Iup basketball

[bballfan03]

That's funny. You could count on your right hand how many classes he went to at Syracuse in his semester and a half.

I remember that draft ... there was actually some debate between taking him or LeBron.

Right? I never got the hype of him even in college. Syracuse had a good team.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Never forget Carmelo Anthony like 20 some years ago... "I don't know why yall chanting one more year... I thought college was a 4 year thing." Next year NBA lol (even though everyone knew it)

That's funny. You could count on your right hand how many classes he went to at Syracuse in his semester and a half.

I remember that draft ... there was actually some debate between taking him or LeBron.

[bballfan03]

That's fine. And I know what they said. But nothing surprises me anymore regarding what a bunch of 18-23 year olds decide to do when they are playing college athletics. If we are taking them at their word that they are going to be back, that's real risky business to just assume that given the nature of college athletics today. But anyone is free to have a differing perspective on the matter.

I hope they Dallis comes back and I hope he dominates. I hope Bautista plays and is as electric of a player as we have been told he is. I just won't count on either variable until I see them in uniform to open up next season.

Never forget Carmelo Anthony like 20 some years ago... "I don't know why yall chanting one more year... I thought college was a 4 year thing." Next year NBA lol (even though everyone knew it)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Do you think that as long as Sarp is on the roster though he’s going to get similar minutes? I’m curious to see how that plays out.

I think we all hope the key cogs stay, and that Dillard and Bautista contribute at high levels. If that happens, IUP is immediately better and even more so if they can bring in another piece or two. As IUP24 pointed out though, it’s hard to bank on any of that. It would be nice to have a relatively boring off season around here, that’s for sure.

As for last night…that was pretty ugly. They looked like a team that just hit the wall in the second half.

Sarp won't have many minutes.

Merraro, Moore and Dallis will never come out. Herring has to play some, too. Joe will run those starting guards 32-36 mpg each.

Sarp will be a good bench guy. But, his starting days are over. I don't know if Pickens will stay. He's going to want more minutes and they just won't be there.

I know he's going to add a shooting guard out of the Portal.

Underneath he'll have Bautista and Grove start, with Damir off the bench. I think Triggs will stay. He's well-liked in the locker room and he'll be a solid guy off the bench. That gives him (4) bigs plus another one that is coming. More on that later.

As you said ... we'll see. But, it is my strong opinion no key players are leaving.

We have to remember 3 of these guys were true freshmen. Herring and Grove need to put on 10 lbs each.

Having both post players being able to shoot plus Dallis will really elevate the offense. They were simply too easy to defend this year. Bautista is also a very physical, hot head. They lacked that intensity guy this year.

I'm confident next year will be a good year. I think getting humiliated last night will turn out to be a good thing.

The beauty of rock bottom ... only one way to go.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Dallis is the most loyal player in the program. There's less than 0% chance he's leaving. It's not even worth talking about.

Dallis also has two years' eligibility left. Not many people know that little tidbit. They finally got him a medical redshirt approved for last year and this year was his normal redshirt.

He doesn't have to be a superstar. But, what he brings compared to Sarp .... again, not even worth talking about.

Do you think that as long as Sarp is on the roster though he’s going to get similar minutes? I’m curious to see how that plays out.

I think we all hope the key cogs stay, and that Dillard and Bautista contribute at high levels. If that happens, IUP is immediately better and even more so if they can bring in another piece or two. As IUP24 pointed out though, it’s hard to bank on any of that. It would be nice to have a relatively boring off season around here, that’s for sure.

As for last night…that was pretty ugly. They looked like a team that just hit the wall in the second half.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Yeah, what you just said makes zero sense when both Dallis and Bautista have been interviewed a handful of times and said they are going to be at IUP. Also, Joe has said numerous times that Dallis has been practicing and dominates the team at practice. Bautista will play but the mystery is, will he be as good as they say? That we'll have to wait and see.

We DON'T want everyone back. Joe has some house cleaning to do. Hopefully he has the set of balls to do it instead of praying to God and hoping some of these guys play better.

We already know Callum and Denzel are gone. That's two spots to beef up the roster. I think a couple other need to go also. I won't mention names yet!

Dallis is the most loyal player in the program. There's less than 0% chance he's leaving. It's not even worth talking about.

Dallis also has two years' eligibility left. Not many people know that little tidbit. They finally got him a medical redshirt approved for last year and this year was his normal redshirt.

He doesn't have to be a superstar. But, what he brings compared to Sarp .... again, not even worth talking about.

[Chuck Norris]

It was almost a mirror image of the second game against Gannon. Joe's team was toast 5 minutes in to the second half. Fatigue leads to horrendous play.

As for your last comment, we don't want 'everybody' to stick around. He needs to do a little housecleaning to free up some money they could better spend.

The best news this morning is the next game IUP plays it will have Dallis and Bautista.

You can't win a gun fight with a couple knives. That's what he tried to do in Erie last night.

