Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

West Chester games almost always are, shall we say — interesting. I remember Fite being about as worked up as I've ever seen him at the end of the game out there last season.

They have a lot of talent but just go through long stretches of chaotic playground ball. They'd be fairly scary if they could put a full 40 together (or, even 32) -- good size, very athletic, fast. That is an extremely streaky shooting team. They'll hit some NBA treys and then can't hit the side of a barn for 5 minutes.

Blair about lost his mind in the first half. They stayed in the locker room at halftime forever. They came out with about 20 seconds on the clock.

[Ship69]

Walk-ons just got b*tch slapped in first half. Gonna play dirty that's what you get.

West Chester games almost always are, shall we say — interesting. I remember Fite being about as worked up as I've ever seen him at the end of the game out there last season.

[boatcapt]

Walk-ons just got b*tch slapped in first half. Gonna play dirty that's what you get.

Looks like the walk-ons did a little sh*t kickin' on the blue-blood elite in the 2nd half.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I would agree. Dante and Cobo weren’t tough like Tomiwa and Co.

Thoughts:
* Diop not getting in till late is head scratching.
* I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll ever see the old Ethan again.
* I still can’t believe we can’t get Tomiwa more/better scoring looks.
* Bethea is a pest on D but he has a lot of work to do on offense.
* KJ, why? The kid wouldn’t even be top 8 at PSU Altoona.
* Brooks slowly getting going. Ethan not at 100% is helping this kid.

I remember on the 16-17 team ... Hutton would start all that crap every game and then Dante would end up getting launched in to Row 4. That team had more dust-ups than any basketball team I've ever seen.

Back to modern times:

They don't run any plays for Tomiwa -- which, is amazingly odd. Everything he gets is off the scrap heap.

I think Joe has the red light on Bethea -- shooting-wise. He doesn't even look to score. He's insane with the ball for a true freshman. He could be getting to the hoop a lot if they'd let him. He's still got a little 'deer in the headlights' and I think he's still 'thinking' instead of 'playing'. That should continue to evolve as the weeks go by. Not too many true freshmen play here so there's an adjustment.

What we saw last night with Ethan could be what we see for a while -- 20-22 minutes. Brooks brings a lot of energy on the defensive end and on the glass. Obviously, Ethan can be so disruptive on the offensive end. I'll tell you what, though, West Chester was paying a lot of attention to Brooks after his dunk show against Kutztown. He's going to play a big role down the stretch -- mostly in Joe's infamous 'garbage man' role. Him and Ethan switching on and off is disruptive -- Ethan can drain the deep shots and Brooks can put you on a poster. It's a tough combo for opposing bigs to keep defending such different styles.

I'd have put Ousmane in with 15 minutes to go. They were up 29 mid-way through the second half and still had all five starters in the game (in some combination).

Dallis is a really special defender. Polce is playing really well, too, but there's only so many minutes.

[IUPalum]

I love when you get a chirper (see No. 2 and No. 3 from WCU) and then all the sudden they realize Tomiwa is standing in front of them. They back off pretty quickly. He doesn't take any crap.

Tort would die to have Tomiwa at either DE or WR. Perhaps both.

Unlike the Dante era teams that would get tangled in this crap constantly but couldn't really back it up, physically, you better be smart tangling with this IUP team. They have some strong, nasty dudes on this team. This team isn't getting bullied. I can assure that.

I would agree. Dante and Cobo weren’t tough like Tomiwa and Co.

Thoughts:
* Diop not getting in till late is head scratching.
* I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll ever see the old Ethan again.
* I still can’t believe we can’t get Tomiwa more/better scoring looks.
* Bethea is a pest on D but he has a lot of work to do on offense.
* KJ, why? The kid wouldn’t even be top 8 at PSU Altoona.
* Brooks slowly getting going. Ethan not at 100% is helping this kid.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I liked Joe’s quote in the paper today about embracing the opportunity to be the #1 team in the country. I didn’t realize the highest ranking ever was #2, and that happened more than once. I admit I was a little nervous coming into these two games since both opponents are respectable and IUP’s lineup being a little unpredictable with injuries, illness, etc. Obviously it was nothing to worry about.

West Chester really tried to goon it up when they realized the were outmatched. That crap drives me crazy. Credit to IUP for being the more mature team. I suspect they’ll see this from other teams down the road. There’s no place for that nonsense and it starts with the head coach.

I love when you get a chirper (see No. 2 and No. 3 from WCU) and then all the sudden they realize Tomiwa is standing in front of them. They back off pretty quickly. He doesn't take any crap.

Tort would die to have Tomiwa at either DE or WR. Perhaps both.

Unlike the Dante era teams that would get tangled in this crap constantly but couldn't really back it up, physically, you better be smart tangling with this IUP team. They have some strong, nasty dudes on this team. This team isn't getting bullied. I can assure that.

[EyeoftheHawk]

The KCAC had WCU mentally fried tonight. It was a good crowd for break. Rams got a little chippy early which got the place pretty fired up.

That game was seconds away from a brawl several times (including the handshake line).

