Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

ESU may be the most athletic team IUP has seen, but they really struggle with half court offense. Obviously IUP gets some credit for that being one of the best defensive teams in the country, but ESU had no continuity. Other than the few threes they hit, they didn’t do much when they had to create. I also think IUP was in their head a bit and it caused them to rush unnecessarily. That led to missing a bunch of bunnies, especially in the first half.

As for IUP, they’re going to be damned hard to beat, period. When ESU had their little run to cut the lead to six, IUP basically said no more of that and the next time I looked at the scoreboard they were back up by 13. I thought IUP had too many turnovers but when the dust settled ESU had two more, which is unusual for them. I told my wife that to have any chance at all ESU had to score 60. I looked at the clock at about the 8:30 mark and they had 42. The next time I looked at it at around 4:30, they still had 42. Pretty good day at the office when you hold a team that scores routinely in the 80s to 53.

All in all IUP took care of business and there was never a time when I thought ESU was playing on the same level. They might run 10-12 guys at you but three guys were pretty much their entire offense. IUP played three less players and still had more guys crack the score sheet. Quality over quantity. Yes, they should have made more threes but I do think Ethan’s stress fracture is part of that equation.

As a side note, I think if I’m playing IUP the last thing I want to do is get Tomiwa fired up. For whatever reason, Pepin decided it would be a good idea to mess with him and once the big boy got the motor running he was dominant. The two also exchanged words after the game. Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure the last guy I’d want to get in the ring with would be Tomiwa. He’s a bad, bad man.

Tomiwa is a freak.

No other way to say it

[EyeoftheHawk]

Lot of respect for ESU. They play hard 40 minutes

ESU may be the most athletic team IUP has seen, but they really struggle with half court offense. Obviously IUP gets some credit for that being one of the best defensive teams in the country, but ESU had no continuity. Other than the few threes they hit, they didn’t do much when they had to create. I also think IUP was in their head a bit and it caused them to rush unnecessarily. That led to missing a bunch of bunnies, especially in the first half.

As for IUP, they’re going to be damned hard to beat, period. When ESU had their little run to cut the lead to six, IUP basically said no more of that and the next time I looked at the scoreboard they were back up by 13. I thought IUP had too many turnovers but when the dust settled ESU had two more, which is unusual for them. I told my wife that to have any chance at all ESU had to score 60. I looked at the clock at about the 8:30 mark and they had 42. The next time I looked at it at around 4:30, they still had 42. Pretty good day at the office when you hold a team that scores routinely in the 80s to 53.

All in all IUP took care of business and there was never a time when I thought ESU was playing on the same level. They might run 10-12 guys at you but three guys were pretty much their entire offense. IUP played three less players and still had more guys crack the score sheet. Quality over quantity. Yes, they should have made more threes but I do think Ethan’s stress fracture is part of that equation.

As a side note, I think if I’m playing IUP the last thing I want to do is get Tomiwa fired up. For whatever reason, Pepin decided it would be a good idea to mess with him and once the big boy got the motor running he was dominant. The two also exchanged words after the game. Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure the last guy I’d want to get in the ring with would be Tomiwa. He’s a bad, bad man.

[Ship69]

Lot of respect for ESU. They play hard 40 minutes

They do, but boy they've really dropped off lately. Probably didn't help that they'd played on Thursday. That's a club that's going to explode one of these days, and I'm so afraid it will be Feb. 4 when Ship visits them. Nice day for the Raiders with Lock Haven and East Stroud both going down — a relatively trouble-free outing at Lock Haven for a change. Looks like Jayy Davis, who killed East Stroud in the first half Thursday, left it all there. He only had five today against Ship.

[IUPalum]

1) ESU is tough as nails

2) IUP’s defense was the difference.

3) IUP has to start shooting the 3 better. They got great looks today but not much to show for it.

4) Officials were laughable.

5) ESU won’t go away and it was also a good test for the future.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Lot of respect for ESU. They play hard 40 minutes

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Holy Defense

[IUPalum]

If they could hit a trey they'd be up 20+ at half.

11 is a good lead but it should be way more. Scary to let them hang around.


Joe has to get a new play to end the half. He runs it every game. ESU knew it was coming

I said for the last few weeks they better start shooting the 3 better.

