Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Do you think that as long as Sarp is on the roster though he’s going to get similar minutes? I’m curious to see how that plays out.

I think we all hope the key cogs stay, and that Dillard and Bautista contribute at high levels. If that happens, IUP is immediately better and even more so if they can bring in another piece or two. As IUP24 pointed out though, it’s hard to bank on any of that. It would be nice to have a relatively boring off season around here, that’s for sure.

As for last night…that was pretty ugly. They looked like a team that just hit the wall in the second half.

Sarp won't have many minutes.

Merraro, Moore and Dallis will never come out. Herring has to play some, too. Joe will run those starting guards 32-36 mpg each.

Sarp will be a good bench guy. But, his starting days are over. I don't know if Pickens will stay. He's going to want more minutes and they just won't be there.

I know he's going to add a shooting guard out of the Portal.

Underneath he'll have Bautista and Grove start, with Damir off the bench. I think Triggs will stay. He's well-liked in the locker room and he'll be a solid guy off the bench. That gives him (4) bigs plus another one that is coming. More on that later.

As you said ... we'll see. But, it is my strong opinion no key players are leaving.

We have to remember 3 of these guys were true freshmen. Herring and Grove need to put on 10 lbs each.

Having both post players being able to shoot plus Dallis will really elevate the offense. They were simply too easy to defend this year. Bautista is also a very physical, hot head. They lacked that intensity guy this year.

I'm confident next year will be a good year. I think getting humiliated last night will turn out to be a good thing.

The beauty of rock bottom ... only one way to go.

[bballfan03]

That's fine. And I know what they said. But nothing surprises me anymore regarding what a bunch of 18-23 year olds decide to do when they are playing college athletics. If we are taking them at their word that they are going to be back, that's real risky business to just assume that given the nature of college athletics today. But anyone is free to have a differing perspective on the matter.

I hope they Dallis comes back and I hope he dominates. I hope Bautista plays and is as electric of a player as we have been told he is. I just won't count on either variable until I see them in uniform to open up next season.

Never forget Carmelo Anthony like 20 some years ago... "I don't know why yall chanting one more year... I thought college was a 4 year thing." Next year NBA lol (even though everyone knew it)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Never forget Carmelo Anthony like 20 some years ago... "I don't know why yall chanting one more year... I thought college was a 4 year thing." Next year NBA lol (even though everyone knew it)

That's funny. You could count on your right hand how many classes he went to at Syracuse in his semester and a half.

I remember that draft ... there was actually some debate between taking him or LeBron.

[bballfan03]

That's funny. You could count on your right hand how many classes he went to at Syracuse in his semester and a half.

I remember that draft ... there was actually some debate between taking him or LeBron.

Right? I never got the hype of him even in college. Syracuse had a good team.

[EyeoftheHawk]

We have to remember 3 of these guys were true freshmen. Herring and Grove need to put on 10 lbs each.

I could probably do that by the end of the weekend, LOL. It’s just not going to be in the right places.

I’d be happy to have less interesting off seasons and more interesting seasons that continue will into March. Maybe next year. I did find some of Joe’s quotes about Gannon pressing late with the big lead and keeping their starters in. They weren’t happy, but I’m not one to get into the “running up the score” debate at this level. I will say that’s not something Joe did to teams when they easily could have over the years so maybe that’s part of it. Bazolli is a first year head coach and a young one that hasn’t won anything yet so maybe he thought he had something to prove against a coach who has the resume Joe does. We’ll check back in with him after a few seasons and see what his larger body of work looks like.

[gman16506]

I could probably do that by the end of the weekend, LOL. It’s just not going to be in the right places.

I’d be happy to have less interesting off seasons and more interesting seasons that continue will into March. Maybe next year. I did find some of Joe’s quotes about Gannon pressing late with the big lead and keeping their starters in. They weren’t happy, but I’m not one to get into the “running up the score” debate at this level. I will say that’s not something Joe did to teams when they easily could have over the years so maybe that’s part of it. Bazolli is a first year head coach and a young one that hasn’t won anything yet so maybe he thought he had something to prove against a coach who has the resume Joe does. We’ll check back in with him after a few seasons and see what his larger body of work looks like.

