Iup basketball

[IUPNation]

Joe L is sitting courtside at the Pitt - GT game tonight

He's recruiting.

:-)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

He's recruiting.

:-)

Joe hasn't left Indiana to recruit in 8-10 years. Not joking.

[Ship69]

Hard to say. David Morris had a similar funk at about this same time last year and then went crazy the final 7-8 games of the year.

The one reason I think it will improve here shortly is Ethan Porterfield is getting healthy. He's looked much better the past couple games and even said after the SRU game that was the first game all year he felt pretty good out there. It was noticeably visible. He wasn't hobbling and looked a full step faster.

Everything changes for IUP when he's healthy (healthier). They become a whole different animal to deal with and are much harder to defend. It was pretty clear the past 4-5 weeks teams knew he was hobbled which allowed them to suffocate others. A healthy Ethan puts a 6'9", 230 lb guy in the middle of the offense -- who can hit sky hooks, treys, pick-n-rolls and he's also a great passer. Ethan puts a lot of fear in to teams which takes heat off of others.

Joe decided to let them shoot out of this ... some think he should have limited the shots -- and who was taking them. If they get the trey ball humming again, they are going to be a load.

As we've seen, they can win without the deep shot. Hell, they've shot it horrible for 6 weeks now. But, Ethan is the key to everything this season.

Yeah, with the way they play defense they'll be pretty tough to handle if they start hitting deep. Obviously they've been tough enough for the PSAC to handle even without lights-out shooting. The big worry to me would be when they get deeper into regional or national play and run into stronger offensive clubs. They'll probably need their shooting eyes then.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Yeah, with the way they play defense they'll be pretty tough to handle if they start hitting deep. Obviously they've been tough enough for the PSAC to handle even without lights-out shooting. The big worry to me would be when they get deeper into regional or national play and run into stronger offensive clubs. They'll probably need their shooting eyes then.

IUP's defense is probably the best its ever been under Joe Lombardi. Last I saw they were No. 1 in the country in points against (58.8). It's the combination of big, fast guards (a lot of them) and very athletic, aggressive and physical post players. The item nobody talks about is these are system guys -- not one-year imports. These guys have played in Joe's scheme for years and years. The other item is IUP's guards rebound better than some teams' post players. Shawndale Jones, for instance, is 6"4" and built like a house. He pushes around a lot of 6'8" guys who weigh 170 pounds. Dallis Dillard is an elite rebounding guard and is packing serious speed and muscle.

They've held some really good offensive teams to WAY below their averages:

Concord - 60
Winston-Salem - 50
Walsh - 60
New Haven - 60
West Chester - 55
Millersville - 45
SRU - 57 & 60
East Stroudsburg - 53
Seton Hill - 52
Mercyhurst - 62 & 67
UPJ - 71 & 60
Cal - 70


Obviously, West Liberty and Fairmont State can put up some major points. But, IUP also will cause them a lot of problems. It works both ways.

There's no doubt IUP should be scoring much more than it is the past 10 games. But, their scoring margin is still a PSAC-best 16.9 ppg. The other caveat is the second half of the conference loop almost always sees scoring decline. These teams know each other so well. Some of them know each others play calls, switches, etc. IUP beat UPJ in the second meeting and UPJ literally called out a counter for every play Joe called out the entire game. Several of us are convinced had Joe just stayed quiet and let them play, IUP could have blown them out of the building. But, it gets a lot harder to score when the opponent knows everything you're doing.

Are they built to win a shootout like we see in WV? I have my doubts. But, I also have serious doubts they'd ever get in to that position. They don't get sucked in to speed races. These are upperclassmen who have played in many big games. They defend the three exceptionally well. East Stroudsburg came in here averaging 90-some points per game and got held to 53 -- and had the pace controlled on them for probably 37 of the 40 minutes. IUP is very strong in the press break this year (unlike last year).

We saw a PSAC West Regional Final a year ago. It wouldn't shock me if we see another one. I'm already anticipating West Liberty and Mercyhurst playing in the second round. Not saying Mercyhurst could beat West Liberty this year ... but, I'm also not saying they won't.


All of that rambling aside, they could also get bounced in the first round. March is pretty unpredictable.

[IUPNation]

Joe hasn't left Indiana to recruit in 8-10 years. Not joking.

His growing media exposure will surely help....

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP better be ready to play Saturday. Cal is lighting up UPJ in Johnstown. Vulcans are on a heater.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well, UPJ came back to make that game pretty interesting last night. Cal ended up winning, 91-84. Neither team was vey good defensively.

The Vulcans hit 12 of 25 from deep. UPJ was just 7 for 20. That was the difference.

IUP won the first meeting with Cal, 87-70. The Vulcans are better now than they were then. Ethan Porterfield is also healthier now.

It's hard to take much out of last night, comparison-wise, as Cal is custom-made to play UPJ. Both start 4 guards, have short benches, etc. They are built almost identically. IUP has tremendously more size and depth than UPJ.

That said, I fully expect Cal to be real juiced up for this one. This is also a very important game for IUP. If they lose down there -- which is very possible as Cal is playing really well -- it likely makes hosting the Regional much more complicated.

IUP should be well-rested heading down there. I'd have to assume the goal will be to take away the deep shot and force Cal to try and score inside -- where IUP will have a massive physical advantage. The first game was very tight for about 28 minutes and then IUP's depth took over.

This is going to be a good one -- and they'll likely run it back again a couple days later.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Never should have been that close but a huge road W

[IUPHawks24]

Playing with fire... But good win regardless.

Cal is a good team. Danny is a really good coach.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Playing with fire... But good win regardless.

Cal is a good team. Danny is a really good coach.

Danny smoked Joe in that game.

Don't get me started on Joe's rotations today.

They could have buried them and he's pi$$ing around way too far down bench.

[IUPNation]

Only 969 in the AngeloDome.

[Chuck Norris]

Fortunate escape. When Dave missed the four straight free throws it felt like something really bad was destined to happen. Cal would have had a ton of momentum if they get that game to OT.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Only 969 in the AngeloDome.

That's their biggest all year by far

[EyeoftheHawk]

Only 969 in the AngeloDome.

My wife happened to walk by the television when I was watching and says, “Wow, you think they’d have more fans for a big game like this.” It really is pitiful. If they were ever going to get a crowd it was going to be today, and they still couldn’t crack 1,000.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Fortunate escape. When Dave missed the four straight free throws it felt like something really bad was destined to happen. Cal would have had a ton of momentum if they get that game to OT.

It didn’t need to be that interesting, that’s for sure. Even if Dave makes a couple of those there would be far less tension in the final moments. He can expect to get fouled late in games in the post season after that performance. That said, he was deadly from three early on and I wouldn’t expect him to blow up at the line like that again.

Overall it was a very good win. IUP was in control for most of it but you could easily see the combinations on the floor when Cal made their runs to get back in it. I’ll give Cal credit though. They could have packed it in after going down 15 at the half but they just kept chipping away basically playing six kids. All that said, close doesn’t count and I believe that’s 20 in a row over Cal for IUP.