Iup basketball

[IUPalum]

Re: Iup basketball

Don't forget Sanders was the 6th guy on that 2010 team. Kevin Stewart was the starting PG. So now you have Sanders shooting ability coming off the bench. The 2015 team didn't have that scoring on their bench. Stewart could defend hard and that would've given Chance fits.

[Chuck Norris]

Re: Iup basketball

Who wins between Joe's two national finalist teams?

[IUPalum]

Re: Iup basketball

Who wins between Joe's two national finalist teams?

Not even close... Webb and the boys destroy Chance and co.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Who wins between Joe's two national finalist teams?

[scorpion]

Re: Iup basketball

Cannot agree more about Derrick Freeman. Completely unstoppable fade away jumper. Extreme athlete. Realize that if he played 4 years he would have been the first 2000 point scorer in IUP history. Needs to be in the Hall....

That loss to Riverside has to haunt those players and coaches every day, no doubt about it...

[Chuck Norris]

Re: Iup basketball

3. The best team of ALL time in my opinion is the 94-95 team that went 29-2 and made it to the final four. Team was loaded with Yancey, Misenko, Freeman, Bullock and Kirk Williams. Most of you guys did not start following IUP hoops until after the Kanaskie teams from what I can gather on this board. They were special players with 3 Hall Of Famers on the roster and a fourth coming soon with Freeman. The only team to win Back To Back Region Championships as well. Talk about good crowds against CAL...they were some of the best games ever played at the Field House!

Looking forward to this season....it is gonna be a special one!!!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

I usually enjoy just reading the posts about IUP hoops, but the thread got very interesting the last couple days so I decided to chime in!

1. I think all of the questions and concerns around this team will be non issues when they win the Region this year. The conference is very weak and the region is not that strong in my opinion either.

2. The one player I feel is missing this year is the dominant one-on-one scorer who is able to take over the game in the end or when it is a must score situation when the offense breaks down. (Norfleet, Glover, Dyer, Ashton, Thomas Young), to name a few in the past years. Nobody in the starting five has that capability. Countless times last year when Glover went wild and bailed them out of bad situations.

3. The best team of ALL time in my opinion is the 94-95 team that went 29-2 and made it to the final four. Team was loaded with Yancey, Misenko, Freeman, Bullock and Kirk Williams. Most of you guys did not start following IUP hoops until after the Kanaskie teams from what I can gather on this board. They were special players with 3 Hall Of Famers on the roster and a fourth coming soon with Freeman. The only team to win Back To Back Region Championships as well. Talk about good crowds against CAL...they were some of the best games ever played at the Field House!

Looking forward to this season....it is gonna be a special one!!!

The 2002 team vs. the 1994-95 group would have been a great game. Imagine what the poor refs would go through with Kanaskie on one bench and Gary Edwards on the other. Wow.

[scorpion]

Re: Iup basketball

Most unheralded PG ever at IUP ... name somehow forgotten ... DeWayne Anthony.

Don't forget White Lightning ... Wes Layton. His performance in the regional title run in 2002 ... one for the books. Best team in school history ... my opinion. Final Four but I put No. 1. That was the era when IUP and Cal played .... biggest show in town all year.

I usually enjoy just reading the posts about IUP hoops, but the thread got very interesting the last couple days so I decided to chime in!

1. I think all of the questions and concerns around this team will be non issues when they win the Region this year. The conference is very weak and the region is not that strong in my opinion either.

2. The one player I feel is missing this year is the dominant one-on-one scorer who is able to take over the game in the end or when it is a must score situation when the offense breaks down. (Norfleet, Glover, Dyer, Ashton, Thomas Young), to name a few in the past years. Nobody in the starting five has that capability. Countless times last year when Glover went wild and bailed them out of bad situations.

3. The best team of ALL time in my opinion is the 94-95 team that went 29-2 and made it to the final four. Team was loaded with Yancey, Misenko, Freeman, Bullock and Kirk Williams. Most of you guys did not start following IUP hoops until after the Kanaskie teams from what I can gather on this board. They were special players with 3 Hall Of Famers on the roster and a fourth coming soon with Freeman. The only team to win Back To Back Region Championships as well. Talk about good crowds against CAL...they were some of the best games ever played at the Field House!

Looking forward to this season....it is gonna be a special one!!!

[IUPalum]

Re: Iup basketball

I've coached against Malik and Armoni, let me tell you that they are both legit talents. To me, Armoni was a little better than Malik. The difference to me was Malik has a calmer demeanor to him. I'm hoping Armoni has grown up and matured as a player because his talents will help immediately. If that does happen then Dante can slide to shooting guard where he is better suited.

[Chuck Norris]

Re: Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Million dollar question.

Can he take them to the promised lands?

Bravado emptied the bank account.

[PSACwatcher]

[IUP24]

Iup basketball

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: Iup basketball

Exactly! That was precisely my argument in a nutshell.

We are mentioning all of these past great IUP guards. Dante is not at present in the same stratosphere as many of those top names being floated such as Chance, Dwyer, Norfleet, Stewart, Ashton Smith, Julian Sanders, Wes Layton, et al.

He still has one more year to change that. But this is something that could really come back to bite the legacy of Bravado. People will say why did you not bring in better guards than your son during those four years? Heck, I think a lot of IUP fans much preferred Spain to Dante at the PG position.

Bravado has been one hell of a ball coach here and a good dude. I hope it all works out.

But yeah, the schedule, the rotation, the seeming unwillingness to look beyond your son at PG have not helped things in the past three seasons. You don't want the IUP Angry Mob coming down on you the way it did on Curt Cignetti over certain issues. LOL.

-

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

I don't think Dante or any one player is the sole blame for missing two out of the last three NCAAs. Maybe Joe just likes his primary ball-handlers (Devante, Dyer, Norfleet, Dante) to play heavy minutes -- which then gets us back into the depth issue.

You're right. No single player. Heck, you could blame Bravado Joe. Play cupcakes instead of Findlay types and he's dancing yearly.

But ... And, this is a big 'but' ...

This is a program with a ton of coin being dumped in to it. From, of course, a lot of people. That comes with expectations. You want money ... And lots of it ... you best win.

I think Joe has swung and missed on some recruits. Did the team get soft? Yes. Have they underachieved? Yes. Bad luck? Yes, that, too.

End of day this is a results business. Save the feel good stories for the girl scouts. From someone who writes checks ... I don't want to see walk-ons playing in vital moments. The 'why' to me is irrelevent.

I don't want to see East Stroudsburg roll in here 13 deep and our 'fully funded' team is rolling out intramural players. That's purely on Bravado.

This program has lost a lot of support the past three years. That's a fact. Reasons ... opinions vary.

Some of you watch things from afar. They were maybe getting 800 a game last year for much of the season. They can report whatever they want. A few big gates at the end really spiked the average attendance.