Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

You must have never seen the Webb teams when Joe first started at IUP. Those were some awesome teams!

It was a good -- not great -- opening weekend. Which, of course, is typical. Joe wasn't real thrilled with all the turnovers. He talked about it in the newspaper article today. But, as you and I discussed, teams tend to get a little sloppy in blowouts. IUP played great in the first half of the Concord game ... got a little sloppy the final 20 minutes -- in particular, I thought they were giving up too many open looks from outside.

The thing that jumps out with this team is the post player depth. Tomiwa Sulaiman is a monster. He's huge, athletic, strong as hell, giant wing-span, fast. Rebounding machine. And, I was pleasantly surprised by Ousmane Diop. He probably got more minutes this weekend than he'll get in the bigger games, but he's a really nice piece off the bench in short spurts. I mentioned it the other day but he his really quick for his size. He can run with just about anybody on the court -- very rare for a 6'10" guy. He also has a knack for just being everywhere. His game is by no means polished, but he can wreck some havoc and is actually a decent shooter. He's quick enough, in fact, they were routinely bringing him out on defensive traps. That's a real big boy to have smothering a 6'0" guard.

It's been a long time since he's had (4) legit big men on the roster. They are going to be able to wear teams down under the basket.

Guard-wise, the starting three are elite. Radford and Polce obviously appear to be the next two off the bench. Radford gives them a long-range bomber. Polce is a strong defender.

Joe is letting the two true freshmen dress, but both times he's emptied the bench they weren't included. Certainly appears they are heading for the traditional redshirt season. K.J. Rhodes doesn't seem to be in the plans for this season. As of now, anyway. It seems Polce passed him.

Demo is looking better with each game. He seems to be getting fully confident in the knee recovery. He had a really big game Friday night. They got up big Saturday and it seemed Joe wanted to rest him so he didn't play much (21 mins).

[IUPalum]

May was asking for a technical by mid-second half. Conversely thought that Joe was the most reserved I've ever seen him. Maybe it's the relaxed dress code. Armoni and Dave Morris are such smooth players. On the other hand, Shawndale (I don't know if I've ever seen him play in person) is like a bull in a china shop. He makes it work, obviously, and that's no slight to him. I was thinking during the game how much more talented across the board the rotation is from some of the years I was a student. No disrespect to Josh Weigand or even Drizz, but the last couple years with Cobo and now Tommy the team is super talented 1 through 5 where each guy is as much a threat to dunk as they are to drain a 3 off the dribble.

Saturday was my first time back to Indiana with school in session (I visited with some friends over the summer) during the pandemic. Where were the students? I'm not talking just at the KCAC and the non-existent student section. I went down Philly Street to pick up a sandwich and pizza from Subs n Suds and the whole downtown was dead at 9:45 p.m. on a Saturday. Normally the weekend before a holiday break isn't a popular time to go home but dang...it was empty. Maybe everyone was studying.

You must have never seen the Webb teams when Joe first started at IUP. Those were some awesome teams!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

May was asking for a technical by mid-second half. Conversely thought that Joe was the most reserved I've ever seen him. Maybe it's the relaxed dress code. Armoni and Dave Morris are such smooth players. On the other hand, Shawndale (I don't know if I've ever seen him play in person) is like a bull in a china shop. He makes it work, obviously, and that's no slight to him. I was thinking during the game how much more talented across the board the rotation is from some of the years I was a student. No disrespect to Josh Weigand or even Drizz, but the last couple years with Cobo and now Tommy the team is super talented 1 through 5 where each guy is as much a threat to dunk as they are to drain a 3 off the dribble.

Saturday was my first time back to Indiana with school in session (I visited with some friends over the summer) during the pandemic. Where were the students? I'm not talking just at the KCAC and the non-existent student section. I went down Philly Street to pick up a sandwich and pizza from Subs n Suds and the whole downtown was dead at 9:45 p.m. on a Saturday. Normally the weekend before a holiday break isn't a popular time to go home but dang...it was empty. Maybe everyone was studying.

Neither gate was very good. Friday night had an announced 1,342 and Saturday had 1,192. Sure, compared to the rest of the conference, those are good numbers. At IUP, that is just about 25% capacity. There were (basically) no students at either game. I mentioned last week leading up to the game that I didn't think many people even knew their season was starting. Is the 'required mask' hurting ticket sales? Who knows. Probably about 10% inside actually wore them.

Historically, they tend to always get their biggest crowds in the second half of the season. But, goodness, just getting 300 students in there would make a big difference. The lack of video feed wasn't very popular, either. That's just terrible, actually.

[hawks16]

May was asking for a technical by mid-second half. Conversely thought that Joe was the most reserved I've ever seen him. Maybe it's the relaxed dress code. Armoni and Dave Morris are such smooth players. On the other hand, Shawndale (I don't know if I've ever seen him play in person) is like a bull in a china shop. He makes it work, obviously, and that's no slight to him. I was thinking during the game how much more talented across the board the rotation is from some of the years I was a student. No disrespect to Josh Weigand or even Drizz, but the last couple years with Cobo and now Tommy the team is super talented 1 through 5 where each guy is as much a threat to dunk as they are to drain a 3 off the dribble.

