Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Great start. Lol.

Holy cow. Team looks dead.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The other thread got me thinking a bit.

The teams Joe has lost to this year have a combined 101-18 record -- all are either NCAA locks or highly in contention.

-

Opponent	Opponents' Record
Concord	14-4
St. Thomas Aquinas	17-3
Walsh	14-4
East Stroudsburg	19-2
Gannon	19-2
California	18-3

Of those, they shouldn't have lost the Concord game. They blew that one. The Walsh and California games they were in until the final minutes. ESU was the fisrt game after Dallis got hurt and Garvin Clarke didn't play. That scenario had trainwreck written all over it. They may have lost regardless but it would have been much more competitive. St. Thomas Aquinas and Gannon beat the hell out of them. As of now, IUP's best win came on the road against a pretty solid Lock Haven team.

Every year we hear people say those early games don't matter. LOL. They sure as heck do. Joe took three early losses -- that will almost asuredly come back to haunt this team on Selection Sunday.

Believe me, I have no delusions of grandeur with this years' team. It has way too many flaws and not enough able bodies. Well, it still might have enough able bodies, but they don't count if they never take off their warm-up jackets (and, that's a different discussion). It would have been much better with a healthy Dallis Dillard and Denzel Kabasele - the latter we never got to see as he was lost for the season in camp.

To make the NCAA field, I think they'll need to upset either Cal or Gannon (along with not having any slip-ups). Along with the two big ones, two very difficult road trips are looming. The first comes tomorrow at Mercyhurst. The second is in a couple weeks at Morrow Field House. Not only has IUP struggled at Morrow in the past, but after the beating IUP dropped on them two weeks ago, they will be seeking blood.

To be honest, it's quite amazing IUP is 14-6 right now. Joe barely lost to Cal without playing Brooks a second (mind-boggling) and Petteno missing the game. For the crowd who thinks we harp on the KJ issue too much, last week at Clarion, Joe finally played Brooks (for 11 minutes). His 11 minutes worth of stats crushed KJ's 29 minutes worth of stats. No math genius here, but, well, it's obvious to all but apparently one person. Clarion's offense was completely altered with Brooks in the game.

The big guy has to go Brooks/Petteno at the 4 the rest of the way. It's their only shot. He can still get KJ his minutes here and there, but to elevate this group from a good team to a, well, much better team, the move needs to be made.

[Cobra Hawks]

You've fallen into his trap. Trick is not to engage. It's the joy of being a fan to have a little moan now and again when losing and revel in the glory when winning.
Anyway, moving on. What's this about Tomiwa??

[IUPalum]

You wish you had my job!!

No I don’t! I love my job and everything that comes with it. Your minimum wage announcer job isn’t worth **** to me!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP came out of the recent four-game stretch pretty good. The Crimson Hawks went 3-1 and were certainly in the California loss much longer than most anticipated. Take that technical away and who knows what may have happened.

IUP currently sits as a likely bubble team for the NCAA Tournament. But, that's a long way from now.

The next four games:

at Mercyhurst

Gannon

UPJ

at Edinboro


Don't overlook Wednesday night. Mercyhurst, I promise, will not look like they did at the KCAC last month. IUP has had (like most) many issues in the MAC over the years.

Gannon Part 2 will probably be similar to the first game (although I'd guess a little closer). IUP has nowhere near the depth to keep up -- at home, on the road or on the moon.

UPJ is in shambles but recall IUP barely escaped Johnstown. Rukavina knows everything Joe does. I don't expect this to be as close as the first one, but they'll put up a fight.

The trip to McComb should be interesting. Round 1 was a pretty entertaining game. IUP controlled it for the most part but things could be different up there.



They really need to come out of this next stretch at 3-1. Anything else and the NCAA dreams likely evaporate. The CIAA gets a guaranteed spot and there are too many other teams ahead of them. I will fully admit I'm shocked we're even loosely discussing this team being on the bubble into February given all the issues they've had to overcome.

