Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The nonconference results are leading me to believe that this is not a vintage year for the PSAC. Cal U. and East Stroud seem to be the only teams consistently playing well at this point. That could change, of course, as some of the inexperienced players on many of the teams settle into the D2 groove. I can think of several Ship teams from recent years that would be major contenders to win the league this season. Unfortunately, this year's team doesn't have that kind of firepower at present.

Not all schedules have been created equal to this point, either.

Some have played much more difficult non-conference slates than others.

It will start to wash out this weekend.

[Ship69]

No. But, from what I've seen of IUP and others I certainly think SRU and Seton Hill will give them battles. We'll see if Clarion wakes up.

I'd say Joe will also be a dog against Gannon (who hasn't beat IUP in a long time).

Same with Cal. IUP has a 20-some game winning streak against Cal. That's highly likely to end this season.

The nonconference results are leading me to believe that this is not a vintage year for the PSAC. Cal U. and East Stroud seem to be the only teams consistently playing well at this point. That could change, of course, as some of the inexperienced players on many of the teams settle into the D2 groove. I can think of several Ship teams from recent years that would be major contenders to win the league this season. Unfortunately, this year's team doesn't have that kind of firepower at present.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Even Edinboro?

No. But, from what I've seen of IUP and others I certainly think SRU and Seton Hill will give them battles. We'll see if Clarion wakes up.

I'd say Joe will also be a dog against Gannon (who hasn't beat IUP in a long time).

Same with Cal. IUP has a 20-some game winning streak against Cal. That's highly likely to end this season.

[IUPalum]

Many West teams will break their losing streaks against IUP this year.

Even Edinboro?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I predict this will be the year Slippery Rock breaks the long losing streak in Indiana.

Many West teams will break their losing streaks against IUP this year.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Clarion falling down is surprising after watching how they finished last year. Rock of course is the rock, talent but...

I predict this will be the year Slippery Rock breaks the long losing streak in Indiana.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Clarion falling down is surprising after watching how they finished last year. Rock of course is the rock, talent but...

Something seems off with Clarion. I think they'll get going here.

UPJ isn't bad. They just have no depth and keep getting worn down. They are dressing just 8-9 players.

Seton Hill looks fairly decent. They'll be capable of beating some upper-type teams.

[IUPalum]

Having seen the West teams play now, I'd give a re-rank of the following:

1) California

2) Gannon (and they aren't much behind)

* Insert sizeable gap *

3) Mercyhurst, IUP, SRU (in no order)

6) Seton Hill

7) UPJ

8) Clarion

9) Edinboro

Clarion falling down is surprising after watching how they finished last year. Rock of course is the rock, talent but...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

As far as losing his Ace recruiter and assistant, he certainly went to the dumpster to find an assistant he already broomed once. What's that tell ya!

Having seen the West teams play now, I'd give a re-rank of the following:

1) California

2) Gannon (and they aren't much behind)

* Insert sizeable gap *

3) Mercyhurst, IUP, SRU (in no order)

6) Seton Hill

7) UPJ

8) Clarion

9) Edinboro

[Ship69]

Nothing I’ve seen so far makes me think Friday won’t be a very competitive game. Even though IUP eventually pulled away from Frostburg, yesterday was not a great performance, which is pretty much in line with every game they’ve played to date. It’ll also be interesting because it’s IUP’s first road game, not that you get many raucous environments this time of year. Being away from home might actually help IUP relax a little.

This will actually be only Ship's second home game this season. Schedule has been very weird. Back-to-back games against IUP and Seton Hill and then they aren't at home again until Dec. 30.

[IUPalum]

I think we've seen enough through five games to realize this isn't a good team. Right now, I'd peg this group as an average to slightly-above average PSAC team. While they won yesterday, they did not play a good game. A normal IUP team would have beat Frostburg by 30-40 points. IUP ended up winning comfortably but that should have been a total blowout. Team Joe missed half its foul shots, shot horribly from outside and also missed at least 7-8 easy layups at the rim. They were fortunate to be playing who they were.

That said, now that the totally insane preseason hoopla is obviously far removed, I think this team could become a 'tough out' in West play by January. The ceiling, my opinion, is maybe winning one round of the conference tournament. As of now, I see no path for this team to make the NCAAs (other than catching fire in the conference tournament). Keep in mind, Walsh is an NCAA team and St. Thomas Aquinas has the look of an Elite 8 team.

