Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Trick question (kind of)!

March 8, 2013...The Rock beat East Stroudsburg in the PSAC semifinals in the KCAC, setting up a great game the next night against IUP. (This was, I believe, the first rendition of IUPatty's and no one knew how to celebrate yet. So the IUP fans came in in a drunken stupor for the Saturday night championship game decked out in green. Slippery Rock brought at least one fan bus and were very loud. It was a great atmosphere and IUP stormed the floor afterward, even if most in attendance were wearing Slippery Rock green.)

You got me. Good one.

That's a funny story.

[hawks16]

Re: Iup basketball

Trick question (kind of)!

March 8, 2013...The Rock beat East Stroudsburg in the PSAC semifinals in the KCAC, setting up a great game the next night against IUP. (This was, I believe, the first rendition of IUPatty's and no one knew how to celebrate yet. So the IUP fans came in in a drunken stupor for the Saturday night championship game decked out in green. Slippery Rock brought at least one fan bus and were very loud. It was a great atmosphere and IUP stormed the floor afterward, even if most in attendance were wearing Slippery Rock green.)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Trivia! When is the last time Slippery Rock won a game in Indiana?

Before you were born.

LOL ... just kidding. But, seriously, 29 years ago.

They were oh so close so many times under Kevin Reynolds. But, he had a streak of at least 7 games getting T'd up in Indiana. Some of them were deadly. Mathis and Marcel's senior year ... Reynolds' T cost SRU the game.


Starting in the mid-90s through the start of the KR era, they were routinely wipe-outs ... 25-35 point blowouts on a pretty routine basis. It's why it is still kind of weird for the older posters on here to consider SRU a rival in basketball.

[hawks16]

Re: Iup basketball

Trivia! When is the last time Slippery Rock won a game in Indiana?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Simple terms:

1) PRESS and wear SRU out!
2) Get a defensive rebound, kick out and run!
3) ATTACK the rim! Don't settle for 3's!
4) Make free throws!

Two games they've lost ... they were down 13 (SRU) and 10 (Mercyhurst) at the half.

Here's an oddity for some of you saber metric types: IUP is struggling mightily in the first half of home games this year -- oddly at the end of the court where they warm up. I'd guess their KCAC FG percentage differential between the two ends of the court is huge. In particular, I'd bet they are shooting nearly 30 percent better from deep at the other end.

Take it a step further, when the teams flip-flop for the second half, it's almost always the visiting team that goes cold down at that end (horseshoe end).

It has to be a sight line thing. I know many coaches over the years have commented it's hard for teams to prepare to play there due to the wide open nature of it compared to the average PSAC gym (with a wall behind the basket). Odd it seems to also be bothering the home team. Of course, they mainly practice at MFH.


Sample size from this year:


IUP shot:

Virginia State 37.5 FG% in first half and 50% in second half
Bowie State 44% in first half and 55% in second half
Le Moyne 32% in first half and 52% in second half
Mercyhurst 42% in first half and 54% in second half

Perhaps not coincidentally every one of those four teams shot a tremendously higher percentage in the first half and then saw their percentage take a dive after halftime.

Like I said ... just an observation but it appears to have some merit.

[IUPalum]

Re: Iup basketball

Simple terms:

1) PRESS and wear SRU out!
2) Get a defensive rebound, kick out and run!
3) ATTACK the rim! Don't settle for 3's!
4) Make free throws!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

A closer look at the first meeting and IUP's keys for Round 2:

* First 20 minutes. Must. Start. Fast. In Morrow, IUP got down 13 at the half and had a mental blow-up (technical) before the intermission.

* It can't be a repeat of just Cobo (29) and Malik (17) combining to score 46 of IUP's 69 points. Consider Dante, Armoni, Chucky and Marko had 12 points -- combined.

* Living and dying with the trey. SRU held IUP to 4 of 20 in the first go around. SRU defended. IUP shot bad. Whatever. The ball didn't find the bucket.

* IUP had a slight rebounding advantage in Game 1. In part this was due to a ton of long rebounds on continued missed outside shots. SRU has some real big bodies under the basket. To rebound against them you have to be down and dirty. Tenacity has to show up tonight for IUP.

