Eliminate the crowd. Get it done. IUP is much better today than it was a month ago -- largely due to Jaylen Stewart's emergence since then.

But, if they start slow and get the crowd rocking tonight -- much like that night 7 years ago -- it can get dicey down there in a hurry. I do expect a large IUP road crowd tonight so that will help.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I was expecting to see Redshirt Joe pony up for another student bus tomorrow night. Guess not.

I have more concerns about this trip to Greensburg than I did for SRU or ESU. I thought they were going to hammer the Rock and would be up for the Warriors.

Strange stuff happens down there. Luckily they've had a few days away to come back down after two highly emotional games.

I expect IUP to win easily. They’ve blown them out of their own building the last two trips down there and while Seton Hill has improved, this is the best version of IUP they’ve faced.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I was expecting to see Redshirt Joe pony up for another student bus tomorrow night. Guess not.

I have more concerns about this trip to Greensburg than I did for SRU or ESU. I thought they were going to hammer the Rock and would be up for the Warriors.

Strange stuff happens down there. Luckily they've had a few days away to come back down after two highly emotional games.

[Columbuseer]

Perhaps sometimes but ESU looked like the more-gassed team in the second half. IUP doesn't press but plays a lot of really good guys. I agree with IUPAlum. It was all to disrupt their rhythm and it worked.

Good points. I did not watch the game. I was rambling on using the context of wlu opponents, when wlu is on the verge of a blackout.

From watching esu vs wlu last year, i thought their press was a work in progress.
Esu had 26 turnovers with wlu forcing 13 steals. Wlu had 16 turnovers with esu forcing 4 steals. Esu had 10 assists while wlu had 24 assists. Of course, every year has new players so it may not be all that relevant.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

A lot of truth to that. Brooks has a lot of talent but yes, he needs to get stronger and also develop a shot. Right now he’s no threat offensively other than dunks and lay ups!

Brooks is a pretty strong dude now and he's a redshirt freshman. He could be a total house in a year or two. I think he could turn in to an offensive of version Daddy Ugbede by his junior year. He's already a better defender than Daddy was (mainly because Daddy was instant foul trouble on the defensive end).

I'd agree his shooting likely needs work (he does have a nice FT shot). However, his threat is these crazy dunks and layups. He's not a surprise anymore on the floor. These teams are paying more attention to him as they don't want to end up on a poster. The advantage he is bringing is others are getting less attention. I know the dunk is only two points and the same as a layup, but there's still something about his dunks that really gets the crowd and team fired up. He's their 'highest flyer' since Tevin Hanner. His defense has also improved dramatically since November. He's playing more and more which shows the big guy is starting to trust him. It's been a long time since Joe's had a third, quality big. He's become a very nice luxury. Him giving the team 8-12 quality minutes is huge.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Good points.
Traditional wisdom says to inbound ball asap before team sets up the press. However, wlu instantly transitions from offense to defense so that strategy does not work. They guard the closest player to them regardless of position.
imho the stalling is a fatigue mitigation tactic, like retying your shoes during a stoppage of play. It buys time for the aerobic energy system to generate fuel for the depleted anaerobic energy systems.

Perhaps sometimes but ESU looked like the more-gassed team in the second half. IUP doesn't press but plays a lot of really good guys. I agree with IUPAlum. It was all to disrupt their rhythm and it worked.

[Columbuseer]

Once or twice we've actually seen a referee become fed up with obvious stall tactics and start his count even before the ball is in the inbounder's hands. Not sure if the rules actually give him that discretion or not, but we've seen it a few times. But more often than not, the refs call it by the letter of the law and don't start the count until the inbounder is set. And I think that's why WLU has somewhat pridefully started the "stand over the ball" move. As if to say: "you wanna stall . . . we're still right here waiting to trap you."

But you're right. Just pausing to take a breath can be beneficial to a team in remaining composed against attempts to enforce chaos. In IUP's case, I suspect they have the experience to remain composed whether they stall or not. I'm not sure the stall can make uncomposed players gain composure. A team like D&E will try to stall WLU and then still give it away as soon as they inbound it.

