Iup basketball

[Chuck Norris]

IUP won two games this past weekend. That's four straight wins. That's the good news. This team is actually pretty exciting to watch. You don't know what will happen next. Literally.

The bad news? And, really strange news? The Crimson Hawks twice played in front of a near-empty KCAC.

IUP's home opener Saturday drew an awful gate of just 412 people. Sunday was worse, as just 279 came to watch.

These are normal numbers at most schools, but IUP has led the PSAC in attendance for an awfully long stretch. Consider just two years ago IUP averaged 2,126 per game (and that 'average' was brought down by the never-ending semester break).

Past opening weekends have been so-so -- typically because the football team has a playoff game, etc. That wasn't the case this year. In fact, nothing was really going on in Indiana. IUP even got a huge break when the Friday night game was postponed (and the team no longer had to compete with the very popular holiday parade).

Without question, certain things last year turned off many, many fans. But, for IUP to draw 412 and 279 on opening weekend? Holy smokes. Tomorrow night will understandably have a terrible gate. The students leave today for Thanksgiving break. Many people will be travelling or getting ready for Thursday.

I used to say Joe would draw 1,200 townies even if he tipped off at 7 a.m.

So, where has everybody gone? Maybe it was a fluke. The school does next to nothing to market the team. But, I'm not sure it was, in fact, a fluke.

They had their worst season, by far, since the KCAC opened and there probably wasn’t much optimism for this year with all the new and young faces. I wouldn’t discount the Gazette coverage dropping to non existent either, especially for older folks. If they keep improving I would imagine the numbers pick up fairly quickly.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP won two games this past weekend. That's four straight wins. That's the good news. This team is actually pretty exciting to watch. You don't know what will happen next. Literally.

The bad news? And, really strange news? The Crimson Hawks twice played in front of a near-empty KCAC.

IUP's home opener Saturday drew an awful gate of just 412 people. Sunday was worse, as just 279 came to watch.

These are normal numbers at most schools, but IUP has led the PSAC in attendance for an awfully long stretch. Consider just two years ago IUP averaged 2,126 per game (and that 'average' was brought down by the never-ending semester break).

Past opening weekends have been so-so -- typically because the football team has a playoff game, etc. That wasn't the case this year. In fact, nothing was really going on in Indiana. IUP even got a huge break when the Friday night game was postponed (and the team no longer had to compete with the very popular holiday parade).

Without question, certain things last year turned off many, many fans. But, for IUP to draw 412 and 279 on opening weekend? Holy smokes. Tomorrow night will understandably have a terrible gate. The students leave today for Thanksgiving break. Many people will be travelling or getting ready for Thursday.

I used to say Joe would draw 1,200 townies even if he tipped off at 7 a.m.

So, where has everybody gone? Maybe it was a fluke. The school does next to nothing to market the team. But, I'm not sure it was, in fact, a fluke.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP hosts a rare Thanksgiving Eve game tomorrow night. Fittingly, an opponent the Crimson Hawks rarely see is the guest of honor.

IUP last played Lincoln back on Nov. 11, 2016. Due to a scheduling conflict (concert), the home opener was played at the Memorial Field House.

The Crimson Hawks stormed out to a 48-32 halftime lead, and eventually ended up winning, 101-82.

Joe's starting lineup that night was Dante Lombardi, Anthony Glover Jr., Devon Cottrell, Jacobo Diaz and Ayron Hutton. Top reserves were Blake Danielak, true freshman Malik Miller, and Brandon Spain.

IUP went on to finish the season with a 28-4 record (which included two OT losses). The Crimson Hawks lost the PSAC title game to Shippensburg, in OT, 90-87. IUP had a furious comeback to push the game to the extra period, but ultimately fell short.

A week later, the Crimson Hawks defeated Kutztown in Round 1 of the NCAAs before falling to host Fairmont State (who eventually lost in the National Title game). IUP lost to Fairmont State earlier in the season (91-81 in OT).

It seems like a long, long time ago.

