Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Joe's Postgame:

1) Pickens has earned more minutes.
2) Shepherd should have back up clocks but it didn't effect his coaching.
3) Joe said, "I need to learn how to coach this group of men. This isn't my teams from the past."

He has a roster than can run ... and he's making it play his beloved turtle ball.


Hey, he built this roster. He's gotta deal with it.

[IUPalum]

Joe's Postgame:

1) Pickens has earned more minutes.
2) Shepherd should have back up clocks but it didn't effect his coaching.
3) Joe said, "I need to learn how to coach this group of men. This isn't my teams from the past."

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Can't shoot

Can't rebound

Can't defend

Can't guard the deep shot to save their life

Can't stop fouling three-point shooters

Won't call timeouts



Pretty much sums up IUP's first half.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Worst half of IUP basketball since Joe's first year. Holy cow lol.

[IUPalum]

I'm no longer sports editor at the Indiana Gazette, but I am covering IUP basketball on substack, a self-publishing website. Check it out at tonycoccagna.substack.com. There's no obligation if you subscribe. You'll get an email each time I post something. Be sure to read my first post, "A New Beginning," to see what my plans are. Thanks.*

Nice work Tony! Greatly appreciated. I found you there previous to your post. The IUP community needs you!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well, you're not wrong about that. But sophomores and juniors can also be transfers these days, and actually the ones that transferred out of Ship last year were mostly rising seniors who saw the writing on the wall. We're at a point at Ship where we're trying to build back from a bad season. Fite is a coach who likes to bring young kids in and develop them. We have a couple of promising freshmen and a soph who actually is a star scorer at this point, but the question becomes for Ship, as for many schools, whether they can hold on to the nucleus they have while adding what is needed to get back to top tier. It's probably a bigger problem with football, because 2-3 players can make a much bigger impact in basketball, but it's still a problem.

This isn't about this year at IUP. We all know that. This is, however, about potentially having another big run starting next year.

Joe's three freshmen are special. They aren't ready yet. Kymani is (the PG). Grove has his moments. Herring is up and down. And ... that's what true freshmen go through. Hell, two of them are starting. Unheard of at IUP.

Providing they all stay (I think they will all stay for at least one more year) ... along with Christian Moore (likely all-PSAC first team this year), Damir Brooks, Triggs, Pickens, Sarp ... the whole active roster returns next year -- with a year of playing together.


They can supplement with 1-2 transfers this off-season. Joe should be back in a hurry next year.

This season isn't a 'punt' by any means. They'll battle and win games. But, this is a learning year. They are going to lose several more games, too. They are a scary team to play, and, may be real scary in another month.

The future is bright. Joe knows it. He just has to get through this season.

[tonyc]

I'm no longer sports editor at the Indiana Gazette, but I am covering IUP basketball on substack, a self-publishing website. Check it out at tonycoccagna.substack.com. There's no obligation if you subscribe. You'll get an email each time I post something. Be sure to read my first post, "A New Beginning," to see what my plans are. Thanks.*

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Joe has two potentially big recruits playing right across Philadelphia Street. One is probably a pipe dream, however.

The three Webb brothers are now all at IHS. The oldest (Stanford) is a senior this year. He's a big, athletic guard and a very good outside shooter. He put on a show last night, scoring 33 points and lighting it up from deep.

The middle is Aaron. He's 6'7" (as a sophomore) and is already smashing down highlight dunks, etc. He's already a major star on the AAU scene.

I think Joe could get the current senior. By the time Aaron is a senior he's going to have major D1 schools on him (he probably already does). I'm not sure what position he'll project at ... he's basically playing all five for Indiana. He's athletic enough to play G or SF. He may even grow in to a PF.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

USCB played a great game and I highly doubt they shoot that good the rest of the year.

NOW on to real business:

1) Why is it every team has 14 guys dressed but Joe only has 8 or 9? WHY??? It makes zero sense. Watson? Denzel? We know Dallis is soon to return and Joe F-ed up the Bautista recruitment. With Joe's resources he should have at least 10 legit players annually!
2) Herring plays a lot of minutes while being totally lost out there.
3) Why is Sarp getting 38 minutes? By god, he's not that talented!!!
4) Why did they stop attacking the paint? They took a good early lead by doing so then quit!!

Tonight was frustrating. This wasn't necessarily the player's fault. This is a Joe problem! Thin roster, bad game plan and of course never uses a time out until the last couple minutes!

Comments on your comments:


1) The Bautista Rodriguez story is crazy -- and, nearly unbelievable. How in the world did that happen? This isn't some down the bench bus rider. This was a projected Day 1 starter. He's also exactly what this team is missing -- a sharp-shooting yet physical post player. The more I've learned about this 'issue' ... I don't think he'll ever play at IUP. I'm also fairly certain he's on a full ticket. It's a tragic story for both sides. As for Watson, it's pretty clear he's not in the plans. The update on Denzel is always the same ... 'he's close'. Well, he's missed all of last season and all of this season. This is turning in to the 'believe it when you see it' scenario.

2) Herring has to play. There's no other choice. Yes, Alphonso Pickens made his season debut, but that was a 'limited' debut. They needed to test him out (leg) in game conditions. I think he passed. Herring has all the tools, physically. In Joe's heyday, Herring would have redshirted, worked out and slowly adapted to the college game. This is trial by fire now. After (8) games I think it's abundantly clear he's spending too much time 'thinking' about where to be rather than just being there. He had some issues in the USCB game. But, again, true freshman. This is what happens. He's going to be a big-time player at IUP. But, it's not going to be tomorrow.

