Iup basketball

[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.

[IUPHawks24]

If Ron got the job they'd need to buy more than 7-8 uniforms.

The team played as well it could. Too many limitations, too much youth and, of course, no bench.

One IUP player in particular looked, well, out of sorts.

That team is 8-1 for a reason.

Defensively, Joe was completely lost. Well, lost or just out of gas. Either way. Perhaps both.

If he ever wants to win the West again in his tenure he better figure something out. Playing 7.5 guys isn't going to beat Gannon.

Adding Dallis back will help a lot. Sarp was run ragged.

This IUP team will be a tough slow-game team. As usual it's not built (or healthy enough) to play that pace.

They had some good performances. Unfortunately they had a couple bad ones, too.

-27 from the 3 point line. Hard to win games like that, especially when you give up close to 20 offensive rebounds. IUP got their share as well, but I thought USCB asserted their will on the glass, even if the numbers were fairly even.

IUP’s gameplan in the half court was terrible. They kept trying to run their sets, but USCB switched pretty much everything and then IUP was up against the shot clock. It didn’t make any sense to me.

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?

[IUPalum]

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!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Turns out IUP’s youth really showed tonight and they were awful on the defensive end. Okay, maybe awful is a little strong because I think UCSB shot better than what they are, but part of that was the number of wide open looks they got. I didn’t have a problem with how IUP played offensively and the guards looked good with just 12 turnovers against a high pressure defense. Still, IUP doesn’t have enough shooters or enough of a consistent inside presence to beat good teams and I think UCSB is pretty good. That Norton dude went off and you wouldn’t have noticed him on the stat sheet before tonight. They played 14 guys and 12 of them scored.

It was fun seeing Fudala back in town and listening to his post-game interview with Jack and Tony afterward. You could tell the guy loves IUP. I firmly believe if Joe retired at the end of the season, Ron would be chomping at the bit to get back here.

If Ron got the job they'd need to buy more than 7-8 uniforms.

The team played as well it could. Too many limitations, too much youth and, of course, no bench.

One IUP player in particular looked, well, out of sorts.

That team is 8-1 for a reason.

Defensively, Joe was completely lost. Well, lost or just out of gas. Either way. Perhaps both.

If he ever wants to win the West again in his tenure he better figure something out. Playing 7.5 guys isn't going to beat Gannon.

Adding Dallis back will help a lot. Sarp was run ragged.

This IUP team will be a tough slow-game team. As usual it's not built (or healthy enough) to play that pace.

They had some good performances. Unfortunately they had a couple bad ones, too.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I wouldn't touch this game even if I was betting your money. LOL.

We all saw first-hand how this IUP team struggled with Lincoln's press for about 90 seconds. I'm sure Fudala is licking his chops. Put it this way: what I saw has me terrified for tonight. I have faith in IUP's athletes tonight. This is a very athletic lineup. Joe's inbounding philosophy is the scary part.

That said, if IUP can figure it out, they should be fine on the other end. IUP (even this young version) is better defensively than Slippery Rock.

It's going to be a wild one.

Turns out IUP’s youth really showed tonight and they were awful on the defensive end. Okay, maybe awful is a little strong because I think UCSB shot better than what they are, but part of that was the number of wide open looks they got. I didn’t have a problem with how IUP played offensively and the guards looked good with just 12 turnovers against a high pressure defense. Still, IUP doesn’t have enough shooters or enough of a consistent inside presence to beat good teams and I think UCSB is pretty good. That Norton dude went off and you wouldn’t have noticed him on the stat sheet before tonight. They played 14 guys and 12 of them scored.

It was fun seeing Fudala back in town and listening to his post-game interview with Jack and Tony afterward. You could tell the guy loves IUP. I firmly believe if Joe retired at the end of the season, Ron would be chomping at the bit to get back here.

[Ship69]

I wouldn't touch this game even if I was betting your money. LOL.

We all saw first-hand how this IUP team struggled with Lincoln's press for about 90 seconds. I'm sure Fudala is licking his chops. Put it this way: what I saw has me terrified for tonight. I have faith in IUP's athletes tonight. This is a very athletic lineup. Joe's inbounding philosophy is the scary part.

That said, if IUP can figure it out, they should be fine on the other end. IUP (even this young version) is better defensively than Slippery Rock.

It's going to be a wild one.

If you're going to get pressed, you'd better hope you don't get the crew Ship had on Sunday.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Appreciate the game preview. I’m planning to be there. What could be more entertaining in Indiana, PA on a Monday night in early December?