I would love to see IUP play one game a year at the Field House. If the building is still standing, why not. It's a fun trip down memory lane. Personally, three of my five all-time favorite IUP games were played in that building.

The last game played in front of a crowd across the street was a classic. Back on Dec. 8, 2018, No. 3 IUP defeated No. 11 Shippensburg, 88-77, in front of a loud and packed crowd. The game was neck and neck until the final 60 seconds when IUP pulled away, capped off by a thunderous breakaway dunk by Willem Brandwijk. The building was as loud in that moment as it was back in the IUP/Cal days.

The last 'official' game played at the Field House came during the Covid year. IUP played (3) games that season. In the second game, IUP defeated Gannon, 67-56. For some reason, they played at the Field House. No fans were allowed.

So, there's a little trivia for you. Of all the crazy nights over there, the last game had no audience.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I agree with your observations. I'd probably play a zone against Ship most of the time, but on the other hand Seton Hill played one Saturday, and they play a pretty good zone. Difference was that Ship was zipping the ball around, getting some open looks for their shots and getting Frank some openings. Sunday, they either seemed to just quickly throw up a three, or try to drive the middle with three IUP defenders converging, which does not work. Jaydon Smith probably is going to be one of the next big players at Ship, and I'm hoping he'll get more minutes as the season goes on. He gives them more size on defense and a decent amount of quickness. He has the game to draw some of the attention away from Frank. I thought Dickson tried to force things too much at times on Sunday, and he's had too much experience to be doing that. Conner can be effective on offense, but it hurts us defensively when he and Dickson are in at the same time. That gives us two short guards who get taken to the rack, which is all too similar to last season. Fite is apparently a Bob Knight disciple on defense. I don't thnk I've seen him play more than five minutes of zone in the last several years.

It's going to take some adjustment. Frank's tremendous success has almost hurt them in a way — often it's just stand around and let him create some offense. But he's not going to get 25-30 every game. I noticed the same thing a couple of years back when the women's team had Arial Jones. When she graduated, the team plummeted.

So I wasn't happy with Sunday, but overall I was encouraged by the weekend. If they get the right players on the court taking the right shots, I think they have the potential to steal some wins this year. I still can't believe they lost to Chestnut Hill.

IUP has some nice young talent. That little freshman point guard has some slick moves. Bowie is a decent defender, and he was left flat-footed a couple of times. If you get Dillard and your other guys back, that's going to be a hard team to defend.

The one thing this IUP team is - defensively - is lightning fast. It's by far Joe's quickest overall lineup he's had in a long time.

Kymani Merraro (PG) isn't tall but he's built well and is incredibly quick. Christian Moore is also an extremely fast player. Tyler Grove would be a football coaches' dream at 6'8" with the way he runs. Brooks and Triggs move very well for bigs. Ian Herring is literally all over the place (for better or worse) with his 6'5" frame. Sarp is actually the 'calming' figure on the court as he's played in Joe's system. He's also a good defender and a big guard.

That said, 3 of the 7 playing are true freshmen. They get out of position a lot on defense and lapses follow. Their speed, however, is creating a lot of havoc for opposing teams. They are getting more settled with each game. I think this can be a very strong defensive team by mid- to late-January.

Pickens and Dillard will give a huge boost on both ends. Both are very strong, big and fast defenders. It will also cut the current rotations minutes down and keep everybody fresher. I have no doubt a lot of these lapses we are seeing are the result of guys being gassed (and we all know Joe doesn't call any timeouts).

I unfortunately don't think we're going to see Bautista Rodriguez this year, so the post will remain fairly light, depth-wise. I would really like to see Joe get Callum MacNamara more minutes. I can absolutely guarantee a game is coming when either Triggs or Brooks will be in foul trouble. In the meantime, they need to get him as much game action as possible. He's a bruiser. There's no sugarcoating. He's the 'muscle' off the bench at 6'8" and 240 lbs. But, he needs to be ready. He's not going to be a scorer by any means, but he is a capable rebounder and defender. He's not easy to move around.