Composure can't be found in a tactic; it has to be found in the mind of mature/experienced players. And IUP has those in spades. Rock: maybe not so much.

Good points.
Traditional wisdom says to inbound ball asap before team sets up the press. However, wlu instantly transitions from offense to defense so that strategy does not work. They guard the closest player to them regardless of position.
imho the stalling is a fatigue mitigation tactic, like retying your shoes during a stoppage of play. It buys time for the aerobic energy system to generate fuel for the depleted anaerobic energy systems.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Once or twice we've actually seen a referee become fed up with obvious stall tactics and start his count even before the ball is in the inbounder's hands. Not sure if the rules actually give him that discretion or not, but we've seen it a few times. But more often than not, the refs call it by the letter of the law and don't start the count until the inbounder is set. And I think that's why WLU has somewhat pridefully started the "stand over the ball" move. As if to say: "you wanna stall . . . we're still right here waiting to trap you."

But you're right. Just pausing to take a breath can be beneficial to a team in remaining composed against attempts to enforce chaos. In IUP's case, I suspect they have the experience to remain composed whether they stall or not. I'm not sure the stall can make uncomposed players gain composure. A team like D&E will try to stall WLU and then still give it away as soon as they inbound it.

Composure can't be found in a tactic; it has to be found in the mind of mature/experienced players. And IUP has those in spades. Rock: maybe not so much.

I remember the regional 3-4 years ago when ESU played WL at the KCAC. I think WL won in OT (if I recall correctly). I sat in the front row of that game and got tired watching it. lol. I was actually worried for the officials' health.

Good Lord was that a fast-paced game. That was interesting to see two teams that play the same style (basically) go at each other at full speed.

[Scrub]

Once or twice we've actually seen a referee become fed up with obvious stall tactics and start his count even before the ball is in the inbounder's hands. Not sure if the rules actually give him that discretion or not, but we've seen it a few times. But more often than not, the refs call it by the letter of the law and don't start the count until the inbounder is set. And I think that's why WLU has somewhat pridefully started the "stand over the ball" move. As if to say: "you wanna stall . . . we're still right here waiting to trap you."

But you're right. Just pausing to take a breath can be beneficial to a team in remaining composed against attempts to enforce chaos. In IUP's case, I suspect they have the experience to remain composed whether they stall or not. I'm not sure the stall can make uncomposed players gain composure. A team like D&E will try to stall WLU and then still give it away as soon as they inbound it.

Composure can't be found in a tactic; it has to be found in the mind of mature/experienced players. And IUP has those in spades. Rock: maybe not so much.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Teams in the MEC have been doing that to WLU for years now. To the point where it doesn't bother WLU.

In fact, WLU has started to "punch back" on that gamesmanship by often standing over or near the ball that's rolling around under the hoop; therefore, in the opponent's attempt to slow walk to the ball they have to nudge their way past a WLU player to get it. It's almost like WLU's way of showing that the slow walk isn't bothering them and to try to bother the opponent right back. Just meeting gamesmanship with gamesmanship.

Interesting that ESU is still bothered by that. Perhaps not enough PSAC teams have tried the slow-walk approach on them yet.

Now, I will say: in the Wheeling game, something that did seem to bother the Toppers in their efforts to play fast was that the dang nets kept getting pinned up causing the refs to have to whistle, stop play, and recruit a player to jump up and free the net. Happened about 6 times in that game (and I haven't seen it happen in any other game yet this year).

If buying and installing extra long nets that are prone to getting pinned (or perhaps putting stick-um on the underside of the rims) was part of Wheeling's gamesmanship maneuvering, then hats off to them for finding a new way to frustrate the Toppers. (Kinda like the Rock clock issues that IUPbig has mentioned always seem to happen when IUP visits Morrow).

Well, the biggest thing was IUP's defense really shut ESU down. They were averaging in the low 90s or high 80s and IUP held them to barely breaking 50 points. IUP's defense is very suffocating.

But, based on the frustration, I don't think they see the 'stall' tactic very often in the PSAC. They may going forward.