The question looming large is obviously the No. 4 spot -- now manned by half the bench, Jack, Tony and the popcorn salesman up in the concourse. The question being, of course, how did it get to this point? In other words, how did Joe not know this was coming and not address it in the off-season? Hate to say this whole board new this mega issue was coming all summer, but, well, this whole board new this mega issue was coming all summer.

The SF will now be manned by Petteno (a shooting guard), KJ (at best a utility player and the 10th or 11th man) and Damir Brooks. Brooks and Petteno are the answer (and not a great one). Brooks has a lot of upside. He can do things down there the others cannot. Petteno adds the 'alleged' shooting element (although that's been pretty non-existent). KJ hasn't added much of anything and has been targeted by every team they've played. This isn't a knock, but in hockey terms, if you calculate KJ's +/- ... it's not pretty.

Granted -- of all this said -- the opening night starter at SF (Dolan Waldo) seemingly has been shipped off to Joe's infamous island near Siberia. Historically, few get off the island. I think it's WAY too early to push him aside. But, I also thought that about Kyle Polce and Jaheim Bethea (and countless others over the years).

The answer yesterday was the season debut of Callum MacNamara (a walk-on) and the career debut of PG Jordan Lambert (another walk-on). Three scholarship players remain on redshirt (Denzel Kabasele, Anthony Watson and Gabriel Romero-Sanz).

There's no point in redshirting players in today's game. They likely won't be here next year. As of now, I'd be shocked if Waldo is here next year, either. So, you have to question Joe's recruiting when his walk-ons get activated and his scholarship players are track suit models?

This team DESPERATELY needs some muscle. The 'muscle' is in said track suit army (Romero-Sanz).

What I think we are seeing is the trickle-down effect of Ron Fudala leaving. He was the ace recruiter. Since he's left, the first chair has been a revolving door.

I think Joe's lost some fire, although we did see some yesterday -- mainly out of pure frustration when the team was ignoring his play calls.

What we saw yesterday -- keeping a drastically out-matched team in the game far too long -- is likely what we'll see most of the year. I fully expect them to be in two battles this weekend.

As far as losing his Ace recruiter and assistant, he certainly went to the dumpster to find an assistant he already broomed once. What's that tell ya!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Nothing I’ve seen so far makes me think Friday won’t be a very competitive game. Even though IUP eventually pulled away from Frostburg, yesterday was not a great performance, which is pretty much in line with every game they’ve played to date. It’ll also be interesting because it’s IUP’s first road game, not that you get many raucous environments this time of year. Being away from home might actually help IUP relax a little.

I think we've seen enough through five games to realize this isn't a good team. Right now, I'd peg this group as an average to slightly-above average PSAC team. While they won yesterday, they did not play a good game. A normal IUP team would have beat Frostburg by 30-40 points. IUP ended up winning comfortably but that should have been a total blowout. Team Joe missed half its foul shots, shot horribly from outside and also missed at least 7-8 easy layups at the rim. They were fortunate to be playing who they were.

That said, now that the totally insane preseason hoopla is obviously far removed, I think this team could become a 'tough out' in West play by January. The ceiling, my opinion, is maybe winning one round of the conference tournament. As of now, I see no path for this team to make the NCAAs (other than catching fire in the conference tournament). Keep in mind, Walsh is an NCAA team and St. Thomas Aquinas has the look of an Elite 8 team.

The question looming large is obviously the No. 4 spot -- now manned by half the bench, Jack, Tony and the popcorn salesman up in the concourse. The question being, of course, how did it get to this point? In other words, how did Joe not know this was coming and not address it in the off-season? Hate to say this whole board new this mega issue was coming all summer, but, well, this whole board new this mega issue was coming all summer.

The SF will now be manned by Petteno (a shooting guard), KJ (at best a utility player and the 10th or 11th man) and Damir Brooks. Brooks and Petteno are the answer (and not a great one). Brooks has a lot of upside. He can do things down there the others cannot. Petteno adds the 'alleged' shooting element (although that's been pretty non-existent). KJ hasn't added much of anything and has been targeted by every team they've played. This isn't a knock, but in hockey terms, if you calculate KJ's +/- ... it's not pretty.

Granted -- of all this said -- the opening night starter at SF (Dolan Waldo) seemingly has been shipped off to Joe's infamous island near Siberia. Historically, few get off the island. I think it's WAY too early to push him aside. But, I also thought that about Kyle Polce and Jaheim Bethea (and countless others over the years).

