Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I am just a casual observer for IUP basketball. Here's my question.

If the situation with Rhodes is as you and others say, has anyone from the local media just asked Joe point blank why he is playing the players he is?

That's not going to happen in small town Indiana - especially when Tony and Jack already know the answer.

Joe still has a decent team despite the injuries. He'd just have a much better team if he'd play Damir (especially) and Waldo.

I have friends who don't even follow the team but go to a game or two and nobody can understand Damir not playing. It's baffling.

[iupgroundhog]

Waldo and Brooks don't play because of Joe's love fest with the Rhodes family. It's no secret.

I know you don't watch many games but you'd see it real quick.

Joe's best team wasn't on the floor this year.

I am just a casual observer for IUP basketball. Here's my question.

If the situation with Rhodes is as you and others say, has anyone from the local media just asked Joe point blank why he is playing the players he is?

[IUPHawks24]

I know many here are very, very close to the program. Some know people inside. But I can tell you on absolute authority that Alabama was attempting to put on the full court press to lure Ethan Porterfield out of Indiana last year. However, his health history ultimately backed them off from some of their "guarantees." I don't think that was ever really reported here.

What you are saying about the recruiting issue and Joe's management of his roster is what I've said on this message board for 3-5 years now. The chickens have just come home to roost now. You can't do what he's done in terms of roster management, benching guys, redshirting players as your "ace in the hole" for 2 years down the road, and missing on high school players and expect to just win indefinitely. It doesn't work like that.

I don't know how we go from Waldo being the next great SF at IUP in one breath to him being relegated to Siberia just minutes later. But that situation just seems to happen far too often with Lombardi anymore that it makes me think it's him, not the player.

Have you watched an SEC level game? I love Ethan as much as everyone else, but he has a hard enough time guarding really good PSAC forwards. If Tomiwa is playing 20 mpg at Towson, there's no chance Ethan would touch the court at Alabama. RJ Sunhara from Nova Southeastern (much better athlete) is averaging like 2 ppg at Georgia and hardly plays for a much worse team.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Joe's team is sitting at 14-8. Could be better. Could be worse. No doubt, they are coming off a tough, 0-2 week -- a 2 OT loss at Mercyhurst and a 2-point loss to Gannon.

The Catch 22 being they could have won both -- and could have been blown out in both. That seems to be the calling card of this remaining roster.

The silver lining is the team made two big comebacks. IUP played (pardon the word) garbage defense at Mercyhurst. Awful. How they got that game to the first OT (let alone the second) was amazing. They then nearly pulled off a major comeback against Gannon. Perhaps they actually take some confidence out of those two losses. For one, they played horrible in the MAC and still nearly won. They then nearly beat a Gannon team vastly deeper and more talented.

The angle IUP has to play at this point is a postseason upset. This team -- on the right night -- is capable. For that to happen, however, it cannot be a two-man show. Bryce has to have one of his 'Bryce' nights to go along with EP and Garvin. He has mostly vanished against top teams.

Winning out, while highly unlikely, is probably the last, faint path to the NCAAs. You could probably figure a scenario where they lose one more in the regular season (Loss 9 / likely at Cal) and then in, say, Round 2 of the PSACs (to either Cal or GU). Neither of those two losses will really crush their metrics. That would give them a 10-loss resume (with a pretty decent SOS). That's reaching, obviously. The rematch with healthier versions of Seton Hill and Clarion will be tough. The trip to Morrow is never easy.

This team is far from simply winning out. No easy games remain.

Turning to this week:

UPJ visits the KCAC tomorrow. The Mountain Cats finally stopped their losing streak (and got their first win since Andrew Shull left the team). This is certainly not an 'overlook' type of game. You could find 30 examples of out-matched UPJ teams over the years that have given Joe fits. Bob Rukavina knows (literally) every play IUP runs. Joe calls it out and Ruk and his assistants call out the counter measure. Joe also routinely refuses to play IUP's style against UPJ -- and instead gets swept in to an evening of chasing picket fences, etc.

Let's also not forget UPJ nearly beat IUP in Johnstown last month. The Mountain Cats had the ball and the last shot. IUP survived. That was Shull's last game for UPJ.


