Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Shawndale up to 29

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Add a missed dunk!

Rough night for him. Things will get better.

IUP up 14 with 3:24 left

[IUPalum]

Tomiwa has 4 fouls in 4 minutes ... on a night they need him.

Add a missed dunk!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Tomiwa has 4 fouls in 4 minutes ... on a night they need him.

[IUP24]

Sloppy first half. Some foul trouble. Struggling from the field. Nice to finally have a stream.

[Ship69]

There is a huge drop-off from 1-5 to 6-9. But, that's fairly common.

I will say this: Joe's typical drop-off after 1-6 is usually like falling off a cliff. This year is better -- depth-wise -- than most Joe teams. Most years he'd choose to redshirt players rather than have quality depth, and, by mid-season, somebody would be hurt and a walk-on would be in the rotation.

His starting five this year is really special. So, naturally there's going to be a dip on the bench.

Looking closer at the (so far) immediate reserves:

There's basically a 'Sixth Man' for the guards and a 'Sixth Man' for the post players.

Tomiwa Sulaiman is going to be one of Joe's next star post players but he's still pretty raw on the offensive end. But, he's a very strong defender and rebounder. He is a physical specimen at 6'6" and 210 lbs and has a massive wingspan. And, in his defense, they aren't running any offense through him. They haven't had a rebounder/defender of his quality coming off the bench in forever.

Ousmane Diop is the other post player living in the outskirts of the (deep) rotation. His role now is perfect. Play 6-12 mpg and create havoc. He's big, fast, not a bad shooter and really just has a way of getting involved. Big boy off the bench at 6'10". Downside is he's a bit of a hack and draws fouls quickly. Amazingly, at his size, he's one of the fastest runners on the floor ... former soccer player.

Kyle Polce is taking on the Greg Bearer role. He's a good defender. Nice size. Quick. Aggressive. But, his main role on offense has been to be a facilitator.

Bryce Radford is a very serviceable backup this year. He brings a long-range threat to the floor, can adequately play the point when needed, plays smart (very few TOs). His glitch thus far has been on the defensive end but he's making headway. I don't think he's a bad defender but he gets a little over-aggressive and gets caught out of position. He's getting better each game.


This bench rotation, keep in mind, is made up of (3) freshmen (although not 'true' freshmen) and Diop (who started playing basketball at 18 years old). In an emergency, the next man in would likely be K.J. Rhodes (another Year 3 freshman). Joe's two NYC 'true' freshmen could also be options but we know his feelings on playing true freshmen.


The major area of concern, obviously, is if one of the starting guards go down for any length of time. As we saw at Bowie, they got pretty discombobulated ... still scored 90 points but the defense wasn't nearly the same. I think Joe's bench is fine this year in the roles they have right now. Not sure any of them are ready to adequately move in to the starting lineup. Sulaiman would probably be the smoothest transition.

But, hey, I've sat through so many Joe seasons of having more dudes on the bench in tracksuits than jerseys, so, right now, this feels like a luxury. Armoni got his Triple Double out of the way. I don't want to see him playing with IUP up 50 points again. Once was enough. Not worth the risk.

Experienced depth is a problem for a lot of teams this year. Certainly was the case during football season, and it's carried over to basketball. Until Biss returns (hopefully this week), Shippensburg basically has five players with more than 10 games experience.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

A tough back-to-back starts tonight. IUP plays at Kutztown.


A look at the Golden Bears:

- Started 0-3 (all single digit losses) but have won two straight

- IUP has won (3) straight in the series and 8 of the past 9 meetings

- Led by junior guard Wesley Butler (19.8 ppg) and Graduate forward Moe Williams (12.5 ppg, 8 rpg, 11 blocks).

- Lot of size with (5) players 6'8" or taller -- several above 230 lbs. Nice blend of speed and muscle under the basket.

- Butler is the main deep threat. He's made 14 treys. The next closest has made 6.

- Deep roster. Appears 11 guys are playing.

- Kutztown is scoring 82.2 ppg and giving up 70.6 ppg
- If you remove the massive blowout of PSU-Berks, Kutztown is scoring 74 ppg and giving up 76.75 ppg against D2 opponents.

- Their overall stats (margins, etc.) are a little hard to grasp as they got out of whack a bit in the 115-46 win over PSU-Berks

- Took D1 Rider to the last shot in a 78-76 exhibition loss

- Moe Williams went for 20 and 10 in his last game against IUP -- an OT loss for the Bears in 18-19

- Strong defensive team. In (5) games only one team has broken 80 points (82 / Lincoln)

- Roster has some familiar names such as Evan-Eric Longino (formerly of West Chester), Oenis Medina (Shippensburg) and Julian Boykins (Seton Hill)

[EyeoftheHawk]

But, hey, I've sat through so many Joe seasons of having more dudes on the bench in tracksuits than jerseys, so, right now, this feels like a luxury. Armoni got his Triple Double out of the way. I don't want to see him playing with IUP up 50 points again. Once was enough. Not worth the risk.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

There is a huge drop-off from 1-5 to 6-9. But, that's fairly common.

I will say this: Joe's typical drop-off after 1-6 is usually like falling off a cliff. This year is better -- depth-wise -- than most Joe teams. Most years he'd choose to redshirt players rather than have quality depth, and, by mid-season, somebody would be hurt and a walk-on would be in the rotation.

His starting five this year is really special. So, naturally there's going to be a dip on the bench.

Looking closer at the (so far) immediate reserves:

There's basically a 'Sixth Man' for the guards and a 'Sixth Man' for the post players.