I’m also a big Fudala fan and really liked Polce when he was here. I really hated to see them both move on but get why they did. I would say this is a “pick-em” game as far as Vegas is concerned.

I wouldn't touch this game even if I was betting your money. LOL.

We all saw first-hand how this IUP team struggled with Lincoln's press for about 90 seconds. I'm sure Fudala is licking his chops. Put it this way: what I saw has me terrified for tonight. I have faith in IUP's athletes tonight. This is a very athletic lineup. Joe's inbounding philosophy is the scary part.

That said, if IUP can figure it out, they should be fine on the other end. IUP (even this young version) is better defensively than Slippery Rock.

It's going to be a wild one.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Appreciate the game preview. I’m planning to be there. What could be more entertaining in Indiana, PA on a Monday night in early December?

I’m also a big Fudala fan and really liked Polce when he was here. I really hated to see them both move on but get why they did. I would say this is a “pick-em” game as far as Vegas is concerned.

I'm not sure of the academic schedule but I'd assume students are back in town. Hopefully we get some life back in the building. The past couple have been awful crowds.

[EyeoftheHawk]

If you're considering putting some coin on tonight's University of South Carolina-Beaufort at IUP game ... I'll give you some friendly advise: Don't.

While it should be highly entertaining ... it's hard to say what to expect.

It's not often (ever?) a Peach Belt Conference team will play a game in Indiana. But, former IUP longtime assistant Ron Fudala is the head coach of the Sandsharks (7-1).

This season, USCB is 2-0 against the PSAC -- winning at UPJ (106-88) and Slippery Rock (70-64).

Aside from Fudala, there are several other ties to Pennsylvania. Former IUP guard Kyle Polce is a senior starter. Past WPIAL stars Tasso Sfanos (Mars) and Kevaughn Price (Bishop Canevin) are key contributors.

Price was teammates with current IUP reserve guard Jordan Watson, while both played at BCCC. Fun fact: One poster on here (me) furiously pushed for Joe to sign Price. But, to no avail. Price was the leading scorer in the country his final year in JUCO. He's a very dynamic, well-built (strong) guard.

The final connection is assistant coach Luke Dyer, who had a great career as a player at West Liberty.

The style of play IUP will be up against is quite interesting. The best way to describe it is probably calling it a hybrid/merged version of IUP and West Liberty. What that translates to is IUP will face the chaos and trapping for 4-5 minute stretches. Then they'll 'relax' in to a slightly less chaotic version of it. Then, they'll use some 3/4-court pressing. Then they won't press at all and run Joe's defense with all the switching, etc. Then it all starts over again (in some order). They'll do the 5 for 5 subbing all night.

Using the SRU game for comparison (as the Rock plays much more similar to IUP than UPJ does), the USCB system had mixed results. SRU was without its best player (senior guard Maceo Austin), which certainly didn't help matters. The Rock adjusted fairly well as the game went along -- but was worn out and couldn't hit the side of a barn in the second half. Neither, of course, could USCB (who also looked gassed). With Austin out, USCB swarmed Ike Herster much of the game.

USCB isn't a big team, and SRU was very effective on the glass.


Keys for IUP tonight:

* Inbound the ball quickly. Joe's teams all are very slow in this area. All the 'stall' does is allow them to set up. Avoid the coffin corners. Joe loves to inbound to the corners, which is exactly what they want.

* Alphonso Pickens is getting trial by fire in his season/IUP debut. IUP won't win this game with 7 guys tonight. They need him. Big time.

* Slow. It. Down. USCB was visibly frustrated by Slippery Rock's pace of play. They aren't stocked with WL-quality shooters, either. USCB is built to run with an extremely guard-heavy lineup. Damir Brooks can cause all sorts of problems for them. Use him.

* SRU committed a whopping (29) TOs and still almost won. Cut that number in half.

* Stay composed. This team has some 'animated' players. In particular, they have one guard who likes to stir it up.

* The Zebra Crew. If they draw one of the ticky-tack crews, half of the USCB team will be fouled out.


It's going to be an entertaining game. If anything, this will help this new team get ready to face Gannon twice.

Appreciate the game preview. I’m planning to be there. What could be more entertaining in Indiana, PA on a Monday night in early December?

I’m also a big Fudala fan and really liked Polce when he was here. I really hated to see them both move on but get why they did. I would say this is a “pick-em” game as far as Vegas is concerned.