Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Some good. Some bad. I think the worst part was IUP was out hustled and outworked all night, including when PSUD got down 24 points. That team was tremendously overmatched in every way but found a way to cut the lead to 7 midway through the second half.

Joe did seem to be experimenting with a lot of different combinations throughout the night and it’s not like the game was ever in doubt, but being almost even on the boards and beaten on the offensive boards by that team is unacceptable. You get that type of thing from young teams though and they’ll learn from it. It kind of got lost in the shuffle but PSUD lost their top two players to injury early in that game. Had they been able to play it might have been a much tighter game down the stretch.

It’s a win. No injuries. IUP is a game over .500, which seems about right for this group.

Normally I don't think that type of game would get more than a comment or two on here but that game left a lot to process.

For starters, that's not a good D3 team. Penn State-Dubois is 9-12, and Edinboro beat them by 57 points earlier this season. As you said, they also lost their two best players to injury in the first half.

What continues to baffle me (and many) is Joe refuses to let this team just run. They built the big lead up last night (24 points) when he let them go for a stretch. Dang-near - without fail - as soon as he slowed them down again, it went from 24 points to 7 points (with 10 minutes to play). To IUP's credit, they fought off the run. PSU-D had all the momentum in the world there when Joe (amazingly) called that timeout.

This particular IUP team just cannot play at his desired turtle speed. They just can't. It's reaching the insanity definition. Different game, same result. Over and over. They don't have the post players. The third guard position is a mess (especially at a slow pace). Sarp is playing way too many minutes. Ian Herring is not geared to play at that pace. He looks like a star when they speed up the tempo. He looks rattled when they slow it down. Alphonso Pickens is not a slow-down player. He's a run-n-gun. Christian Moore and Kymani Merraro both have elite speed.

So, what the team has left this year is all guys geared to play fast. Yet, they are being forced to play like the 2015 team.

As for PSU-D:

* Fantastic game plan. Certainly their coach coming from IUP in the recent past helped. They were very well prepared.
* Their pressure was actual pressure. They ran a good, trapping press.
* They wanted to get physical with IUP. Mission accomplished. On one hand, if those were typical PSAC officials, half their team would have been fouled out by halftime. They weren't, and the game played like a street brawl. IUP isn't an overly physical team this year.
* Anybody else notice that the D3 team had a much deeper rotation than the D2 team?
* If Kyron Harbin (No. 12) enters the Portal for his last year, Joe should jump all over him. He is the exact big, physical guard this current team is lacking. Granted, Dallis will be back next year to fill that role. But, I'd add him anyway.
* PSU-D shot nearly 45% from outside on the night. Every team seems to go bonkers from outside against this IUP team. It's a continuing issue.
* That team didn't quit down 24 points. They showed a lot of fight. They weren't intimidated.


All in all, yes, it's a win. IUP got out of the game healthy. But, that should have never been a 'game' with 9 minutes to play. IUP let off the gas. Hopefully that's a lesson learned. This young IUP team could have thought that was going to be a night off and they'd get to show off for the ladies. PSU-D came to fight.

And, that was way better than a practice leading up to Gannon. IUP got worked out hard last night.

[IUPalum]

Some good. Some bad. I think the worst part was IUP was out hustled and outworked all night, including when PSUD got down 24 points. That team was tremendously overmatched in every way but found a way to cut the lead to 7 midway through the second half.

Joe did seem to be experimenting with a lot of different combinations throughout the night and it’s not like the game was ever in doubt, but being almost even on the boards and beaten on the offensive boards by that team is unacceptable. You get that type of thing from young teams though and they’ll learn from it. It kind of got lost in the shuffle but PSUD lost their top two players to injury early in that game. Had they been able to play it might have been a much tighter game down the stretch.

It’s a win. No injuries. IUP is a game over .500, which seems about right for this group.

He didn't experiment at all. What line up changes did he make that were experiments??? Sarp playing the amount he does is a problem! He's no starter or heavy minute player but Joe does both for some dumb reason!

[EyeoftheHawk]

The good:

Nobody from IUP got hurt


That about concludes the list.

It wasn't pretty. Lot to learn from this game.

Some good. Some bad. I think the worst part was IUP was out hustled and outworked all night, including when PSUD got down 24 points. That team was tremendously overmatched in every way but found a way to cut the lead to 7 midway through the second half.

Joe did seem to be experimenting with a lot of different combinations throughout the night and it’s not like the game was ever in doubt, but being almost even on the boards and beaten on the offensive boards by that team is unacceptable. You get that type of thing from young teams though and they’ll learn from it. It kind of got lost in the shuffle but PSUD lost their top two players to injury early in that game. Had they been able to play it might have been a much tighter game down the stretch.

It’s a win. No injuries. IUP is a game over .500, which seems about right for this group.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

No. 12 from PSU-Dubois would start at the third guard spot for IUP. Without question. He's certainly a D2 player.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The good:

Nobody from IUP got hurt


That about concludes the list.

It wasn't pretty. Lot to learn from this game.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Is playing Penn State DuBois in early February just a scheduling quirk?

Mercyhurst filler

[Topper_Hopper]

Is playing Penn State DuBois in early February just a scheduling quirk?

[EyeoftheHawk]

Fair weather fan!