Tomiwa Sulaiman is going to be one of Joe's next star post players but he's still pretty raw on the offensive end. But, he's a very strong defender and rebounder. He is a physical specimen at 6'6" and 210 lbs and has a massive wingspan. And, in his defense, they aren't running any offense through him. They haven't had a rebounder/defender of his quality coming off the bench in forever.

Ousmane Diop is the other post player living in the outskirts of the (deep) rotation. His role now is perfect. Play 6-12 mpg and create havoc. He's big, fast, not a bad shooter and really just has a way of getting involved. Big boy off the bench at 6'10". Downside is he's a bit of a hack and draws fouls quickly. Amazingly, at his size, he's one of the fastest runners on the floor ... former soccer player.

Kyle Polce is taking on the Greg Bearer role. He's a good defender. Nice size. Quick. Aggressive. But, his main role on offense has been to be a facilitator.

Bryce Radford is a very serviceable backup this year. He brings a long-range threat to the floor, can adequately play the point when needed, plays smart (very few TOs). His glitch thus far has been on the defensive end but he's making headway. I don't think he's a bad defender but he gets a little over-aggressive and gets caught out of position. He's getting better each game.


This bench rotation, keep in mind, is made up of (3) freshmen (although not 'true' freshmen) and Diop (who started playing basketball at 18 years old). In an emergency, the next man in would likely be K.J. Rhodes (another Year 3 freshman). Joe's two NYC 'true' freshmen could also be options but we know his feelings on playing true freshmen.


The major area of concern, obviously, is if one of the starting guards go down for any length of time. As we saw at Bowie, they got pretty discombobulated ... still scored 90 points but the defense wasn't nearly the same. I think Joe's bench is fine this year in the roles they have right now. Not sure any of them are ready to adequately move in to the starting lineup. Sulaiman would probably be the smoothest transition.

But, hey, I've sat through so many Joe seasons of having more dudes on the bench in tracksuits than jerseys, so, right now, this feels like a luxury. Armoni got his Triple Double out of the way. I don't want to see him playing with IUP up 50 points again. Once was enough. Not worth the risk.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Exactly! No need to get these top 5/6 hurt! Use the 7 through whatever when it calls for it!

[Ship69]

Seems where the West lucked out was nobody had any stars leave. Then, several of the teams added an extra piece.

It won't look like this next year. Several teams will take heavy losses due to graduation and eligibility. But, yeah, this year is nuts. I said the other night Slippery Rock may finish 7th in the West and just about won at Charleston. I think whomever stays healthiest in the West will win it.

The league as a whole is tough. The East isn't as deep but has some really good teams. I suspect ESU will get back on track here soon ... very odd to see them at 0-3.

Your boys have quite the gauntlet coming up here.

Yup, it is college ball and every season brings something new. Like you said, the West had some good people coming back and have augmented that. Obviously Mercyhurst, especially with playing some last year, has taken a big step up. Ship has a nice core, but Castello was a big loss, and the injury to Biss has left the team with virtually no experienced depth. Fite was not in a good position to bring in extra help as he already had a large junior core and a bunch of untested frosh and redshirt frosh on the roster. He did get Johnson, who looks poised to have a very good year. Getting Biss back in something approaching healthy condition is a must if the Raiders are going to make any noise in the East this year, and they'll need to get minutes for guys such as Dunn and Recchia to get them ready for next season. Millersville and West Chester will be there and, like you, I think East Stroud's start is a little deceptive. Wilson coaches differently than anybody else in the PSAC, and sometimes it takes his teams a while to get rolling.

I'm hoping to pick up a win or two in December, but I sure don't see any gimmes on the horizon. Wilmington was probably the only bad team on our early schedule.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Covid year appears to be the best thing that ever happened to the PSAC West. Looking pretty tough over there this season, and Ship is walking right into the middle of it in December.

Seems where the West lucked out was nobody had any stars leave. Then, several of the teams added an extra piece.

It won't look like this next year. Several teams will take heavy losses due to graduation and eligibility. But, yeah, this year is nuts. I said the other night Slippery Rock may finish 7th in the West and just about won at Charleston. I think whomever stays healthiest in the West will win it.

The league as a whole is tough. The East isn't as deep but has some really good teams. I suspect ESU will get back on track here soon ... very odd to see them at 0-3.

Your boys have quite the gauntlet coming up here.

[Ship69]

Can we just give IUP the Atlantic Region trophy right now?

This is a completely different team when healthy. I was expecting a little bit more competitive game. LOL. Then we went down the road and got beat again by UPJ.

Not looking good for us. Our team is way too inexperienced and has not played together long.

Covid year appears to be the best thing that ever happened to the PSAC West. Looking pretty tough over there this season, and Ship is walking right into the middle of it in December.

[GoVSUTrojans]

Good news is the team appears to be getting pretty healthy.

Morris returned and looked fine against Virginia State. Joe only played him 24 minutes as an ease-back but had the game been closer he seemed fine. Demo played with his finger wrapped and had a very productive game.

Sulaiman and Diop played a combined 30 minutes. Radford and Polce combined for 24 minutes. All four were able to get some nice court time mixed in with the starters.

Can we just give IUP the Atlantic Region trophy right now?

This is a completely different team when healthy. I was expecting a little bit more competitive game. LOL. Then we went down the road and got beat again by UPJ.

Not looking good for us. Our team is way too inexperienced and has not played together long.

[IUPalum]

I remember back in 2019 Tort left Duane Brown in a blowout win against Gannon far too long. Duane got hurt with them up 35 points and then missed a week or two. A couple extra stats aren't worth it.

Exactly! No need to get these top 5/6 hurt! Use the 7 through whatever when it calls for it!