3) Similar to the answer above ... there's no other choice. Joe playing Sarp 38 minutes against an up-tempo team is pure insanity. Sarp was a warrior. No denying. He could barely move the last 7-8 minutes of the game. I don't know many guards who could 'effectively' play for 38 minutes against that pressure.

4) Joe's apparent game plan was there was no game plan. It changed (whatever it was) about 6-7 times throughout the night. I can tell you this: they were shredding USCB in the first 19 minutes of the game. The last minute of the first half was a complete disaster. Everything changed in the final 21 minutes.


To your last remark, yes, it was frustrating. It's been frustrating. It will remain frustrating. I put very little on the players for losing that game. I thought they did everything they could and fought for 40 minutes. Were they sloppy in the second half? Of course. That's what happens when 7.5 guys take on 14 guys. IUP was completely gassed in the second half.


The good news, of course, is Pickens is back in the mix. In his very limited debut, you can quickly see the speed and ability to get to the rim. Keep in mind that was not only his season debut but also the first live action with his teammates. He's going to help a ton.

Dallis Dillard has his final knee evaluation today. If he gets the green light, he should return in the near future. With Pickens up to speed here shortly and Dallis ... things change.


I can tell you this, many people were pretty enthralled with Ron Fudala and what he's quickly built there. Those same people are getting real tired of seeing IUP have (7) available players every season.

[Ship69]

Let me fix that for you: The worst thing about Freshmen is they become transfers. #portalproblems

I miss the days when we used to be able to assume we'd see our Freshmen turn into Sophomores in the same program.

Well, you're not wrong about that. But sophomores and juniors can also be transfers these days, and actually the ones that transferred out of Ship last year were mostly rising seniors who saw the writing on the wall. We're at a point at Ship where we're trying to build back from a bad season. Fite is a coach who likes to bring young kids in and develop them. We have a couple of promising freshmen and a soph who actually is a star scorer at this point, but the question becomes for Ship, as for many schools, whether they can hold on to the nucleus they have while adding what is needed to get back to top tier. It's probably a bigger problem with football, because 2-3 players can make a much bigger impact in basketball, but it's still a problem.

[Scrub]

The best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores.

Let me fix that for you: The worst thing about Freshmen is they become transfers. #portalproblems

I miss the days when we used to be able to assume we'd see our Freshmen turn into Sophomores in the same program.

[Ship69]

Playing an 8-man rotation worked 10 years ago. It also worked five years ago. USCB plays 14 guys because it has to for recruiting purposes. Joe's teams have historically been top-heavy, which is great when that's the case. But they're not now and he's still going to the well of a 7 or 8 guy rotation. Who am I to suggest ... but you'd think a big rotation would not only help today's team but also keep guys around for longer in the day and age of the portal/NIL.

You can play an 8-9 man rotation, but your first two or three guys off the bench better be good players, and you need two or three guys who are good ball handlers so you can break pressure if you get into foul trouble. If your talent drops off sharply after the first 5-6 guys, it's a problem. Ship's starting point guard being out with an injury was one of several factors that caught up with them on Sunday.

[Ship69]

Grove only played 20 minutes last night and scored 6 points while going 0-4 from deep. He scored 2 points vs Lincoln and was 0-5 from deep. He did score 14 against Shippensburg but was just 2-7 from deep. Over the last three games that’s 6.7 ppg and 2-16 from deep for a 12.5% shooting percentage from behind the arc. The last two games he’s 4-28 for a 14% shooting percentage. My point isn’t to dog on the kid who is a true freshman and all players will have stretches like this, but for IUP to win consistently given the thin roster he has to be better than that and score at least 10 per night.

His minutes will be interesting to watch going forward. They were cut by a third last night and it could have been a lot of things from the matchup to him not feeling well, or just not playing well. Will he get back to his 30+ mpg average this weekend or be kept closer to 20? He needs to see a few go through the basket and get his confidence back.

The best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores. With a young team, and several transfers, we're going through a similar thing at Ship. The Raiders have played about three games so far where they've looked like a million bucks for a half and then it's WTF for the other half.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Grove only played 20 minutes last night and scored 6 points while going 0-4 from deep. He scored 2 points vs Lincoln and was 0-5 from deep. He did score 14 against Shippensburg but was just 2-7 from deep. Over the last three games that’s 6.7 ppg and 2-16 from deep for a 12.5% shooting percentage from behind the arc. The last two games he’s 4-28 for a 14% shooting percentage. My point isn’t to dog on the kid who is a true freshman and all players will have stretches like this, but for IUP to win consistently given the thin roster he has to be better than that and score at least 10 per night.

His minutes will be interesting to watch going forward. They were cut by a third last night and it could have been a lot of things from the matchup to him not feeling well, or just not playing well. Will he get back to his 30+ mpg average this weekend or be kept closer to 20? He needs to see a few go through the basket and get his confidence back.

[hawks16]

Assuming both programs are fully funded, I don’t understand how IUP has 8 playable players and USCB had 14. Unless Fudala is doing that good a job of stretching his money?

Playing an 8-man rotation worked 10 years ago. It also worked five years ago. USCB plays 14 guys because it has to for recruiting purposes. Joe's teams have historically been top-heavy, which is great when that's the case. But they're not now and he's still going to the well of a 7 or 8 guy rotation. Who am I to suggest ... but you'd think a big rotation would not only help today's team but also keep guys around for longer in the day and age of the portal/NIL.