* Dante's stat line in Morrow: 1-14 FG, 0-8 treys, 4 TOs, 1 technical foul. SRU did a great job getting him rattled up there. Vital to get him involved and productive early in this game.

* IUP shot 19 of 28 at the FT line -- including 3 of 8 by Willem. That, along with season stats, will tell SRU Willem is the guy you want on the line. The devil's advocate side is SRU commits a ton of fouls underneath the basket. They'll commit even more tonight in the KCAC. The hack-a-Shaq stuff they got away with in Morrow won't fly tonight. Moral of the story: IUP ... MUST make free throws. They will get a lot of chances tonight.

* IUP shot just 34% overall and 20% from deep against SRU. Granted, if you remove Dante's 1-14 and 0-8 out of there the percentages aren't that bad for the rest of the team.

* Cobo went crazy against SRU ... having his best game of the season (29 points, 14 rebounds).

* One item most of us missed is the fact SRU played a relatively small lineup against IUP for the majority of that game. They were often going with 4 guards and Till -- which created a mismatch for Cobo but helped to suffocate IUP's guards. They floated the 6'5" shooting guard Vinnie Lasley in to a hybrid role. He had one of his best games of his career going for 16 points. Footnote: Lasley is very prone to foul trouble.

* Marko and Chucky. The duo played just 16 minutes combined. While in itself that's a big problem, it created a lot of other problems. More on that later. SRU's bench outscored IUP's bench 20-2.

* SRU played 10 guys in constant rotation (fresh bodies) -- Till played the most most with 32 minutes. They had 8 different players score. On the contrary, IUP's five starters all played at least 32 minutes. Consider: Malik (40), Armoni (34), Willem (32), Dante (38) and Cobo (36).

* Add to IUP's players logging way too high of minutes is the fact they pressed the entire second half. While it worked, it also ran them out of gas for the final 5 minutes.

* The IUP press ... consider: SRU shot a whopping 53% in the first half when IUP played their pace. They were making treys from all over. IUP went to the press in the second half and SRU discombobulated -- shooting just 32% after the break and just 15% on deep shots.

* SRU's clear weakness, as exposed for one half by IUP and by East Stroudsburg and Gannon, is in the transition game. They aren't a team that loves to fly up and down the court. They get tired. Sloppy. And, they don't have the best ball-handlers to handle heavy pressure. IUP should ABSOLUTELY press the hell out of them tonight. I'd go all 40 minutes. BUT, they can't do it with 5 guys. Marko, Chuckie and Anthony White have to play big roles tonight. Call it a hunch but we will see some different lineups tonight. Chuckie creates a lot of havoc in the press. That's the key to the whole game in my opinion. If IUP gets sucked in to that muck pace again ... they will likely lose.

[IUPalum]

Re: Iup basketball

I looked for a replay of the last possession but wasn't able to find it. Is it now in the IUP athletics site?

https://portal.stretchinternet.com/i...reamType=video

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

A little added incentive to host the PSAC Tournament:

Joe is 23-7 against Slippery Rock.

He's 14-0 in Indiana but just 9-7 in Morrow Field House.

[Golden89]

Re: Iup basketball

I looked for a replay of the last possession but wasn't able to find it. Is it now in the IUP athletics site?

[Chuck Norris]

Re: Iup basketball

Man, I see what Joe was talking about now after having watched the replay of the last possession.

Notice when they break the huddle it seems fine. Then, they look around and Cobo realizes Massey isn't on the court (who they planned to foul). He starts yelling for Armoni to come up and cover the point guard who is going to take the inbound pass. Mass confusion. Armoni gets there late as he was already at the other end and from a bad angle and the point guard blows past both of them -- effectively creating a 5 on 3 situation. Dante bites hard on the first past to the wing -- leaving Pratapas wide open in the corner. Not easy for 3 guys to guard 5.

They call a timeout there and re-adjust ... who knows. Probably a different ending.

I'm not a fan in those situations of giving the inbounder a free pass. Stick the 6'9" Cobo in his face with that giant wingspan. When you don't you give the point guard a running start and a full 7 seconds it speeds them up all the more ... often resulting in mistakes. It also likely prevents them from having enough time, in theory, to get off that second pass and shot.