[WarriorVoice]

That's called questioning the coach. Every fan does that. Just because his moves have been questioned, doesn't mean the fan base has turned on him. You are a complete jackass! Go jack up up some more player names.

You wish you had my job!!

[EyeoftheHawk]

That's called questioning the coach. Every fan does that. Just because his moves have been questioned, doesn't mean the fan base has turned on him. You are a complete jackass! Go jack up up some more player names.

I don’t even bother engaging with this moron. When I see a post from him I just scroll over it like it’s not there. It’s not worth trying to explain the nuance of a conversation to a knucklehead.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Joe's 1-6 this year vs the 7 best teams on his schedule. That isn't an opinion.

Obviously season-ending injuries have really hurt them.

The entire town is questioning one in particular personel decision (not just those on this board).

[IUPalum]

"What is Joe seeing that we aren't seeing?" Who asked that? "The last 4 years have been a disappointment."...The rotation he's playing now isn't going to take down a heavyweight."...With all of the wins you all have earned, why aren't any of you the coach? You see the injuries, but ignore them at the same time. All of you combined have the same amount of basketball knowledge as are in Joe Lombardi's suits.

That's called questioning the coach. Every fan does that. Just because his moves have been questioned, doesn't mean the fan base has turned on him. You are a complete jackass! Go jack up up some more player names.

[WarriorVoice]

"What is Joe seeing that we aren't seeing?" Who asked that? "The last 4 years have been a disappointment."...The rotation he's playing now isn't going to take down a heavyweight."...With all of the wins you all have earned, why aren't any of you the coach? You see the injuries, but ignore them at the same time. All of you combined have the same amount of basketball knowledge as are in Joe Lombardi's suits.

[IUPalum]

You guys are unbelievable. Now you're turning on your coach. You don't deserve a guy like Joe Lombardi...IUP Privelege is alive and well amongst it's fanbase...

Nobody has turned on Lombardi you jackass!!! The fan base is questioning the PT of one player and said player's dad just happens to be good friends with Lombardi.

[WarriorVoice]

Keep in mind Joe is 14-6, BUT he's 1-6 against top teams. The one win came with Dallis Dillard.

I think he has the best 'average' team in the league.

Now, if he'd play his roster correctly, I think they could be very dangerous to a top team on a given night.

He has two legit stars in Garvin and EP. Those two went for like 55 last night The supporting cast is what it is. Radford has lit up some teams but vanished against Cal and Gannon.


My point is Joe can beat (has beat) all the second and third tier teams he's played - even with the SF debacle. The rotation he is playing now, however, isn't going to take down a heavyweight.

You guys are unbelievable. Now you're turning on your coach. You don't deserve a guy like Joe Lombardi...IUP Privelege is alive and well amongst it's fanbase...

[Cobra Hawks]

As a new IUP fan. Firstly any real substance in Tomiwa coming back. Looking at what happened with Bryce certainly seems feasible. What are the ramifications if he does?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The last 4 years have been high hopes and disappointment. The 2019-2020 team before Demo got hurt - maybe one of the best teams ever at IUP, the lost season, losing shawndale but making final 4 without him, then last year. THis year was set up to be good too, but Tomiwa left to play 10 minutes a game at Towson, So yeah, bad luck happens to everyone, but it makes a bigger difference when you're expectations are high.

Speaking of Tomiwa ...

Well, I'll leave it at that.

I'll just say a little birdie thinks he may be back next year.

His bad influence isn't here anymore, which should help.

[ironmaniup]

The December version of last year's team would have beat the March version by 25 points.

The how and why has been beat to death but what that team morphed into was hard to watch.

The last 4 years have been high hopes and disappointment. The 2019-2020 team before Demo got hurt - maybe one of the best teams ever at IUP, the lost season, losing shawndale but making final 4 without him, then last year. THis year was set up to be good too, but Tomiwa left to play 10 minutes a game at Towson, So yeah, bad luck happens to everyone, but it makes a bigger difference when you're expectations are high.