I don't think he'll retire. He knows they can bounce back real quick next year. But, something he's doing needs to change. That was humiliating last night. He can't figure anything out to deal with that pressure. Their inbounding plays are terrible. They are too slow. He doesn't bring enough help up. It's just a total freaking mess.

I knew they'd lose last night, but I was expecting Gannon to win by 12-15. Eating a 30 Burger wasn't on the menu.

Yeah, everybody was the wrong word to use. I meant the freshmen and handful of other key guys.

I hope they bounce back next year. The new world of college athletics will always give me pause though. Guys can wake up one morning in a certain mood and be gone. But I’m hopeful. IUP not being good has really killed my interest in D2 basketball as a whole, not to mention having to pay to watch the regional but that’s a whole other discussion lol. I want to get back into it next year.

[IUP24]

Yeah, what you just said makes zero sense when both Dallis and Bautista have been interviewed a handful of times and said they are going to be at IUP.

That's fine. And I know what they said. But nothing surprises me anymore regarding what a bunch of 18-23 year olds decide to do when they are playing college athletics. If we are taking them at their word that they are going to be back, that's real risky business to just assume that given the nature of college athletics today. But anyone is free to have a differing perspective on the matter.

I hope they Dallis comes back and I hope he dominates. I hope Bautista plays and is as electric of a player as we have been told he is. I just won't count on either variable until I see them in uniform to open up next season.

[IUPalum]

I'm happy this is all over and we can move onto next year. Whatever that means and whatever that may look like.

The unpopular opinion that I am going to present is that I'm not even remotely counting on Dallis Dillard to be a significant difference maker. He hasn't played meaningful minutes, for any extended stretch, for two full years now. There is no guarantee that he is the difference maker we are all hoping (thinking) he will be after being away like that. Thinking that he is the key cog in putting this program back into legitimate regional conversations and beyond is fool's gold, in my opinion. To be honest, I'm not even sure he comes back. He's been with the program a while, has struggled staying healthy and going through some of the rehab things. He might transfer elsewhere for a fresh start where he did not have the injury problems (a lot of guys do that after a long rehab process). He also just might not believe basketball is his identity anymore and simply move on with his life. I've seen that before too.

I'm also not considering Bautista part of next year's unit until he steps on the court for the first time. He's just another name in the growing list of track suit legends. Is he the next Cobo Diaz? Or is he another Romero-Sanz that never plays a minute? Nothing says it can't be the latter. And until he's on the floor, I am not penciling him a part of the team based on recent track record of Joe missing on these guys, or not managing their situations correctly.

Perhaps I'm offering a pessimistic view, but the program fell off a cliff. Quickly. Is that all Joe's fault? No. They've had some bad luck for sure. But the symptoms around a lot of the issues we've discussed over the last 2-3 years aren't related to luck, either. They've recruited poorly. Not developed guys. Had guys never play. Had players unexpectedly leave their program. Something within the program needs fixed to address those things. I'm not offering any solutions or identifying the root cause, rather just making an observer's comment on the matter.

Their social media accounts used to post about the annual #QuestForTheWest. Now they are celebrating making the conference tournament with a losing record. How do you get back to 26-3, or something like that? I'm certain that having Dillard and Clarke would have helped be better than 14-16. But I'm not sure they would have been threatening the top players in the regional conversation this year based on what I saw from the rest of the supporting cast this year. There were some flashes, but not enough to say that the collective unit would have been "great" in terms of the big picture.

West Liberty doesn't have full rebuilding years like this. They just retool and replace every single year. And that's what IUP used to do too. That magic just isn't there anymore. Again, I'm not offering the solutions or presenting the root cause. But something is just "off" within the entire program. I get it's a different world now, but many of their top competitors within the regional conversation have seemingly figured it out. How a program with the facilities, following, tradition, and support structure - like IUP - hasn't been able to put it together is alarming on a number of levels.

Yeah, what you just said makes zero sense when both Dallis and Bautista have been interviewed a handful of times and said they are going to be at IUP. Also, Joe has said numerous times that Dallis has been practicing and dominates the team at practice. Bautista will play but the mystery is, will he be as good as they say? That we'll have to wait and see.

We DON'T want everyone back. Joe has some house cleaning to do. Hopefully he has the set of balls to do it instead of praying to God and hoping some of these guys play better.

We already know Callum and Denzel are gone. That's two spots to beef up the roster. I think a couple other need to go also. I won't mention names yet!

[IUP24]

It was almost a mirror image of the second game against Gannon. Joe's team was toast 5 minutes in to the second half. Fatigue leads to horrendous play.

As for your last comment, we don't want 'everybody' to stick around. He needs to do a little housecleaning to free up some money they could better spend.

The best news this morning is the next game IUP plays it will have Dallis and Bautista.

You can't win a gun fight with a couple knives. That's what he tried to do in Erie last night.