The answer yesterday was the season debut of Callum MacNamara (a walk-on) and the career debut of PG Jordan Lambert (another walk-on). Three scholarship players remain on redshirt (Denzel Kabasele, Anthony Watson and Gabriel Romero-Sanz).

There's no point in redshirting players in today's game. They likely won't be here next year. As of now, I'd be shocked if Waldo is here next year, either. So, you have to question Joe's recruiting when his walk-ons get activated and his scholarship players are track suit models?

This team DESPERATELY needs some muscle. The 'muscle' is in said track suit army (Romero-Sanz).

What I think we are seeing is the trickle-down effect of Ron Fudala leaving. He was the ace recruiter. Since he's left, the first chair has been a revolving door.

I think Joe's lost some fire, although we did see some yesterday -- mainly out of pure frustration when the team was ignoring his play calls.

What we saw yesterday -- keeping a drastically out-matched team in the game far too long -- is likely what we'll see most of the year. I fully expect them to be in two battles this weekend.

[Chuck Norris]

Ship this year is in the biggest rebuilding mode Chris Fite has had in 6-7 years and is definitely not upper echelon at this point. And Denzel Figueroa and Kamau Mitchell, both of whom figure to get a lot of minutes this year, were not playing against Chestnut Hill. The team won't have played since Nov. 20, so perhaps they'll have time to return. The Raiders will need all hands on board to have a shot at IUP. I know it's not a vintage IUP team, but handling the IUP guards and Porterfield will be a problem for the Raiders. And they lack the size to take advantage of what looks to be IUP's biggest flaw — the lack of imposing power forwards after Porterfield. Talking of crossover weekends, traveling to Cal U. and Slippery Rock later in December will certainly be no cakewalk for Ship. While the team has been playing hard and has been more competitive than I thought they'd be to this point, I'd actually be pleased if we won any of the next four games against PSAC opponents. We're supposed to get a transfer who could help considerably after semester break, but that will be of no consequence in December.

Nothing I’ve seen so far makes me think Friday won’t be a very competitive game. Even though IUP eventually pulled away from Frostburg, yesterday was not a great performance, which is pretty much in line with every game they’ve played to date. It’ll also be interesting because it’s IUP’s first road game, not that you get many raucous environments this time of year. Being away from home might actually help IUP relax a little.

[Ship69]

So a highly thought of recruit is benched, which in today’s college basketball probably means he’s done at IUP. There’s talk of burning red shirts. Ethan apparently still isn’t healthy. Other than that, everything is fine.

On a positive note, Furtun looks better the more he plays, outside of the occasional head scratching turnover, which will happen with a true freshman.

This will be an interesting crossover weekend. Ship and Lock Haven probably aren’t upper echelon PSAC teams but they won’t be pushovers either. It’ll be interesting to see how IUP stacks up.

Ship this year is in the biggest rebuilding mode Chris Fite has had in 6-7 years and is definitely not upper echelon at this point. And Denzel Figueroa and Kamau Mitchell, both of whom figure to get a lot of minutes this year, were not playing against Chestnut Hill. The team won't have played since Nov. 20, so perhaps they'll have time to return. The Raiders will need all hands on board to have a shot at IUP. I know it's not a vintage IUP team, but handling the IUP guards and Porterfield will be a problem for the Raiders. And they lack the size to take advantage of what looks to be IUP's biggest flaw — the lack of imposing power forwards after Porterfield. Talking of crossover weekends, traveling to Cal U. and Slippery Rock later in December will certainly be no cakewalk for Ship. While the team has been playing hard and has been more competitive than I thought they'd be to this point, I'd actually be pleased if we won any of the next four games against PSAC opponents. We're supposed to get a transfer who could help considerably after semester break, but that will be of no consequence in December.

[Chuck Norris]

Post game comments from Joe doesn't sound good for Waldo. Callum is back up number 5 with Damir Josh and KJ sharing the 4

So a highly thought of recruit is benched, which in today’s college basketball probably means he’s done at IUP. There’s talk of burning red shirts. Ethan apparently still isn’t healthy. Other than that, everything is fine.

On a positive note, Furtun looks better the more he plays, outside of the occasional head scratching turnover, which will happen with a true freshman.

This will be an interesting crossover weekend. Ship and Lock Haven probably aren’t upper echelon PSAC teams but they won’t be pushovers either. It’ll be interesting to see how IUP stacks up.