WCU fought to the end. Gotta give them that much. Joe played some wild lineups in the second half. It was over at halftime (40-17) so he was likely experimenting.

I liked Joe’s quote in the paper today about embracing the opportunity to be the #1 team in the country. I didn’t realize the highest ranking ever was #2, and that happened more than once. I admit I was a little nervous coming into these two games since both opponents are respectable and IUP’s lineup being a little unpredictable with injuries, illness, etc. Obviously it was nothing to worry about.

West Chester really tried to goon it up when they realized the were outmatched. That crap drives me crazy. Credit to IUP for being the more mature team. I suspect they’ll see this from other teams down the road. There’s no place for that nonsense and it starts with the head coach.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The KCAC had WCU mentally fried tonight. It was a good crowd for break. Rams got a little chippy early which got the place pretty fired up.

That game was seconds away from a brawl several times (including the handshake line).

WCU fought to the end. Gotta give them that much. Joe played some wild lineups in the second half. It was over at halftime (40-17) so he was likely experimenting.

[IUPNation]

Walk-ons just got b*tch slapped in first half. Gonna play dirty that's what you get.

LOL

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Walk-ons just got b*tch slapped in first half. Gonna play dirty that's what you get.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well, as usual, West Chester is a little hard to get a read on. They can have stretches of looking fantastic, and, well, other stretches of not looking fantastic.

Lot of size. This may be the biggest D2 team IUP will play all year. Their faster bigs start, and two giants come off the bench (in the 6'9" and 270+ lb range). The two big boys don't play a whole lot (single digit minutes). Their regular rotation appears to be 8 deep.

The Rams' best wins are against Virginia State and Lincoln (OT). They've lost to Wilmington (by 17), Mercyhurst (by 15) and UPJ (by 2). Now, they had the lead on Mercyhurst with 8 minutes left in the game but collapsed in the final minutes. Wilmington jumped them early and WCU never really got back in to it. Last night, UPJ hit the game-winner with seconds remaining. Oddly, they struggled mightily with an undermanned Gannon a couple weeks ago.

They shoot the ball - usually - pretty well and are +46 on the glass this season. Last night they shot very poorly (40% FG and 8-32 from deep). So, they could be hot tonight. Strange stat of the night: West Chester committed just (2) TOs last night and still lost.

They are averaging 80.9 ppg and giving up 76.4 ppg. Their lowest scoring output of the season, no surprise, came against Mercyhurst (66 points).

The glaring stat when you look them is simple. When the treys are falling -- and, they launch them all night -- they win. In their three losses, on average they shot about 27% from deep.

Joe has won the past four meetings in the series, however, WCU won three in row prior to this current stretch.

West Chester has lost three straight inside the KCAC.

It will be an entertaining night. Lombardi vs. Blair always is. It's just a shame this game will be played in a relatively empty building.

This isn't going to be an easy one.

Of note, the PSAC schedule is showing an 8 p.m. tip-off. However, the IUP site says 7:30 p.m.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Looking at the box score I see Tomiwa had 21 yesterday! That’s the quietest 21 I think I’ve ever seen. I mentioned earlier I thought he was a bit tentative on the defensive end seemingly to avoid foul trouble, but I didn’t realize he was in for 20+ on the other end. What a scorer he’s become, although I agree with IUPAlum’s assessment that he should stay inside the 3-point arc.

He also had 12 boards.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Looking at the box score I see Tomiwa had 21 yesterday! That’s the quietest 21 I think I’ve ever seen. I mentioned earlier I thought he was a bit tentative on the defensive end seemingly to avoid foul trouble, but I didn’t realize he was in for 20+ on the other end. What a scorer he’s become, although I agree with IUPAlum’s assessment that he should stay inside the 3-point arc.

[Chuck Norris]

They definitely didn’t shoot well. I have to imagine it’s hard to get into a rhythm with this sporadic pre-holiday schedule. West Chester is coming in off a tough narrow loss to UPJ. I think IUP will be fine, even if Ethan doesn’t play. I just don’t like how long Ethan has been off. It’s starting to feel like a delayed flight that keeps getting delayed a little longer and yet a little longer. You start to wonder if that bird is going to fly.

Yeah I’m no doctor and don’t pretend to know what’s going on with Ethan, but if he’s not ready to go after not playing since the 3rd, with another 10 days off coming up it feels like sitting him again tomorrow makes more sense. And if we get to December 30th and the questions are still there, then I agree, unfortunately you have to wonder just what he’ll be able to give them this year. I really hope that doesn’t end up being the case. All the best to him, he’s certainly proved his toughness throughout his career.

[IUPalum]

Thoughts:

1) Extra sloppy in all aspects.
2) Good to see Diop but he is a goof. I'm still scratching my head about his first two fouls. It's like he's never played D before.
3) KJ... I don't get it.
4) Brooks does some wow things but then all of a sudden he does things that make him look like the most uncoordinated human ever.
5) Tomiwa, stay inside the 3 point arc please.
6) Congrats to David but it's over. Grow on this season.