I don't think he'll retire. He knows they can bounce back real quick next year. But, something he's doing needs to change. That was humiliating last night. He can't figure anything out to deal with that pressure. Their inbounding plays are terrible. They are too slow. He doesn't bring enough help up. It's just a total freaking mess.

I knew they'd lose last night, but I was expecting Gannon to win by 12-15. Eating a 30 Burger wasn't on the menu.

I'm happy this is all over and we can move onto next year. Whatever that means and whatever that may look like.

The unpopular opinion that I am going to present is that I'm not even remotely counting on Dallis Dillard to be a significant difference maker. He hasn't played meaningful minutes, for any extended stretch, for two full years now. There is no guarantee that he is the difference maker we are all hoping (thinking) he will be after being away like that. Thinking that he is the key cog in putting this program back into legitimate regional conversations and beyond is fool's gold, in my opinion. To be honest, I'm not even sure he comes back. He's been with the program a while, has struggled staying healthy and going through some of the rehab things. He might transfer elsewhere for a fresh start where he did not have the injury problems (a lot of guys do that after a long rehab process). He also just might not believe basketball is his identity anymore and simply move on with his life. I've seen that before too.

I'm also not considering Bautista part of next year's unit until he steps on the court for the first time. He's just another name in the growing list of track suit legends. Is he the next Cobo Diaz? Or is he another Romero-Sanz that never plays a minute? Nothing says it can't be the latter. And until he's on the floor, I am not penciling him a part of the team based on recent track record of Joe missing on these guys, or not managing their situations correctly.

Perhaps I'm offering a pessimistic view, but the program fell off a cliff. Quickly. Is that all Joe's fault? No. They've had some bad luck for sure. But the symptoms around a lot of the issues we've discussed over the last 2-3 years aren't related to luck, either. They've recruited poorly. Not developed guys. Had guys never play. Had players unexpectedly leave their program. Something within the program needs fixed to address those things. I'm not offering any solutions or identifying the root cause, rather just making an observer's comment on the matter.

Their social media accounts used to post about the annual #QuestForTheWest. Now they are celebrating making the conference tournament with a losing record. How do you get back to 26-3, or something like that? I'm certain that having Dillard and Clarke would have helped be better than 14-16. But I'm not sure they would have been threatening the top players in the regional conversation this year based on what I saw from the rest of the supporting cast this year. There were some flashes, but not enough to say that the collective unit would have been "great" in terms of the big picture.

West Liberty doesn't have full rebuilding years like this. They just retool and replace every single year. And that's what IUP used to do too. That magic just isn't there anymore. Again, I'm not offering the solutions or presenting the root cause. But something is just "off" within the entire program. I get it's a different world now, but many of their top competitors within the regional conversation have seemingly figured it out. How a program with the facilities, following, tradition, and support structure - like IUP - hasn't been able to put it together is alarming on a number of levels.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I thought the door was open for IUP to make a game of it in the first 12-14 minutes, but they couldn’t hit the broad side of barn. Once Gannon got rolling they put an end to any drama pretty quickly. On to next year. Hopefully everybody sticks around.

It was almost a mirror image of the second game against Gannon. Joe's team was toast 5 minutes in to the second half. Fatigue leads to horrendous play.

As for your last comment, we don't want 'everybody' to stick around. He needs to do a little housecleaning to free up some money they could better spend.

The best news this morning is the next game IUP plays it will have Dallis and Bautista.

You can't win a gun fight with a couple knives. That's what he tried to do in Erie last night.

I don't think he'll retire. He knows they can bounce back real quick next year. But, something he's doing needs to change. That was humiliating last night. He can't figure anything out to deal with that pressure. Their inbounding plays are terrible. They are too slow. He doesn't bring enough help up. It's just a total freaking mess.

I knew they'd lose last night, but I was expecting Gannon to win by 12-15. Eating a 30 Burger wasn't on the menu.

[IUP24]

For better or for worse, thank goodness that - the "most satisfying coaching job" of Joe's career - is over.

[Chuck Norris]

I thought the door was open for IUP to make a game of it in the first 12-14 minutes, but they couldn’t hit the broad side of barn. Once Gannon got rolling they put an end to any drama pretty quickly. On to next year. Hopefully everybody sticks around.

[WarriorVoice]

Bizarre does not even begin to cover this season. I expected Shepherd to use their massive size advantage to beat Ship on Monday. Instead the Rams, not a particularly sharpshooting bunch during the season, blitzed the Raiders with 17 three-pointers to blow open the game. It worked for the Rams last night, but if I'm one of their future opponents I'd be glad to see them continue the outside shooting strategy.

Shepherd takes over 40% of their shots from beyond the arc, 3rd highest rate in the conference. I did the math last night. To your point, they are 13th in the PSAC in 3FG%...

[tonyc]

Up next: https://open.substack.com/pub/tonyco...meOnShare=true