Iup basketball

[Ship69]

My question at this point is more regarding roster construction and not necessarily with roster management. I think there was a pretty clear understanding that this team was going to be different than the last four. I recognize that at this point there are injuries and other factors, but this team at this stage is just bad. Not sure how else to describe them. And it makes me ask this question... How did it get here?

To be clear, I think the critical domino that put this team in this position was the unexpected transfer of Tomiwa after last year. Even with this roster, they are probably way better with him on the team.

But I do question what Joe is evaluating, or what he thinks he's getting, with many of the guys he's bringing in. We talk about the "Joe Doghouse" and him not playing guys. Jaheim Bathea was hyped as perhaps the best high school PG he ever recruited. He played in like 4 games and Joe tossed him to Siberia. We have Dolan Waldo this year. Those are just two very, very recent examples. But it seems as though he's missing on a ton of high school recruits. He has a higher hit rate on some of the international guys he brings from the prep ranks (Cobo, Tomiwa, Marcel, etc.) and the multi-year D1 transfers (Jones, Morris, etc.). From a foundational perspective, it's going to be much, much harder to both get and keep the multi-year guys transferring down. You simply have to be able to identify high school talent who can play for your program. And I'm not saying that as though he's not gotten great high school players (Ethan Porterfield, Malik Miller, Armoni Foster, etc.). It does seem though that the quality of guy he is brining in seems to be dropping, and he seems to be giving up on those guys way earlier than before.

I guess my ultimate point here is that it seems that there are valid questions regarding multiple things:
1) How did this roster (at this program) have so little high end talent (with the understanding that this was going to be a "down" year)?
2) Why does it seem like so many of the highly hyped high school recruits of late seem to not live up to it?
3) Why do those guys seem to get benched so quickly and not provided game action to figure it out at the college level?

I'm not necessarily saying I am pinning everything on Joe (although I don't think he's done a great job this year). It is just pretty wild to me how bad this entire team is. That just doesn't happen overnight.

With the portal and the uncertainty about how HS prospects will turn out, I don't think it's ever been harder to maintain quality depth at a D2 program. If you're not in the top echelon and get a potentially star player, you immediately start to worry about who might poach him from you. If you're at a place like IUP or WL, you might lose a star to a low-level D1 program. If you're a run-of=the-mill PSAC team, you might lose out to a stronger PSAC team or another D2 conference.

The loss of Tomiwa obviously had a big impact on the IUP front line this season, and the loss of the guards to injury and academia has compounded that. There are a lot of PSAC teams who are a player or two away from being pretty good. I think Ship's prospects will improve when 6-8 transfer Donovan Hill hits the court, although I imagine it will take him a while to get integrated into the team. The Raiders still won't be world-beaters as a lot of the players have been inconsistent, but the addition of another big will mean better adjustments on defense and fewer guys playing out of position. They recently had 6-3 Denzel Figueroa guarding Edinboro's 7-footer at times.

Conversely, a lot of good or above-average PSAC teams are only an injury or two away from dropping to average or below. Although this was never a vintage IUP team, they were certainly above the league average with Dillard and Clarke in the lineup. Without those guys, they will struggle. I'm with you in wondering why Lombardi doesn't give some of these guys more minutes in his current situation, but I know far less about what goes on with him than you.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

My question at this point is more regarding roster construction and not necessarily with roster management. I think there was a pretty clear understanding that this team was going to be different than the last four. I recognize that at this point there are injuries and other factors, but this team at this stage is just bad. Not sure how else to describe them. And it makes me ask this question... How did it get here?

To be clear, I think the critical domino that put this team in this position was the unexpected transfer of Tomiwa after last year. Even with this roster, they are probably way better with him on the team.

But I do question what Joe is evaluating, or what he thinks he's getting, with many of the guys he's bringing in. We talk about the "Joe Doghouse" and him not playing guys. Jaheim Bathea was hyped as perhaps the best high school PG he ever recruited. He played in like 4 games and Joe tossed him to Siberia. We have Dolan Waldo this year. Those are just two very, very recent examples. But it seems as though he's missing on a ton of high school recruits. He has a higher hit rate on some of the international guys he brings from the prep ranks (Cobo, Tomiwa, Marcel, etc.) and the multi-year D1 transfers (Jones, Morris, etc.). From a foundational perspective, it's going to be much, much harder to both get and keep the multi-year guys transferring down. You simply have to be able to identify high school talent who can play for your program. And I'm not saying that as though he's not gotten great high school players (Ethan Porterfield, Malik Miller, Armoni Foster, etc.). It does seem though that the quality of guy he is brining in seems to be dropping, and he seems to be giving up on those guys way earlier than before.

