Iup basketball

[Cobra Hawks]

IUP in danger of ending up 4th in the West

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Damir got 10min and produced 3 blocks and 2 steals BUT he's not good enough to crack this line up.

Oh he's plenty good enough.

We'd much just rather watch the SF position ruin the whole season.

Consider he had more (and better) stats in 10 minutes today than the other two had in 30 minutes (combined). He had better stats in the Clarion game in 7 minutes than the others had in 33 minutes. When they 'had' to play him at Ship he was the best player on the floor (18 and 8 and shot around 70 percent).

I'm sure Ethan loves getting doubled all game, too.

Who doesn't like when the SF position can't rebound and is manned by guards? It's also a nice luxury to have a 6'9", 230 lb redshirt in a tracksuit.

This season went from travesty to comedy.

All (painful) joking aside, I hope Damir finds a good home next season. What's going to be funny is the day he goes in the Portal he's going to get about 25 calls. I'll crack up when he smokes IUP next year.


And, speaking of the SF, why isn't Waldo playing at this point? This season is toast. Why isn't he getting any work for next year? Or, is it already known he's also leaving?

My guess is the big guy is afraid to play Brooks and Waldo at this point. When they do well, it will make him look terrible for NOT playing them all year.

[IUPalum]

Damir got 10min and produced 3 blocks and 2 steals BUT he's not good enough to crack this line up.

[Cobra Hawks]

Lombardi not talking any responsibility for that loss. All down to Ethan being sick at half time. Couldn't fault the effort apparently! Seriously??

[IUPbigINDIANS]

This team might not win another game. One and done in the tournament.

If we see this type of energy and performance on Wednesday at Cal, IUP will lose by 45 points.

With Jayson Harris this time, Clarion will be a handful, too.

They may not win again this year.

Today was about as ugly as it gets.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

This team might not win another game. One and done in the tournament.

Garvin had a nice game. Not sure anybody else was there.

That was an A$$ KICKING if I've ever seen one.

Check out some individual stat lines today. I'll leave it at that.

[IUPalum]

Wonder what Cal is going to do to this team Wednesday night?

Goodness.

This team might not win another game. One and done in the tournament.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Wonder what Cal is going to do to this team Wednesday night?

Goodness.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

This is a TRAVESTY Brooks isn't playing.

There's no way to explain this.

KJ may foul out before getting his first rebound.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

That may have been the worst half of basketball played by IUP in at least 15 years. Maybe 20 years.

IUP started red hot, up 15-5 and you could hear Joe screaming to slow the pace. They did. And ... then got lit up like a pinata.

Down 12 at half. Let the crowd back in to it. This could get ugly. IUP's effort and energy was horrendous the last 13 minutes.

Lindsay's been draining uncontested shots on IUP for four years. Might as well not guard him today, either.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Joe may get blown out of Morrow

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Joe saving his timeouts for next year. Goodness. Rock on huge run.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Damir massive block. Let that boy eat. Finally.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Brooks gets in. Two giant boards.

Back to the bench 40 seconds later.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Most of the astute PSAC watchers thought this wasn’t IUP’s best team, but I don’t think anyone thought they would see so much disappointment. To me, there are a few factors:

1) Poor Recruitment - Too many misses on the recruiting trail.
2) Poor Management - Not using the best players won’t win many games. Too many bad coaching decisions don’t help either.
3) Poor Player Development - For those returning, there isn’t much improvement.

One bad season happens, that’s the reality, but being nearly fully funded, and having one of the highest paying coaches on staff, I’d have to think the leash isn’t long if there’s a repeat (or maybe a retirement is forthcoming).

Who knows, maybe God just doesn’t like this team?

What am I missing? What do you think?

In somewhat order of events:

1) Tomiwa decided to leave. That single event changed the entire season - and left a gapping hole at the SF position.

2) Said hole wasn't addressed and has remained an incredible weakness all year. So bad, in fact, opposing teams ignore it -- choosing to rather double and triple team Porterfield.

3) The recruiting class, to this point, has been a disaster (aside from Garvin Clarke, and, at times Sarp).
- Josh Petteno, originally thought to be a showcase addition, was forced to play a forward role and isn't suited for that position. He also had an awful first two games at the SG spot and was quickly morphed to end-of-rotation role player.
- Denzel, a highly sought after transfer, was lost for the season in camp with a knee injury.
- Romero-Sanz was redshirted on a team that (I have to believe) knew it had major problems under the basket.
- Jordan Lambert (walk-on) was redshirted but then activated. All he did was produce on the offensive end but was quickly vanished to Siberia.
- Sarp was a decent late signing and has upside. However, in a normal year he'd have never seen the floor as a true freshman.
- Watson is a JUCO PG transfer and also redshirted. He was also injured.

4) Dallis Dillard going down with an ACL was a total disaster. He is one of the best two-way players in the league. This took a likely all-conference player out of the lineup (and 38 mpg).

5) McNarmarra returning from the holiday break lost for the season -- just when he was starting to see minutes. He's raw but that took a powerful 6'7", 230 lb forward out of the rotation.

6. Where's Waldo? The highly-touted recruit not only started opening night but took the game-winning shot attempt out of a timeout. He missed and quickly after was sent to Siberia. How the most-hyped high school recruit in some time was given up on after two games is still baffling.

7. By now you are seeing a theme at the small forward position. KJ started the season as Ethan's backup (and EP plays 38 mpg). Do the math.

8. Damir Brooks was benched the first two games of the season after being named a starter in camp. He's the perfect size and highly productive. Problem is (and, it's a big problem) he doesn't play. This, my opinion, ruined their season.

9. Instead of the physically-imposing, strong and athletic Brooks, KJ starts at SF and Petteno backs him up. One minor detail is both are at best 6'3" and, well, were brought here to be guards. And, remember, the giant Romero-Sanz and Brooks are sitting on the bench.

10. Dillard's injury forced Jaylen Stewart in to the starting lineup. Stewart has been adequate but was much more productive off the bench. They needed (need) much more scoring from him.

11. Bryce Radford came out of retirement to be a guard off the bench. His first day in Indiana was when Dillard was hurt. He went from role-playing sniper to 37 mpg starter. While he's had some monster games, he's also totally vanished in some. Defensively, the 6'4" Dillard is vastly better. Dillard is also an elite rebounder.

12. Aside from EP and Garvin (and sometimes Bryce) IUP has no offensive production.

13. If Brooks isn't going to play, Petteno should be playing way more than he does.


This season is toast as is. Even with the injuries, it didn't have to be this bad.

Move KJ back to EP's backup and split the SF between Brooks and Petteno. See what happens. IUP would look like a totally different (much better) team.


This team is better than 16-9. It should be at least 19-6 right now. It has to be coached to win. I'm not sure that is happening when your best lineup doesn't play.