Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Armoni 21
Morris 15
Demo 11
Shawndale 11
Chucky 8
Malik 7
Porterfield 2


8-30 treys
15-19 FT
26-61 FG

Positive on glass 35-24

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP 73
WVW 50

Final


IUP won 2nd half by 29

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I sure felt a lot better a month ago. Seeing that a D2 bottom-feeder took Elon to the wire Tuesday night sure doesn't help (in a real game for Elon).

The thing Joe has is four really good guards. Deemo isn't going to be Cobo but he doesn't need to be. Chucky will be the jack-of-all-trades.

But, this post player conundrum is on Joe. If Diop wasn't ready to play he shouldn't be here. Same with Ulrich. You don't get a roster with four guards of this caliber often. So, I certainly agree with you that this will be the typical 7-man Joe rotation -- probably as early as tomorrow night. Shawndale and Porterfield will be the 6th and 7th guys. Benton, Ulrich and Anthony White will be used for foul trouble, etc.

One thing I did take notice of in today's article is Tony said Diop is a 'candidate' to redshirt. Last week he said he was going to redshirt. I question if after the dismal rebounding performance at Elon if Joe's decision has changed.

I guess we'll find out soon enough. They are going to be tested tomorrow night. WVW has a slew of upperclassmen and also a new 6'5" transfer guard from Mt. Saint Mary's.

I also can't rule out Joe's playing this 'awww shucks we're in a rebuild' routine and then he's going to really drop the hammer tomorrow night.

[Chuck Norris]

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Preview story from today's Indiana Gazette (By Tony Coccagna)


Retooling Crimson Hawks face season of transition

THE GUARDS:THE FORWARDS:THE OTHER NEWCOMERS: Ousmane Diop, a 6-10 forward, transferred from Division I Niagara.

There are two other freshmen in the ranks: KJ Rhodes, a 6-4 guard from Pittsburgh who played at the IMG Academy in Florida; and Bryce Radford, a 6-0 point guard from Beckley, W.Va., who has nursed an injury throughout the preseason.

All three are redshirt candidates.

THE COACH:THE SCHEDULE:

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Prediction time:


Non-conference: Not nearly as daunting as a year ago, however, I see them being tested in four of the six games (including both this weekend). Projection: 6-0

Crossover: The mid-DEC weekend trip to Shepherd and Shippensburg is a difficult task. East Stroudsburg will be tough but it's in the KCAC. Projection: 5-1

PSAC West: Joe is around .500 at SRU in his past 10 trips up there. I assume they split with UPJ. I also figure on a split with Mercyhurst as that zone still boggles IUP. One other slip-up, perhaps to Cal, is possible. It is a HUGE advantage to go up to SRU in early January. It's a circus up there when the students are on campus (for IUP's visit). Projection: 12-4


Predicted regular season record: 23-5


Notes:

It's a new era. Cobo and Dante are gone. IUP will have a new look this season for the first time in awhile. There were some promising things in the Elon exhibition. There were also some troublesome items. The much smaller lineup this year, as it appears, is going to cause some issues in West play. Porterfield should come on as the season moves along, but if he's going to get 25 mpg, the progress has to be rapid. If we knew Ulrich's status I might take them at 24-4. I see this as a fun season. With those guards they are going to really light up some scoreboards. Chucky and Demo are very solid underneath. Porterfield will be in time. I'd sure like to have one more down there to rely on, however (and not be sitting on the bench in a warm-up suit).

This is a team I don't see as really peaking until mid-Jan. Lots of new parts. It has a high upside. But, it has to survive these first 70 days. After this weekend, Le Moyne and East Stroudsburg are right around the corner. The gel process by default has to happen quickly. Joe runs an extremely detail-oriented system on both ends of the floor. They have to catch on fast.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Last year I remember him being a handful early in the first meeting with WVWC. If I remember correctly, Howlett countered by having Meinie play PG in the second half of that game (similar to a move he made in the tourney) to draw the big boy out and tire him out chasing. Meinie ended up going for his season high in that first meeting as a result I believe.

In the second meeting, I recall him being a total non-factor (foul trouble if I recall correctly).

My guess is that by PSAC standards, you'll view him as a "soft" big. A prototypical European big who'd rather hang at the 3 point line on offense than post up down low. I would assume that PSAC bigs would handle him easily.

Petrovic the PG is perhaps the bigger threat. Streaky shooter who can hit from anywhere if he gets hot. But equally able to be frustrated by tough D and go cold.

Well ... we don't even know what kind of bigs we have yet so it may not matter if he's 'Euro big' or 'PSAC big'.