Excellent post! I am not sure that I agree that the "System" should require pressing (with or without trapping) for the entire game and maybe it is just a youthful mistake.We shall see!! However, I was surprised at how unprepared IUP seemed to be to handle the press; first pass inbound and caught in corner trap with no outlet.........this happened too many times. Maybe it was just a matchup issue, I don't know.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Excellent post! I am not sure that I agree that the "System" should require pressing (with or without trapping) for the entire game and maybe it is just a youthful mistake.We shall see!! However, I was surprised at how unprepared IUP seemed to be to handle the press; first pass inbound and caught in corner trap with no outlet.........this happened too many times. Maybe it was just a matchup issue, I don't know.

Joe's press break is awful.

He lacked the horses this year but his big teams stunk at it too.

He drops too many back and then stalls the inbound ... exactly what the system team wants.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Joe's press break is awful.

He lacked the horses this year but his big teams stunk at it too.

He drops too many back and then stalls the inbound ... exactly what the system team wants.

Is it Joe’s system or is it more personnel? IUP used to handle pressing teams pretty well not all that long ago, but the personnel was much different too. Then there’s the intelligence factor. To consistently break the press you have to have athleticism, intelligence, and experience doesn’t hurt. IUP was a little short on those ingredients it appeared.

[IUPNation]

It sounds like Coach doesn’t know how to
operate in the Portal World.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

It sounds like Coach doesn’t know how to
operate in the Portal World.

He's either bouncing back big time next year ... or he's in the Bobby Bowden / Joe Paterno phase of staying too long.

Every coach has a shelf life. I don't think he's expired just yet.

[hawks16]

It sounds like Coach doesn’t know how to
operate in the Portal World.

It's not even the portal, per se. Joe's teams used to be built on a couple guys who were high school recruits and played right away (Cobo, Porterfield, Dante), redshirt freshmen (Armoni, Scooter Renkin) and transfers with multiple years of eligibility. I think the biggest change is the last one -- the D1 transfers who drop down for more playing time AND didn't have to sit out because of transfer rules. The Mathis Keita and Jeremy Jeffers of the world aren't coming to D2 anymore. They're staying for NIL or transferring up because they don't have to lose a year. Joe's forte isn't one-and-done guys. Is Shawn Dyer the only impact one-and-done guy Joe has had? (Also, his old way of recruiting/waiting for D1 transfers means you don't have to hit the road to find high schoolers, which is why the handful of Indiana County guys end up starring elsewhere.)

I say this all as someone who made time every year to get back to Indiana and catch a game (and Subs n Suds pizza) but had absolutely zero interest this year.

[IUPNation]

He's either bouncing back big time next year ... or he's in the Bobby Bowden / Joe Paterno phase of staying too long.

Every coach has a shelf life. I don't think he's expired just yet.

Nick Saban knew when to bounce out knowing his unfair advantage he had for years was going away. Hopefully Joeball has a rally….

[IUP24]

Nick Saban knew when to bounce out knowing his unfair advantage he had for years was going away. Hopefully Joeball has a rally….

You are overusing Nick Saban as your example. Move onto somebody else, please. The man is 73 years old. I'm sure he would have continued coaching a few more years, but probably not many. He said in an interview he wanted to coach until he was around 75. So 2 or 3 more seasons? He was on his way out regardless. It's long time for everyone to move on and grow past their obsession (hatred) with Alabama.

He is on record, more than one time, saying that when they lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl there were players coming into his office still in their uniforms asking him to get them more money to come back to Alabama. He told his wife, Miss Terry, and they both collectively agreed that this was no longer the game they wanted to be involved in. And he retired.

[tonyc]

An IUP story on Dallis and Bautista: https://open.substack.com/pub/tonyco...meOnShare=true

[IUPHawks24]

An IUP story on Dallis and Bautista: https://open.substack.com/pub/tonyco...meOnShare=true

Excellent article