I guess it's up to interpretation if it's even a 'stall' ... it's legal and the pressing team is just trying to get you sped up. You just simply aren't buying what they are selling. I suppose it depends which side of it you are on. The 'stall' eliminates much of the chaos the pressing team hopes to create. For instance, Slippery Rock fell in to the chaos hook, line and sinker against ESU, where as IUP controlled the pace of that game for probably 39 of the 40 minutes.

[Scrub]

I thought the genius thing Joe did yesterday was stall every inbound pass after an ESU score. That visibly irritated the Warriors. Did you notice how slow Shawndale was to get the ball every time? That wasn't a coincidence.

Teams in the MEC have been doing that to WLU for years now. To the point where it doesn't bother WLU.

In fact, WLU has started to "punch back" on that gamesmanship by often standing over or near the ball that's rolling around under the hoop; therefore, in the opponent's attempt to slow walk to the ball they have to nudge their way past a WLU player to get it. It's almost like WLU's way of showing that the slow walk isn't bothering them and to try to bother the opponent right back. Just meeting gamesmanship with gamesmanship.

Interesting that ESU is still bothered by that. Perhaps not enough PSAC teams have tried the slow-walk approach on them yet.

Now, I will say: in the Wheeling game, something that did seem to bother the Toppers in their efforts to play fast was that the dang nets kept getting pinned up causing the refs to have to whistle, stop play, and recruit a player to jump up and free the net. Happened about 6 times in that game (and I haven't seen it happen in any other game yet this year).

If buying and installing extra long nets that are prone to getting pinned (or perhaps putting stick-um on the underside of the rims) was part of Wheeling's gamesmanship maneuvering, then hats off to them for finding a new way to frustrate the Toppers. (Kinda like the Rock clock issues that IUPbig has mentioned always seem to happen when IUP visits Morrow).

[EyeoftheHawk]

Wednesday night is not going to be an easy trip. The Seton Hill campus will be juiced up for this one. That's a tough building when it's packed ... and, it will be packed. Remember their PG didn't play in the first game. He's good.

That said, unlike some past IUP teams, I think this one actually enjoys playing in hostile road environments. Tomiwa and Shawndale seem to embrace it.

Seton Hill is 8-2 at home, but they’ve dropped two of their last three. I like IUP by double digits in this one. The only concern is whether or not IUP is looking ahead to next Monday’s showdown at Mercyhurst. Having Seton Hill and Gannon sandwiched between ESU and Mercyhurst will present a motivational challenge and it’s probably better that they’re going to Greensburg. I expect a relatively uninspired IUP team at home next Saturday when they host Gannon.

Realistically, IUP’s most likely games to get a blemish on the perfect record is up at Hurst or down at Cal in the finale. I don’t expect UPJ to be as tough of a game as it was in their building.

[IUPalum]

I thought the genius thing Joe did yesterday was stall every inbound pass after an ESU score. That visibly irritated the Warriors. Did you notice how slow Shawndale was to get the ball every time? That wasn't a coincidence.

They handled the press pretty well for the most part. It was a non factor for long stretches.

If they do play again the next meeting would be in their building or a neutral court. The East hosts the conference Final Four this year.

Wednesday night is not going to be an easy trip. The Seton Hill campus will be juiced up for this one. That's a tough building when it's packed ... and, it will be packed. Remember their PG didn't play in the first game. He's good.

That said, unlike some past IUP teams, I think this one actually enjoys playing in hostile road environments. Tomiwa and Shawndale seem to embrace it.

Ok, so the stall tactic was part of the plan. I won't disagree with that. The stall was to keep ESU out of rhythm. I'm not so certain that ESU's was not effective with the press. The press can't be effective if you can't get in it. ESU didn't score a lot so without scoring you can't get into the press. IUP did struggle at times with the press and I blame Shawndale for that. Numerous times he could've run the baseline to inbound the ball and he didn't. That created easier attack angles for ESU and also not getting the ball to the receiver as fast.

IUP will see the full court press again at some point. I don't mind the stall tactic but by god you have to run the baseline to create easier passes.