I guess my ultimate point here is that it seems that there are valid questions regarding multiple things:
1) How did this roster (at this program) have so little high end talent (with the understanding that this was going to be a "down" year)?
2) Why does it seem like so many of the highly hyped high school recruits of late seem to not live up to it?
3) Why do those guys seem to get benched so quickly and not provided game action to figure it out at the college level?

I'm not necessarily saying I am pinning everything on Joe (although I don't think he's done a great job this year). It is just pretty wild to me how bad this entire team is. That just doesn't happen overnight.

I think (1) Joe's in the twilight stage and (2) he lost his top recruiters (Fudala, etc.). Put it this way, I don't think he's sitting in the bleachers watching too many high school games. Add to it, he's missing on many of the transfers he's signing -- something he rarely did years back.

I have no idea why Bethea got in the dog house. Joe gave up on him way too early. Same with Kyle Polce. Add to it his refusal to play (at all) Ousmane Diop, his love fest with a current player, etc.

I do think had this team stayed healthy, it could have finished in the 20-8 range and perhaps snuck in to the NCAAs - acceptable for a 'rebuild' year. Now, obviously, that's not even a pipe dream. I don't think they'll even finish at .500. Joe's teams are essentially built around 3 players -- and 2 of them are gone. He's left with a hodge podge of role players -- most now playing out of position. Bryce Radford would have been a great addition to this team in his intended role (sniper off the bench playing 10-12 mpg). Now, he's going to play 35 mpg -- and, that's clearly not his strength.

Dallis Dillard was just unfortunate. It happens. Garvin Clarke is a whole different animal. It blows my mind how players in the program can be academically ineligible. Apparently they don't monitor this stuff like they used to.

What's left of this team is going to struggle to score 55 points a game. How many games can they win scoring at that low number? My guess is not too many. They just lost their two best defenders, too. Ethan is going to get double-teams the rest of the season.

[IUP24]

Upon closer look, I'd project the following:

Shepherd - Likely a loss but possible. Rams can be real good or real average.

UPJ - 1-1
SRU - 1-1
Clarion - 1-1
SH - 1-1
Mercy - 1-1
Boro - 2-0
Cal - 0-2
GU - 0-2


That has them finishing the season 7-10 (in final 17 games). This would put them at 14-14 overall.

If they somehow get Clarke back, obviously that would help tremendously.

If they don't get him back, and Joe doesn't add the redshirts, things could get ugly. There's just so little scoring aside from EP (and every team knows it).

I actually have serious doubts if this remaining roster (assuming no Clarke and no redshirts) can actually split with SRU, Clarion, SH and Mercy. Cal and GU will hammer them.

Playing at ESU (very good) with a makeshift lineup was doomed from the start. I suspect they look more in sync Wednesday.

Dillard and Clarke was just such a massive loss on both ends of the floor (who both played 37 mpg).

My question at this point is more regarding roster construction and not necessarily with roster management. I think there was a pretty clear understanding that this team was going to be different than the last four. I recognize that at this point there are injuries and other factors, but this team at this stage is just bad. Not sure how else to describe them. And it makes me ask this question... How did it get here?

To be clear, I think the critical domino that put this team in this position was the unexpected transfer of Tomiwa after last year. Even with this roster, they are probably way better with him on the team.

But I do question what Joe is evaluating, or what he thinks he's getting, with many of the guys he's bringing in. We talk about the "Joe Doghouse" and him not playing guys. Jaheim Bathea was hyped as perhaps the best high school PG he ever recruited. He played in like 4 games and Joe tossed him to Siberia. We have Dolan Waldo this year. Those are just two very, very recent examples. But it seems as though he's missing on a ton of high school recruits. He has a higher hit rate on some of the international guys he brings from the prep ranks (Cobo, Tomiwa, Marcel, etc.) and the multi-year D1 transfers (Jones, Morris, etc.). From a foundational perspective, it's going to be much, much harder to both get and keep the multi-year guys transferring down. You simply have to be able to identify high school talent who can play for your program. And I'm not saying that as though he's not gotten great high school players (Ethan Porterfield, Malik Miller, Armoni Foster, etc.). It does seem though that the quality of guy he is brining in seems to be dropping, and he seems to be giving up on those guys way earlier than before.

I guess my ultimate point here is that it seems that there are valid questions regarding multiple things:
1) How did this roster (at this program) have so little high end talent (with the understanding that this was going to be a "down" year)?
2) Why does it seem like so many of the highly hyped high school recruits of late seem to not live up to it?
3) Why do those guys seem to get benched so quickly and not provided game action to figure it out at the college level?

I'm not necessarily saying I am pinning everything on Joe (although I don't think he's done a great job this year). It is just pretty wild to me how bad this entire team is. That just doesn't happen overnight.

[Ship69]

Upon closer look, I'd project the following:

Shepherd - Likely a loss but possible. Rams can be real good or real average.