Saturday was my first time back to Indiana with school in session (I visited with some friends over the summer) during the pandemic. Where were the students? I'm not talking just at the KCAC and the non-existent student section. I went down Philly Street to pick up a sandwich and pizza from Subs n Suds and the whole downtown was dead at 9:45 p.m. on a Saturday. Normally the weekend before a holiday break isn't a popular time to go home but dang...it was empty. Maybe everyone was studying.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

May more animated than Sancomb (who visits IUP yearly)? Maybe you just have sensory adaptation to Sancomb because you see him so often. LOL

Honestly, Sancomb has never really acted up much here. I know he has that reputation. But he's never stood out.

He got a little hot two years ago when Cal was up 20 in the first half and ended up losing by 23. Not, nothing extraordinary.

May and KR are very similar.

[Scrub]

May got T'd up again (as he did here in 2018). He's the most animated coach to come here since Kevin Reynolds. Much bigger test Tuesday with Le Moyne visiting.

May more animated than Sancomb (who visits IUP yearly)? Maybe you just have sensory adaptation to Sancomb because you see him so often. LOL

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Concord isn't a bad team. There was one stretch it seemed Joe was going to run them out of the building and go up 30+ but they ended up holding steady around the 20-22 margin. Both teams emptied the bench the final 3-4 minutes. IUP got off to a great start ... opened up on a 15-2 run. Concord never really got back in it. Concord did lose to a solid UPJ in OT the night before so I was expecting a tighter game. Joe gave Demo a light night. He only played 21 minutes. I think they wanted to rest him some once they got up big. Diop got nearly 20 mins. Diop creates some havoc. He's really quick for being 6'10".

May got T'd up again (as he did here in 2018). He's the most animated coach to come here since Kevin Reynolds. Much bigger test Tuesday with Le Moyne visiting.

[IUPalum]

Shawndale 23 (high scorer both games)

Armoni 17 and 11 rebounds

Morris 16

Ethan 14

Demo 12 and 7

46.4% FG

22.2% trey (6-27)

28-36 FT (77.8%)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Shawndale 23 (high scorer both games)

Armoni 17 and 11 rebounds

Morris 16

Ethan 14

Demo 12 and 7

46.4% FG

22.2% trey (6-27)

28-36 FT (77.8%)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP 98
Concord 78

Final

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Since I couldn't watch or listen, all I have is stats.

Observations from the stats:
1) 18 turnovers (Foster/Demo 11 combined) not good.
2) Demo posted a large double double 16-15
3) Radford perfect from the floor but I'm sure his D sucked still.
4) 10 total fouls which is very low.
5) 11-17 from the line... not spectacular
6) Joe went a legit 9 deep...
7) Polce first off the bench... unexpected

Polce played a lot. He's a good defender. Big kid. Strong.

Radford is better live than on the screen. He's a nice player.

Joe got that early lead then emptied the bench. Odd. But, it kept WVW in game.

As far as opening nights go ... about what you'd expect. Not great. Not awful.

WVW came with a with a lot of fight.

First game was an OT thriller.

Crowd sucked. Very small. Spirited, but small.

Demo was a stat machine. Souliman (sp) is a beast.

Better be a lot cleaner tomorrow.

[IUPalum]

Since I couldn't watch or listen, all I have is stats.

Observations from the stats:
1) 18 turnovers (Foster/Demo 11 combined) not good.
2) Demo posted a large double double 16-15
3) Radford perfect from the floor but I'm sure his D sucked still.
4) 10 total fouls which is very low.
5) 11-17 from the line... not spectacular
6) Joe went a legit 9 deep...
7) Polce first off the bench... unexpected

[ironmaniup]

How the F is there media time outs with no tv or radio broadcast? IUP ought to be ashamed that there is no way of viewing this game!

[IUPalum]

How the F is there media time outs with no tv or radio broadcast? IUP ought to be ashamed that there is no way of viewing this game!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Quick look at tonight's opponent (West Virginia Wesleyan):

* Went 0-14 last year -- lost a ton of close, single-digit games.
* Top 5 scorers from that team are all gone
* Picked last in the MEC preseason poll
* Not much size on the roster
* New coach is Derek Sloan. He was on staff the previous two years after wrapping up his playing career at Cleveland State
* Sloan said in a preseason interview that the focus has been largely on defense
* IUP has won the past two in the series (2014 & 2019)

And, of course, this is the prototype team that comes in here and plays well. LOL. Seen it happen so many times.

On the IUP front, it seems they are in good health with the exception of Tommy Demogerontas. He's said to be questionable (shoulder) for the weekend. They will need him more tomorrow as Concord has some nice size under the basket.