We know we have an athletic, 6'10" D1 transfer (Ousmane Diop) who is going to, per IUP (Joe) custom, redshirt this year. It's a long-standing, incredibly-frustrating (mind-boggling) tradition here in Indiana.

We know we have another 6'8", 240 lb power forward on the roster in Shawn Ulrich who is either hurt or in Joe's infamous doghouse. He dressed but logged zero minutes at Elon. So, maybe a bit of both.

We know we have Chucky Humphries. He will have a big year.

We have Tommy Deemo (haven't learned to spell that last name yet). He will have a big year as a 6'7" grad transfer from D1 Northern Illinois -- and flash shades of Cobo. He had a double-double at Elon.

There's also the coveted 6'9" true freshman Ethan Porterfield, whom most expected to redshirt but that's not the case. He logged 25 minutes at Elon. Expectations are very high for him in the coming years.

And then we have the 6'5" Dylan Benton, who, in one off-season went from deep bench walk-on to apparent rotation player walk-on.


My question is this: If Diop and Ulrich aren't deemed ready to play, now, by Joe ... why are they here? These aren't 18-year-old freshmen. This is a team stacked at the guard position. There's no possible explanation that Diop couldn't have helped this year even for 8-12 minutes per game -- defense, taking and giving fouls, blocks, etc.

I get giving Radford and K.J. Rhodes redshirts, although most all say K.J. is ready now. With the four guards they have he'd waste a year in mop-up time. I suppose it is a nice benefit to have those three on the bench as redshirts. Joe can burn a redshirt at any point if they have to (injuries, etc.). I'll just say this season is off to a weird vibe before it's even begun.

[Columbuseer]

Last year I remember him being a handful early in the first meeting with WVWC. If I remember correctly, Howlett countered by having Meinie play PG in the second half of that game (similar to a move he made in the tourney) to draw the big boy out and tire him out chasing. Meinie ended up going for his season high in that first meeting as a result I believe.

In the second meeting, I recall him being a total non-factor (foul trouble if I recall correctly).

My guess is that by PSAC standards, you'll view him as a "soft" big. A prototypical European big who'd rather hang at the 3 point line on offense than post up down low. I would assume that PSAC bigs would handle him easily.

Petrovic the PG is perhaps the bigger threat. Streaky shooter who can hit from anywhere if he gets hot. But equally able to be frustrated by tough D and go cold.

Good analysis. regarding bigs being soft- I agree. I wonder if new coach will have them trying to rebound more. They did not crash the boards on a shot. Made it easy on wlu to rebound at both ends of court.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

There's been a late change to the schedule.

IUP was originally going to host Lake Erie on the second night of the Thanksgiving Classic. IUP will instead now host Felician University. Lake Erie now has an open date for Nov. 30 so not sure the specifics. Regardless, ...


Also, of note:

This Friday night IUP will play the first game of the IRMC / Hilton Garden Inn Classic at 7 p.m. UPJ will play Concord at 9 p.m.

This (late tip for UPJ) is mainly (I assume) due to the crazy schedule at IUP this weekend. There is a home volleyball match scheduled at the KCAC at 4 p.m. However, this is the first time I can ever remember IUP playing first in one of these tournaments.

On Saturday, IUP will play Concord at 6 p.m. and UPJ will play WVW at 8 p.m.


On the women's side, IUP will open at 3 p.m. Saturday inside the Field House (right as the football game should be ending) against Davis and Elkins. They will then play West Virginia Wesleyan (Field House) on Sunday at 4 p.m.

[Scrub]

I remember him .. he signed with UPJ several years back. He's a local to Western PA. Hot-head types don't last playing for Rukavina at UPJ. He's pretty no-nonsense. That could be why he left.

Thanks for sharing. The KCAC crowd typically tees off on those types.

What's the story on Vicentic? He's a big dude.

Last year I remember him being a handful early in the first meeting with WVWC. If I remember correctly, Howlett countered by having Meinie play PG in the second half of that game (similar to a move he made in the tourney) to draw the big boy out and tire him out chasing. Meinie ended up going for his season high in that first meeting as a result I believe.

In the second meeting, I recall him being a total non-factor (foul trouble if I recall correctly).

My guess is that by PSAC standards, you'll view him as a "soft" big. A prototypical European big who'd rather hang at the 3 point line on offense than post up down low. I would assume that PSAC bigs would handle him easily.