UPJ - 1-1
SRU - 1-1
Clarion - 1-1
SH - 1-1
Mercy - 1-1
Boro - 2-0
Cal - 0-2
GU - 0-2


That has them finishing the season 7-10 (in final 17 games). This would put them at 14-14 overall.

If they somehow get Clarke back, obviously that would help tremendously.

If they don't get him back, and Joe doesn't add the redshirts, things could get ugly. There's just so little scoring aside from EP (and every team knows it).

I actually have serious doubts if this remaining roster (assuming no Clarke and no redshirts) can actually split with SRU, Clarion, SH and Mercy. Cal and GU will hammer them.

Playing at ESU (very good) with a makeshift lineup was doomed from the start. I suspect they look more in sync Wednesday.

Dillard and Clarke was just such a massive loss on both ends of the floor (who both played 37 mpg).

Shepherd's matchup against IUP gets a ton better with Dillard and Clarke out as the strength of the Rams team is at guard, led by Dan McClain-Corley and Phillip Jordan. I thought that McClain-Corley was one of the harder guards to defend one-on-one of any Ship played last season.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Upon closer look, I'd project the following:

Shepherd - Likely a loss but possible. Rams can be real good or real average.

UPJ - 1-1
SRU - 1-1
Clarion - 1-1
SH - 1-1
Mercy - 1-1
Boro - 2-0
Cal - 0-2
GU - 0-2


That has them finishing the season 7-10 (in final 17 games). This would put them at 14-14 overall.

If they somehow get Clarke back, obviously that would help tremendously.

If they don't get him back, and Joe doesn't add the redshirts, things could get ugly. There's just so little scoring aside from EP (and every team knows it).

I actually have serious doubts if this remaining roster (assuming no Clarke and no redshirts) can actually split with SRU, Clarion, SH and Mercy. Cal and GU will hammer them.

Playing at ESU (very good) with a makeshift lineup was doomed from the start. I suspect they look more in sync Wednesday.

Dillard and Clarke was just such a massive loss on both ends of the floor (who both played 37 mpg).

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I asked this here a couple weeks ago and ... is IUP good?

If they finish .500 it will be a small miracle.

[hawks16]

I asked this here a couple weeks ago and ... is IUP good?

[hawks16]

It's been the worst IUP sports year I can remember.

IUP volleyball would like a word.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP has an off day this Saturday (bye date). With just one game this week, it's the perfect spot to break in Denzel and Romero-Sanz.

I don't see how Joe can't activate both of them. What happens if this current mish-mash active roster gets another sprained ankle, illness, etc.?

Keeping them in tracksuits, my opinion, is throwing in the towel on the season.

Granted, these two aren't going to save the season, but at the very least they should at least make IUP more competitive.

[IUPalum]

No doubt. Denzel and Romero-Sanz need activated ASAP. Watson (third redshirt) is also injured and likely out for the season.

Redshirted players are there for an emergency. Joe has a CODE RED emergency.

S.O.S.

Bryce Radford can’t be your code red savior!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

EP did things on the court yesterday that he’s never had to do. He’ll wear out quickly if he has to dribble up the court, dribble drive, etc!

It’s time to open up the cupboard and have all hands on deck.

No doubt. Denzel and Romero-Sanz need activated ASAP. Watson (third redshirt) is also injured and likely out for the season.

Redshirted players are there for an emergency. Joe has a CODE RED emergency.

S.O.S.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

EP did things on the court yesterday that he’s never had to do. He’ll wear out quickly if he has to dribble up the court, dribble drive, etc!

It’s time to open up the cupboard and have all hands on deck.

I guess this was one way to get Waldo a ticket off Joe Island.

[IUPalum]

Correct. EP is going to get smothered with double-teams, etc.

Further reason to activate the redshirts.

Without help, it's going to be a VERY long winter.

EP did things on the court yesterday that he’s never had to do. He’ll wear out quickly if he has to dribble up the court, dribble drive, etc!

It’s time to open up the cupboard and have all hands on deck.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Fresh off of Christmas break IUP competed very hard against a high caliber opponent. But the grind of playing every few days in January and February is set to begin. This team is going to struggle to score 50 points a game and their best player left standing, who has a long history of his own health issues, is going to draw even more attention from opponents. And a lot teams Joe has beat up on over the years are going to relish the opportunity to have a legit opportunity to beat him twice.

It’s going to be a long winter, just gotta hope that guys who are going to be here in the future get some good experience.

Correct. EP is going to get smothered with double-teams, etc.

Further reason to activate the redshirts.

Without help, it's going to be a VERY long winter.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

On New year's eve, gotta say that its been the worst overall sport's year I can remember for people in the Indiana Area. IUP football and BB Down, Pitt horrible, PSU just got whipped easily by Mississippi, all pro teams stink. Maybe Next year will be better.

It's been the worst IUP sports year I can remember.

I think Pitt MBB is in for a long ACC season (which started with yesterday's loss).