Saturday's trip to Edinboro (like UPJ's visit) is one they can't take lightly. The Fighting Scots are a scrappy bunch and play much better at home. They gave IUP a decent tussle in Indiana before the Crimson Hawks pulled away late.



Rest of the way:

UPJ
(at) Edinboro
Seton Hill
(at) Slippery Rock
(at) California
Clarion

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I understand. My overall point is that we tend to recognize very, very quickly that there are significant flaws in the makeup of IUP's roster and how it's utilized in every season. For a program with the resources and the success that they have had over the last 15 years, they should not have flawed or incomplete teams every year in the manner that we discuss ad nauseum. Like you said, Gannon was built in an off-season. They are probably more "complete" than Joe has been in the last 9 years.

Joe's old school and that's not going to change. He is never going to go away from a 7-man rotation -- which is designed for 3 players to score 85-90 percent of the points. We've just watched it so long I think we've become numb to it. He's had tremendous success with it. The kryptonite, however, is the minute an injury or foul trouble happens - and he has nobody else ready to go. The Cal game was the perfect example. He was tossing guys in who hadn't played in 7 weeks and then said they needed to be ready. Hilarious.

This whole season hinged on few key moments:

* Denzel going down in camp for the season. He is a 6'4", physical guard who we never saw for even a minute. He was going to be in the rotation without question.

* Dallis going down took away a likely first-team All-West guard. Massive loss on both ends (by far IUP's best defender and perhaps best rebounder).

* The SF position was a disaster from Day 1.

* Joe's other 'splash' transfer import this past off-season was Petteno. He had a rough start at shooting guard but was eventually moved to SF to help that mess. He plays hard down there and is physical, but he's not a SF.

* Waldo going from starter to deep bench converstation piece. If he stays, IUP has to really get him bulked up a bit. To legitimately play underneath in the West he needs to put on a solid 15 pounds before next year.


This team does deserve some credit. On paper, it is not a very good team. It currently has two stars and a cast of oddly-assembled role players. Bryce Radford on occasion gives it a third star, per se, but he's been completely boom or bust. Stewart needed to play much better. Yet, they took Cal to the wire and missed a final shot to beat Gannon.

Roster-wise, Cal and Gannon just have loads more quality players. How IUP is staying in those games against them is impressive. Consider Joe just had Sarp take the final shot against Gannon. Sarp is a true freshman who was added to the roster in August. Think about that.

As a fan, the most frustrating part of the season has been watching them be so close yet so far. They've done better than I thought they would. My comment about us not seeing their best team wasn't referring to those injured. I'm referring to the current active roster. I simply cannot be convinced this team wouldn't be better with Brooks and Waldo playing. Brooks should play 25 mpg (or, until he fouls out). He just brings an element they don't have. Other teams realize it. Ours just doesn't.

[IUP24]

Waldo and Brooks don't play because of Joe's love fest with the Rhodes family. It's no secret.

I know you don't watch many games but you'd see it real quick.

Joe's best team wasn't on the floor this year.

I'm not in the KCAC, but I watch the games when I can. I've watched over half of their games this season. The Brooks and Waldo situation is not just a Rhodes family love affair. He doesn't play those guys because he believes that KJ is a better player and he doesn't like playing guys he isn't 100% comfortable with putting on the floor (which is the real issue). And if he wants to play KJ more than other players, okay, but don't not play your bench. That's my point and my entire issue.

He can play Brooks a reasonable amount to help his team. He could play Waldo to fairly assess him in a college game and give him a legitimate opportunity to grow and get better. Both of those things can happen and KJ can still play more minutes than those two. But he's going to sit both of those guys down and tell them he doesn't see a role for them next year and they will both transfer out of town and be good players elsewhere.

He could take the tracksuit off Romero-Sanz.

I understand that he had injuries that were very unfortunate this year. I agree 100% that his best team wasn't on the floor this season. But he played a significant part in that being the case even after the injuries happened.

[IUP24]

Every fan of every program does the same thing every off-season. That's what this board is all about. There's never a right answer. All you can do is look to next year. It's what keeps the wheel turning.