The cavalry is on the way. They just need to get by a couple more games.

[Ship69]

The IUP defensive plan was to clog the middle. They wanted to make it very difficult for Frank (and Dickson) to drive the hoop -- and were basically daring him to shoot from outside. I'd say it worked pretty well as he finished with 11 points (about 15 below his average). He was getting visibly frustrated as the game went along.

I totally agree on Hill. Why in the world he was launching treys (0-7) I have no idea. He is a tough rebounder. He uses his body very well for positioning.

The player who stood out to me was Trey Martin. He has a smooth shot.

Romero-Sanz finally got to play a game inside the KCAC. He did have 7 rebounds in 9 minutes. He is, however, certainly raw. There's potential there. He's obviously a very big, physical player. When he jacked up that trey yesterday I thought Fite was going to lose his mind.

I'd venture to guess yesterday becomes the game film on how to deal with Frank. I suspect some other teams will try and run a similar defense to what Joe did yesterday.

One thing that surprised me was Fite's rotation - limited roles for Jaydon Smith (19 minutes) and Jalen Bowie (15 minutes). Those two can play. The went for 11 points apiece and are strong defenders. I'd have to guess the minutes distribution will be getting tweaked here soon.

Ship is definitely better. I think once Fite gets that rotation firmly set (and his bigs stop trying to be Larry Bird), they will be a pretty tough out.

I agree with your observations. I'd probably play a zone against Ship most of the time, but on the other hand Seton Hill played one Saturday, and they play a pretty good zone. Difference was that Ship was zipping the ball around, getting some open looks for their shots and getting Frank some openings. Sunday, they either seemed to just quickly throw up a three, or try to drive the middle with three IUP defenders converging, which does not work. Jaydon Smith probably is going to be one of the next big players at Ship, and I'm hoping he'll get more minutes as the season goes on. He gives them more size on defense and a decent amount of quickness. He has the game to draw some of the attention away from Frank. I thought Dickson tried to force things too much at times on Sunday, and he's had too much experience to be doing that. Conner can be effective on offense, but it hurts us defensively when he and Dickson are in at the same time. That gives us two short guards who get taken to the rack, which is all too similar to last season. Fite is apparently a Bob Knight disciple on defense. I don't thnk I've seen him play more than five minutes of zone in the last several years.

It's going to take some adjustment. Frank's tremendous success has almost hurt them in a way — often it's just stand around and let him create some offense. But he's not going to get 25-30 every game. I noticed the same thing a couple of years back when the women's team had Arial Jones. When she graduated, the team plummeted.

So I wasn't happy with Sunday, but overall I was encouraged by the weekend. If they get the right players on the court taking the right shots, I think they have the potential to steal some wins this year. I still can't believe they lost to Chestnut Hill.

IUP has some nice young talent. That little freshman point guard has some slick moves. Bowie is a decent defender, and he was left flat-footed a couple of times. If you get Dillard and your other guys back, that's going to be a hard team to defend.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

It doesn't matter if they they know Joe's defense if they're not going to run any offense. As jrshooter said on another thread, it's not a good possession for Ship when Hill and Frank are sniping from 24 feet out. That's not their game, but Hill seems to fancy himself a 6-8 outside shooter. You'd think a guy who had 24 rebounds the previous game would be fired up and want to stay in the mix near the basket. IUP's young team played some nice defense, but it was extremely disappointing as a Ship fan to see the Raiders chucking up hurried 3s (and just about all of them missing) after running a disciplined offense with great ball movement on Saturday. Were I coaching, the three-point efforts of Hill and Frank would be strictly limited. Those two, along with Figueroa, need to be getting inside and crashing the boards. Romero-Sanz has the potential to be some help there as well. Most of the outside shooting needs to be left with Conner, Martin and Smith.With Gannon coming to town in December, that will be a very long game if they put forth the type of effort they did today. Jekyll and Hyde.