Petrovic the PG is perhaps the bigger threat. Streaky shooter who can hit from anywhere if he gets hot. But equally able to be frustrated by tough D and go cold.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I don't know if you have anybody who gets riled up easily, but watch out for WVWC's "gnat"-type player, Eddie Flohr. He's sometimes been a starting guard and sometimes a 6th man. He's a scrappy player who is probably easy to cheer for if he's your guy. But each time WLU has played him, he ends up getting out of control and fouling some people in egregious ways. WLU is not prone to excitability, so the guy just ends up looking like the fool. But I could easily see how he could induce technicals in less-disciplined teams. He and Dante would likely have been a bad mix last year, for instance. If you have any of those Dante-esque fiery guys this year, keep an eye on that match-up.

I remember him .. he signed with UPJ several years back. He's a local to Western PA. Hot-head types don't last playing for Rukavina at UPJ. He's pretty no-nonsense. That could be why he left.

Thanks for sharing. The KCAC crowd typically tees off on those types.

What's the story on Vicentic? He's a big dude.

[Scrub]

I don't know if you have anybody who gets riled up easily, but watch out for WVWC's "gnat"-type player, Eddie Flohr. He's sometimes been a starting guard and sometimes a 6th man. He's a scrappy player who is probably easy to cheer for if he's your guy. But each time WLU has played him, he ends up getting out of control and fouling some people in egregious ways. WLU is not prone to excitability, so the guy just ends up looking like the fool. But I could easily see how he could induce technicals in less-disciplined teams. He and Dante would likely have been a bad mix last year, for instance. If you have any of those Dante-esque fiery guys this year, keep an eye on that match-up.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

This opening weekend doesn't have quite the same buzz as last year when Virginia State and the Tommy Bolte Concord Show came to town.

However, neither game will be easy.

West Virginia Wesleyan is led by several seniors -- forward Dusan Vicentic (6'9") and guards Clay Todd and Luka Petrovic (6'6").

* Vicentic is a physical post player who averaged 14 ppg, 5 rpg and had 30 blocks a year ago. He also hit 46 treys. His weakness appears to be staying out of foul trouble. No weight listed but he looks to easily be about 6'9" and a muscular 240 pounds. He's a big boy.
* Todd started 27 games last year and put in 13 ppg with 85 assists and 53 steals.
* Petrovic scored 10 ppg, grabbed 102 boards and had 68 steals.

WVW went 8-15 in the MEC last year and 11-18 overall. Of note, they did have season-opening wins over both West Chester and Kutztown. They were competitive in most games despite the record and also held West Liberty to 80 and 77 points. They had a horrendous last month of the season for whatever reason. They also have a new head coach (Nick Patella) after their previous coach left in August. However, it's a familiar face to the program.

WVW's last trip to the KCAC was about 5-6 years ago. Under the previous regime, they liked to really 'muck' things up and slow it down (PSAC West style). Patella returned as the head coach after being the main man the previous four years at Davis and Elkins. His teams there seemed to play a similar style.



Concord is a little more difficult to scout. Tommy Bolte has graduated. Sharp-shooting guard (and all-world flopper) Jair Rodgers left for Florida Southern.

There are some key returners, however.

* Malik Johnson (6'5" G/F) -- Had a good game at IUP last season and is a tough match-up.
* David Mulumba (6'6" F)
* Trey Brisco (6'4" G)
* Simon Kovac (6'8", 240 lb - F) -- Tough guy to move around under the basket.

They also add back their top recruit of a year ago, 6'5" guard Martin Kelly Jr., who was injured in camp a year ago and missed all of the 2018-19 season. Kelly was a player IUP was allegedly interested in a one point. Guard Kam Harris also transferred in from Notre Dame (OH) as did forward Liam Evans (6'6", 215 lbs) from Saginaw Valley State.

Concord went 20-10 a year ago (14-8 MEC). They are obviously a much different team sans Bolte, but they have some real talent. IUP defeated Concord last year, 83-72, on opening night. Concord likes to play fast and IUP really frustrated them most of the night.


Neither of the games are going to be a pushover. Both teams will challenge a now-thin IUP post.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I told everybody months ago that Joe would never play more than 8 guys! What in the world is he thinking here? This group has the potential to be really, really good. I just don't get it.

Most nights in D2 he won't be nearly as undersized as he was last night. But, yeah, if Benton beat out Ulrich ... he may be one of Joe's biggest flop recruits ever. Let's hope he was just banged up and sat out. Ulrich has been wearing a black shirt in practice which means he's running with the rotation group.

We'll find out real soon.

[IUP24]

I told everybody months ago that Joe would never play more than 8 guys! What in the world is he thinking here? This group has the potential to be really, really good. I just don't get it.