I understand. My overall point is that we tend to recognize very, very quickly that there are significant flaws in the makeup of IUP's roster and how it's utilized in every season. For a program with the resources and the success that they have had over the last 15 years, they should not have flawed or incomplete teams every year in the manner that we discuss ad nauseum. Like you said, Gannon was built in an off-season. They are probably more "complete" than Joe has been in the last 9 years.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Waldo and Brooks don't play because of Joe's love fest with the Rhodes family. It's no secret.

I know you don't watch many games but you'd see it real quick.

Joe's best team wasn't on the floor this year.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I'm not disagreeing with your post. But I think this is mostly Exhibit A of where we are at with Joe, our expectations of the program/players, and their roster as a whole year in and year out....

Even with those great teams of the last few years, seems like all we ever talk about is what they need for next year. Seems like for as high of a level as they may reach during a season we seem to always identify that there is a ceiling to what they can do based on their roster makeup and the management of it. And it seems like from one year to another, what we thought about certain guys just tends to be totally irrelevant.

1. You say they need a long range shooter. I agree. Pretty sure last year Stewart was their three-point specialist and we all assumed he was going to take the next step.

2. Romero-Sanz... Track suit guy. We've been over this. Could have deployed him and helped the team, but here we are.

3. Damir Brooks... Don't get me started. I don't get it.

4. Waldo... Again, I need to understand how we all went from talking about, thinking, or assuming that he was going to be the next really good player at that position for IUP to what we are seeing now. I refuse to believe he outright stinks. Play the guy. Let him figure it out at the college level.

I could go on, but I think you see my point. Retrospectively, I'm just left trying to understand why we all tend to reach a point in every season (even with great, great teams) where we tend to identify the flaws in how the roster is constructed and managed.

Every fan of every program does the same thing every off-season. That's what this board is all about. There's never a right answer. All you can do is look to next year. It's what keeps the wheel turning.

[IUP24]

I'd hire security to follow Garvin around lol. So long as he stays they can build the whole roster for next year around him.

Dallis and Denzel returning from injury will be huge. That said, not all come back the same from the ACL. Cross your fingers.

I'd assume Stewart, Sarp and Romero-Sanz stay.


I'd be shocked if Damir, Waldo or Lambert stay.

He needs Day 1 impact bigs (transfers) to go with what should be a good guard group. Needs a long-range shooter, too.

I'm not disagreeing with your post. But I think this is mostly Exhibit A of where we are at with Joe, our expectations of the program/players, and their roster as a whole year in and year out....

Even with those great teams of the last few years, seems like all we ever talk about is what they need for next year. Seems like for as high of a level as they may reach during a season we seem to always identify that there is a ceiling to what they can do based on their roster makeup and the management of it. And it seems like from one year to another, what we thought about certain guys just tends to be totally irrelevant.

1. You say they need a long range shooter. I agree. Pretty sure last year Stewart was their three-point specialist and we all assumed he was going to take the next step.

2. Romero-Sanz... Track suit guy. We've been over this. Could have deployed him and helped the team, but here we are.

3. Damir Brooks... Don't get me started. I don't get it.

4. Waldo... Again, I need to understand how we all went from talking about, thinking, or assuming that he was going to be the next really good player at that position for IUP to what we are seeing now. I refuse to believe he outright stinks. Play the guy. Let him figure it out at the college level.

I could go on, but I think you see my point. Retrospectively, I'm just left trying to understand why we all tend to reach a point in every season (even with great, great teams) where we tend to identify the flaws in how the roster is constructed and managed.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I know many here are very, very close to the program. Some know people inside. But I can tell you on absolute authority that Alabama was attempting to put on the full court press to lure Ethan Porterfield out of Indiana last year. However, his health history ultimately backed them off from some of their "guarantees." I don't think that was ever really reported here.

What you are saying about the recruiting issue and Joe's management of his roster is what I've said on this message board for 3-5 years now. The chickens have just come home to roost now. You can't do what he's done in terms of roster management, benching guys, redshirting players as your "ace in the hole" for 2 years down the road, and missing on high school players and expect to just win indefinitely. It doesn't work like that.

I don't know how we go from Waldo being the next great SF at IUP in one breath to him being relegated to Siberia just minutes later. But that situation just seems to happen far too often with Lombardi anymore that it makes me think it's him, not the player.