The IUP defensive plan was to clog the middle. They wanted to make it very difficult for Frank (and Dickson) to drive the hoop -- and were basically daring him to shoot from outside. I'd say it worked pretty well as he finished with 11 points (about 15 below his average). He was getting visibly frustrated as the game went along.

I totally agree on Hill. Why in the world he was launching treys (0-7) I have no idea. He is a tough rebounder. He uses his body very well for positioning.

The player who stood out to me was Trey Martin. He has a smooth shot.

Romero-Sanz finally got to play a game inside the KCAC. He did have 7 rebounds in 9 minutes. He is, however, certainly raw. There's potential there. He's obviously a very big, physical player. When he jacked up that trey yesterday I thought Fite was going to lose his mind.

I'd venture to guess yesterday becomes the game film on how to deal with Frank. I suspect some other teams will try and run a similar defense to what Joe did yesterday.

One thing that surprised me was Fite's rotation - limited roles for Jaydon Smith (19 minutes) and Jalen Bowie (15 minutes). Those two can play. The went for 11 points apiece and are strong defenders. I'd have to guess the minutes distribution will be getting tweaked here soon.

Ship is definitely better. I think once Fite gets that rotation firmly set (and his bigs stop trying to be Larry Bird), they will be a pretty tough out.

[Ship69]

Assuming they add Pickens here shortly and then get Dallis back ... it will greatly reduce their lapses. I think they are just getting wore out in stretches and then get a little sloppy. It's also adding two veterans and will reduce some minutes elsewhere. Dallis has been in wars. He's not going to make freshmen mistakes.

Adding two starter-quality, big guards will be a huge boost.

They are playing pretty well right now for I'd say 65-ish percent of games.

That was the poster child worst officiating crew in the Atlantic Region today. Those guys are so old they can't keep up. Fite and Lombardi were both furious all day.

Ship was better than I was anticipating. They are much faster than a year ago and have a much bigger overall lineup.

It is hilarious to hear Fite call out every set and defense Joe runs. They know what's coming the whole game. Obviously they still have to stop it.

It doesn't matter if they they know Joe's defense if they're not going to run any offense. As jrshooter said on another thread, it's not a good possession for Ship when Hill and Frank are sniping from 24 feet out. That's not their game, but Hill seems to fancy himself a 6-8 outside shooter. You'd think a guy who had 24 rebounds the previous game would be fired up and want to stay in the mix near the basket. IUP's young team played some nice defense, but it was extremely disappointing as a Ship fan to see the Raiders chucking up hurried 3s (and just about all of them missing) after running a disciplined offense with great ball movement on Saturday. Were I coaching, the three-point efforts of Hill and Frank would be strictly limited. Those two, along with Figueroa, need to be getting inside and crashing the boards. Romero-Sanz has the potential to be some help there as well. Most of the outside shooting needs to be left with Conner, Martin and Smith.With Gannon coming to town in December, that will be a very long game if they put forth the type of effort they did today. Jekyll and Hyde.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Joe's Postgame:

1) Alfonso Pickens should be ready for the South Carolina Beaufort game.
2) Dallis has his doctor appointment December 4/5 and could be cleared for games before Christmas.
3) Bautista has no end in sight with his "international eligibility" issues. (Joe's words)
4) No mention of Denzel or Watson today.

Assuming they add Pickens here shortly and then get Dallis back ... it will greatly reduce their lapses. I think they are just getting wore out in stretches and then get a little sloppy. It's also adding two veterans and will reduce some minutes elsewhere. Dallis has been in wars. He's not going to make freshmen mistakes.

Adding two starter-quality, big guards will be a huge boost.

They are playing pretty well right now for I'd say 65-ish percent of games.

That was the poster child worst officiating crew in the Atlantic Region today. Those guys are so old they can't keep up. Fite and Lombardi were both furious all day.

Ship was better than I was anticipating. They are much faster than a year ago and have a much bigger overall lineup.

It is hilarious to hear Fite call out every set and defense Joe runs. They know what's coming the whole game. Obviously they still have to stop it.