LOL. I guess that would be the very definition. But now I’m sitting here contemplating going. Decisions, decisions.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Looks like most of the weather is hitting around 9 PM, so about the time the game ends. I can’t imagine many people would want to watch anyway. This is a glorified practice against a horribly overmatched team. I don’t think I’d walk down to see it on a 70 degree day, let alone go out in that kind of weather.

These games, while almost never close, have occasionally been somewhat entertaining over the years.

I remember several years back when Westminster came to the KCAC. They hit 6-7 treys in the first half and were in the game at halftime. It was like 55-45 or somewhere in that neighborhood. Joe lost it right before the half ended. I'm sure that was a real pleasant halftime experience. IUP then hammered them in the second half and won by 35 or so. Joe went 30-3 that year, and that Westminster team had two players who (without question) could have been in Joe's rotation.

But, most of these follow suit. Penn State-Altoona played well for about a half a couple years back. They were actually pretty athletic.

There's also been some real snooze-fests .. Pitt-Greensburg a couple years ago was painful to watch. Same with Bethany.

It's rare we see two of the D3 games in the same season. Thank Mercyhurst for that one. The Thiel game earlier this year wasn't terrible. IUP was only up 11 at halftime but ended up winning by 35 or so.

Playing tonight is better than taking a night off. I suspect they'll work on some things for Gannon. Obviously this team is a work in progress. I think getting any game against opponents who don't know your plays/calls is helpful.

[IUPalum]

Looks like most of the weather is hitting around 9 PM, so about the time the game ends. I can’t imagine many people would want to watch anyway. This is a glorified practice against a horribly overmatched team. I don’t think I’d walk down to see it on a 70 degree day, let alone go out in that kind of weather.

Fair weather fan!

[EyeoftheHawk]

Looks like most of the weather is hitting around 9 PM, so about the time the game ends. I can’t imagine many people would want to watch anyway. This is a glorified practice against a horribly overmatched team. I don’t think I’d walk down to see it on a 70 degree day, let alone go out in that kind of weather.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Curious to see if the IUP vs PSU-branch game is played tomorrow. There's obviously severe ice warnings for much of Western PA tomorrow.

Being it's a meaningless game for both sides I wouldn't be shocked if they cancel it.

[Scrub]

Ask yourself this:

What would happen if the best WL teams of the past played this WL team?

What would happen if Joe's 2014-2015 team played this edition? I can answer this one. It would be a massacre. Experience vs youth.

I mentioned after seeing this year's Gannon team in person that last year's Gannon team would slaughter this one. I think they'd hang 30 on them.

I guess this is entertaining (in a way). But, even the good teams aren't that good this year (compared to past years).

The only consolation to be found in your example is that last year's Gannon team--the one that would presumably destroy this year's--was a portal-built team. So maybe good ones can be built in this era. But the downside is that it can really only last for one year.

But yes, the Bonifant, Bolon, & Butler WLU teams would run this one out of the gym. As would the Porterfield, Devante Change, and Jacobo IUP teams destroy this one.

[Ship69]

Ask yourself this:

What would happen if the best WL teams of the past played this WL team?

What would happen if Joe's 2014-2015 team played this edition? I can answer this one. It would be a massacre. Experience vs youth.

I mentioned after seeing this year's Gannon team in person that last year's Gannon team would slaughter this one. I think they'd hang 30 on them.

I guess this is entertaining (in a way). But, even the good teams aren't that good this year (compared to past years).

There's no doubt about this. Any of the top IUP teams of recent years, Jeff Wilson's better East Stroud teams, or the best editions of the Dustin Sleva-Jake Biss teams at Ship would run roughshod over this year's league. Scrub is not wrong to have some concerns. But the portal can also work to your advantage. Several teams are one or two players away from being pretty good. Others have been hampered by injury. Sometimes you pick up a guy at needed position in the portal, as Ship did with Michael Dickson at point guard this year, and then he gets hurt and can't play anyway. It has made it more difficult to build a stable dynasty for sure, but that hasn't particularly helped the also-rans because, just as in football, the top teams raid them for parts. One thing that keeps basketball a little more competitive is that 2-3 good players and a decent complementary cast can make a good team. You're not going to build much of a football outfit with only a couple of standouts.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

That's a fairly sizeable provision. I hope you're right that both of our leagues--PSAC & MEC--can get back to "normal." The whole region is kinda "off" this year. But I'm deathly afraid that this is the new normal. I'm rapidly becoming convinced that instability, inconsistency, turnover, new players learning new systems, etc. is simply a way of life in the portal era. Those of us fanbases who have been lucky enough to have stable programs in the region--IUP, Ship, ESU, UPJ, WLU, Charleston, Fairmont, etc.--have perhaps been somewhat spoiled by that stability. And I worry it will become a fool's errand trying to recapture the days of that stability given the new cultural context of D2 basketball. I hope I'm wrong; I hope you're right--I hope we'll be getting back to normal next year. But I can't help but fear that this year is the harbinger of a new normal.

Ask yourself this:

What would happen if the best WL teams of the past played this WL team?

What would happen if Joe's 2014-2015 team played this edition? I can answer this one. It would be a massacre. Experience vs youth.

I mentioned after seeing this year's Gannon team in person that last year's Gannon team would slaughter this one. I think they'd hang 30 on them.

I guess this is entertaining (in a way). But, even the good teams aren't that good this year (compared to past years).