Joe signed Waldo in the early period. He's done that with one other player in his tenure - Ethan Porterfield.

Opening night starter and called for the winning shot ... to bench fodder. He easily could have played this year.

Brooks, Waldo and Petteno not playing all goes back to one key item (person). It's that simple.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Could it be a situation where Tom previously really liked recruiting the area locally, and the new staff simply doesn't? The late IUP baseball coach Jeff Ditch was the exact same way. His exact quote a top local recruit was, "You're really good, but I just don't recruit local players."

At this level, I generally think coaches believe there could be headaches involved with having a local player on the roster. Parents close by to get in the ear of the coach, player always under pressure to perform because they are local, etc.

Outside of Carlos Carter and Riley Stapleton (who eventually flipped from IUP hoops to JMU football), how many legitimate high end players have come out of the Heritage Conference or Indiana County over the last 8 years that would have legitimately helped IUP compete at the level they are trying to reach? The answer is probably none outside of those two. I recognize that's different on the girls side.

Correct. The Heritage doesn't provide players for Joe other than the occasional token walk-on. The ladies' side is much different. The PSAC as a whole recruits it heavily (aside from IUP).

[IUP24]

Regarding this, my first question as a transfer player considering IUP would be, “If I have an off night or two, can I expect to be benched for the remainder of the season other than a few minutes of garbage time?” I think the way Joe has handled certain situations likely has given him a reputation that’s not going to be looked at favorably by players or parents for that matter. We should recognize that kids like Ethan are few and far between these days in terms of their willingness to stick with a program from start to finish. If the trio of Brooks, Lambert, and Waldo are still here next season I will be shocked. I think it’s more likely that they’re all gone.

If I was recruiting against IUP, I’d ask a kid if he wants to get sucked into the “no fun zone” and possibly be benched for eternity the second he doesn’t play well. Then I’d cite the examples to prove my point.

I know many here are very, very close to the program. Some know people inside. But I can tell you on absolute authority that Alabama was attempting to put on the full court press to lure Ethan Porterfield out of Indiana last year. However, his health history ultimately backed them off from some of their "guarantees." I don't think that was ever really reported here.

What you are saying about the recruiting issue and Joe's management of his roster is what I've said on this message board for 3-5 years now. The chickens have just come home to roost now. You can't do what he's done in terms of roster management, benching guys, redshirting players as your "ace in the hole" for 2 years down the road, and missing on high school players and expect to just win indefinitely. It doesn't work like that.

I don't know how we go from Waldo being the next great SF at IUP in one breath to him being relegated to Siberia just minutes later. But that situation just seems to happen far too often with Lombardi anymore that it makes me think it's him, not the player.

[IUP24]

We'll never know. Much like Joe did with Carlos Carter (ignore), the women's program hasn't offered any of the local Heritage players in years.

Could it be a situation where Tom previously really liked recruiting the area locally, and the new staff simply doesn't? The late IUP baseball coach Jeff Ditch was the exact same way. His exact quote a top local recruit was, "You're really good, but I just don't recruit local players."

At this level, I generally think coaches believe there could be headaches involved with having a local player on the roster. Parents close by to get in the ear of the coach, player always under pressure to perform because they are local, etc.

Outside of Carlos Carter and Riley Stapleton (who eventually flipped from IUP hoops to JMU football), how many legitimate high end players have come out of the Heritage Conference or Indiana County over the last 8 years that would have legitimately helped IUP compete at the level they are trying to reach? The answer is probably none outside of those two. I recognize that's different on the girls side.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

And another Ethan.....

He's not going to find another Ethan in the portal. Most his size with his skill set are at some level of D1. If Ethan wasn't hurt last year he'd probably be there, too.

I kind of think Joe's going to go with more the small forward approach next year ... perhaps starting two SFs with three guards. You sacrifice a little size but have more speed.

Luckily, all his recruiting focus should be under the basket. He's pretty set at guard. I do think he'll bring in one shooting guard ... a Bryce-type to spread the floor.

They have enough back that he can recover pretty quickly. But, they will need some home runs under the bucket. The SF position - for a wide variety of reasons - just crushed them this year. It was a glaring weakness, which had a huge snowball effect.