It was a gutsy call by Gary to go for the win there and not the tie. Gotta give him that.

I also don't know that I totally agree with the IUP plan of fouling there with a two-point lead. I guess the theory was foul a 40 percent FT shooter before any time runs. Even he makes both then they'd get another run up the court.

Moral of the story is that play should have never happened. The foul line issues finally bit them and a good team like Mercyhurst took advantage of it. They have a 3-point lead in that instance and they set up a totally different defense.

Brandon Spain beat the Lakers on a buzzer beater 3 years ago. Guess it was their turn to pay it back.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Man, I see what Joe was talking about now after having watched the replay of the last possession.

Notice when they break the huddle it seems fine. Then, they look around and Cobo realizes Massey isn't on the court (who they planned to foul). He starts yelling for Armoni to come up and cover the point guard who is going to take the inbound pass. Mass confusion. Armoni gets there late as he was already at the other end and from a bad angle and the point guard blows past both of them -- effectively creating a 5 on 3 situation. Dante bites hard on the first past to the wing -- leaving Pratapas wide open in the corner. Not easy for 3 guys to guard 5.

They call a timeout there and re-adjust ... who knows. Probably a different ending.

I'm not a fan in those situations of giving the inbounder a free pass. Stick the 6'9" Cobo in his face with that giant wingspan. When you don't you give the point guard a running start and a full 7 seconds it speeds them up all the more ... often resulting in mistakes. It also likely prevents them from having enough time, in theory, to get off that second pass and shot.

It was a gutsy call by Gary to go for the win there and not the tie. Gotta give him that.

I also don't know that I totally agree with the IUP plan of fouling there with a two-point lead. I guess the theory was foul a 40 percent FT shooter before any time runs. Even he makes both then they'd get another run up the court.

Moral of the story is that play should have never happened. The foul line issues finally bit them and a good team like Mercyhurst took advantage of it. They have a 3-point lead in that instance and they set up a totally different defense.

Brandon Spain beat the Lakers on a buzzer beater 3 years ago. Guess it was their turn to pay it back.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

My buddy who works at SRU said Rock has at least one fan bus coming. That should spice it up a bit.

Wish more schools did it ... makes for a better atmosphere.

Remember one school in this game thinks this is some great rivalry. The other sees it as the next game on the schedule.

Now, if IUP students were creative and really wanted to make the KCAC imposing ... they'd buy up all the seats behind the SRU bench.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Marco also has that fire but yet plays only 13 minutes???

When is Dante going to realize he's off, let someone else shoot?

Willem and Cobo are soft! Cobo is extremely talented but he doesn't like contact!

Good news: Those two are a match-up nightmare for just about every team in the region not named Mercyhurst or Slippery Rock. We've seen when they play run-n-gun teams (Concord, Fairmont State, etc.) ... they excel in those games. Fairmont had no prayer against them.

Bad news: It's highly likely they'll play at least one of them again in the PSAC Tournament and maybe even the Regional. I can guarantee Slippery Rock is planning to come in here and muck things up Wednesday. They've seen the film and know you have to turn up the physicality against IUP.


With his skill set, Cobo is essentially a 6'9" guard. But, yes, Willem needs to step up the tenacity down there. Mercyhurst was ferocious on the glass. I don't see that watching IUP. Chucky and Marko get after balls. I really think their lack of minutes is hurting the team overall. The others are being run ragged and injuries are cropping up likely as a result of it. We can talk about foul shots but they rebound and they win that game. That simple. Let's be real honest they got beat up on the glass by Seton Hill, who basically has one post player.

These next two games are going to make or break the season in my opinion. Don't count out that trip to Gannon on Saturday. They are tough up there. Two very physical games this week. Like it or not, here they come.

Building a roster that can compete at the regional level but can also get through the West muck-it-up style isn't easy. I do have concerns that if they don't win Wednesday things could start to spiral in a bad direction. We've seen some IUP teams fizzle out down the stretch in recent years. Is that playing guys way too many minutes? That's my guess.

Awful lot at stake Wednesday night. A lot of travel plans could hinge around this game.

[Chuck Norris]

Re: Iup basketball

When the lights get bright ... nobody better than Tom Brady. Ever.