Pace has been IUP's so far which is good but put the dang ball in the hoop.

McAliley/Porterfield is a mismatch. They have to do better on that guy.

7 steals and didn't do much with them.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

If they could hit a trey they'd be up 20+ at half.

11 is a good lead but it should be way more. Scary to let them hang around.


Joe has to get a new play to end the half. He runs it every game. ESU knew it was coming

[EyeoftheHawk]

Making the trip today. Excited for a great game. Not taking anything for granted.

Safe travels. This will be a fun one. I expect a nice crowd and the energy is just different when school is in. Maybe I’ll see you there.

[IUP24]

Just don't organize Silent Night. Lol

That attendance record still has not been broken LOL

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Making the trip today. Excited for a great game. Not taking anything for granted.

Just don't organize Silent Night. Lol

[IUP24]

Making the trip today. Excited for a great game. Not taking anything for granted.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I agree. I truly thought just by the way he talked much of last year, he was going to retire at the conclusion of the season. And had they won two more games, I bet he would have. Guys like Joe built their programs around culture and an environment of team and family. Not that those intangible things mean everything, or anything for that matter, it's hard to dispute the results he's achieved. Joe's great friends with Jay Wright. And he unexpectedly hung up the Armoni suit in the midst of all this NIL and one-time free transfer stuff. Wright and Lombardi and much of the same type of people. Jay Wright had a great program; one of the best in the country. He recruited great players, but he brought in program guys. Players who became exceptional over time, but guys who were there that were willing to be coached and developed for 3-4 years. The number of those guys are dwindling, and rapidly. I don't think Jay Wright had any interest in recruiting his roster over and over again each season.

Joe's player and roster retention has been incredible during his tenure. And not just traditional roster retention. He's kept ELITE players. IUP isn't a place where guys tend to leave or transfer out of, at least not on their own accord. I'm not sure that stuff matters anymore. And I doubt he wants to be part of the game given what it now is.

Other side of coin is Joe's a celebrity in a small town and being paid about $200,000 a year to coach basketball. He doesn't leave Indiana to recruit. He has a sweet job.

Hard to say what he'll do.

[IUP24]

It would make sense. Joe turns 64 in November. If guys jumping for D1 opportunities does become more of an issue, how much longer would he want to grind every year to replace multiple top guys? A national championship this year would sure be a nice way to ride off into the sunset.

I agree. I truly thought just by the way he talked much of last year, he was going to retire at the conclusion of the season. And had they won two more games, I bet he would have. Guys like Joe built their programs around culture and an environment of team and family. Not that those intangible things mean everything, or anything for that matter, it's hard to dispute the results he's achieved. Joe's great friends with Jay Wright. And he unexpectedly hung up the Armoni suit in the midst of all this NIL and one-time free transfer stuff. Wright and Lombardi and much of the same type of people. Jay Wright had a great program; one of the best in the country. He recruited great players, but he brought in program guys. Players who became exceptional over time, but guys who were there that were willing to be coached and developed for 3-4 years. The number of those guys are dwindling, and rapidly. I don't think Jay Wright had any interest in recruiting his roster over and over again each season.

Joe's player and roster retention has been incredible during his tenure. And not just traditional roster retention. He's kept ELITE players. IUP isn't a place where guys tend to leave or transfer out of, at least not on their own accord. I'm not sure that stuff matters anymore. And I doubt he wants to be part of the game given what it now is.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Keep in mind we aren't talking about the NBA here.


If their starting five this year was Ethan, Tomiwa, Shawndale, David and Armoni ... Joe would've need a shrink on staff to deal with ball sharing.

Regarding the NBA, that’s exactly what I was thinking. Love Armoni, but he’s not on any NBA team’s short list of prospects. I hope he finds something overseas that works for him to continue his career.

As far as Armoni no longer being at IUP, I’m glad you said it about what his presence might mean to this particular team. I’m not going to go as far as to say IUP wouldn’t be better with him, but, I don’t think they’d be much better. I think what he’d provide more than anything else is maturity and leadership, although this team has plenty of that as it is. I think his moving on was the right thing for him, and with Shawndale coming back healthy and the growth of the other guards, it hasn’t had a measurable impact on IUP.