[IUPalum]

Joe's Postgame:

1) Alfonso Pickens should be ready for the South Carolina Beaufort game.
2) Dallis has his doctor appointment December 4/5 and could be cleared for games before Christmas.
3) Bautista has no end in sight with his "international eligibility" issues. (Joe's words)
4) No mention of Denzel or Watson today.

[Ship69]

This could get out of hand very quickly this afternoon. Ship does not look cohesive, and this looks like the bad version of Markus Frank.

EDIT: After 16-2, I sure didn't see a 33-33 halftime tie coming.

They're lucky to be in the game. They moved the ball so well yesterday, and today they just seem to want to heave up three-pointers that they're not hitting.

[jrshooter]

This could get out of hand very quickly this afternoon. Ship does not look cohesive, and this looks like the bad version of Markus Frank.

EDIT: After 16-2, I sure didn't see a 33-33 halftime tie coming.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Yeah, I wasn't particularly surprised UPJ won at home, but I was surprised by the margin as I think Lock Haven will have a decent team this season. Guess we'll find out more today.

Should be an interesting meeting. Two young teams. Good one day and not the next.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I think the Grove situation has a lot to do with what his basketball aspirations are. I'm pretty sure he had low D1 offers already and turned them down for IUP.

If they can get a few of these players back then they get some much needed depth. They go through some major lapses when Merrero is off the floor offensively even with how raw he is. Pickens would be a huge addition on both ends of the floor.

Bautista would add more depth and versatility inside. Every team knows Brooks can only score on dunks and lay ups.

Interesting thing with Grove he's grown 2" (legitimately) since Joe signed him. He's also not the typical D2 6'8" freshman - he's built and very athletic.

He's obviously a matchup nightmare for guards with his very strong outside shot.

I agree about Pickens. Recall he was signed to be the starting PG. We'll see how that plays out upon his return. He will be a massive piece to add back on both ends.


Dallis Dillard is also inching back as well as Denzel. Bautista could be cleared soon.

Joe could go from his current 7 healthy guys to a whole lot of depth.

The football player who joined the team was apparently injured in the final game of the season. He was on the bench yesterday but his leg is heavily wrapped and he's limping badly. So, we won't be seeing him anytime soon.


I'll say this ... this is Joe's most challenging team (for him). They are essentially all new, very young, etc. But, it's by far his fastest team in probably 10 years. It's also much more balanced than a typical Lombardi team.

I thought yesterday they played pretty good for about 26-27 out of 40 minutes. That number is increasing each game.

If they get Pickens, Denzel, Bautista and Dallis back here soon, this could be a pretty good team by mid-January.

[IUPalum]

I'm not sure he will be here more than one season. I hope.

It's unfortunate for IUP.


Rumor is Bautista Rodriguez is on par with Grove. If he gets cleared, Joe could be in business.

Denzel is also close to returning. No update on Dallis.

The radio show also mentioned Alphonso Pickens is recovering much faster than they thought and could also return soon.

I think the Grove situation has a lot to do with what his basketball aspirations are. I'm pretty sure he had low D1 offers already and turned them down for IUP.

If they can get a few of these players back then they get some much needed depth. They go through some major lapses when Merrero is off the floor offensively even with how raw he is. Pickens would be a huge addition on both ends of the floor.

Bautista would add more depth and versatility inside. Every team knows Brooks can only score on dunks and lay ups.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

First time seeing Grove in person. He does freshman things as you’d expect but wow, the ceiling is high for that kid. I’m not so sure he doesn’t belong in D1, although he may end up there anyway. Reminds me a bit of Bryce Butler but bigger.

I'm not sure he will be here more than one season. I hope.

It's unfortunate for IUP.


Rumor is Bautista Rodriguez is on par with Grove. If he gets cleared, Joe could be in business.

Denzel is also close to returning. No update on Dallis.

The radio show also mentioned Alphonso Pickens is recovering much faster than they thought and could also return soon.