Iup basketball

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: Iup basketball

How about a comparison to Ashton Smith! Ashton might have been the best 4 year guard Joe has ever coached.

Bravado has had so many great guards in his time here----Ashton, Sand Man, Stewart, Devante, Norfleet, Dyer, et al. I would have a very hard time in selecting "the best" one. They all brought something great to the game. It's really a pretty amazing collection that he has had in his backcourts.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

How about a comparison to Ashton Smith! Ashton might have been the best 4 year guard Joe has ever coached.

That will be tomorrow's homework assignment !


First pick: Cobo or Webb ?

[IUPalum]

Re: Iup basketball

That is well said and a nice job by IUPBigIndians of contrasting Dante with Devante during their senior seasons. I was certainly critical of Dante and Bravado heading into this season, but Dante has certainly more than upheld his end of the bargain thus far. And so much more than that even. Like Mr. Norris states----he is a great postseason away from perhaps being mentioned in the same breath with a litany of storied IUP guards. That is pretty rarefied air to be honest. Great to see!

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How about a comparison to Ashton Smith! Ashton might have been the best 4 year guard Joe has ever coached.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: Iup basketball

That is well said and a nice job by IUPBigIndians of contrasting Dante with Devante during their senior seasons. I was certainly critical of Dante and Bravado heading into this season, but Dante has certainly more than upheld his end of the bargain thus far. And so much more than that even. Like Mr. Norris states----he is a great postseason away from perhaps being mentioned in the same breath with a litany of storied IUP guards. That is pretty rarefied air to be honest. Great to see!

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Looking back at that team:

Devante: 16.5 ppg
Dyer: 14.2 ppg
Norfleet: 11.4 ppg
Daddy: 11.0 ppg
Jeffers: 8.1 ppg
Hanner: 5.5 ppg
Cottrell: 3.6 ppg (with 60 blocks)
Manny Yarde: 3.0 ppg

That team was much better at the FT line compared to this one (almost a full 10 points better at 79%). They are about a wash from deep.

That team only scored 74.53 per game (but only gave up 62.75 per game).

It's sick to thing back to that guard trio of Chance, Norfleet and Dyer. Recall they took a while to kind of learn to co-exist.

[Chuck Norris]

Re: Iup basketball

As time passes we tend to remember certain players in certain ways. DeVante Chance often gets recalled as almost having an immortal senior season.

It may surprise many of you that Dante Lombardi is having, statistically, a nearly identical senior season.

Keep in mind Chance played 38 games as a senior. Dante has played just 28 so far.


Minutes per game: Lombardi 36.2 - Chance 38

FG%: Lombardi 44% Chance 46%

3-point%: Lombardi 38% Chance 40%

FT%: Lombardi 82% Chance 80%

PPG: Lombardi 16.8 Chance 16.5

Assists: Lombardi 155 Chance 217

TOs: Lombardi 96 Chance 130


I'm not suggesting one is better than the other or anything but thought it may surprise many on here to see how nearly identical their numbers actually are when you put them on paper beside one another.


Another comparison: Chance's senior team which advanced to the national final stood at 23-5 entering the PSAC Tournament. This year's team is currently at 26-2.


So, just for fun, put the 2018-19 team up against the 2014-15 team. Not so easy.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

As time passes we tend to remember certain players in certain ways. DeVante Chance often gets recalled as almost having an immortal senior season.

It may surprise many of you that Dante Lombardi is having, statistically, a nearly identical senior season.

Keep in mind Chance played 38 games as a senior. Dante has played just 28 so far.


Minutes per game: Lombardi 36.2 - Chance 38

FG%: Lombardi 44% Chance 46%

3-point%: Lombardi 38% Chance 40%

FT%: Lombardi 82% Chance 80%

PPG: Lombardi 16.8 Chance 16.5

Assists: Lombardi 155 Chance 217

TOs: Lombardi 96 Chance 130


I'm not suggesting one is better than the other or anything but thought it may surprise many on here to see how nearly identical their numbers actually are when you put them on paper beside one another.


Another comparison: Chance's senior team which advanced to the national final stood at 23-5 entering the PSAC Tournament. This year's team is currently at 26-2.


So, just for fun, put the 2018-19 team up against the 2014-15 team. Not so easy.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball


I agree with you. However, I just hope the team doesn't have the same 'head and shoulders' view.

Some tid-bits:

* Dante is playing exceptionally well the past 6 games. During this final stretch he's averaging 20.5 ppg and shooting 56 percent from the field. His turnovers are also tremendously down in the second half of the season.

* Joe finally caved in to message board pressure. Yeah, probably not, but nevertheless Chucky Humphries' minutes have skyrocketed in the past two weeks. And, truth be told, that was long over due. Against Seton Hill, he went for 10 rebounds, 5 points and 2 assists in 26 minutes. Humphries is a game-altering problem for opponents. He's exceptionally quick for a post player, can jump out of the building and will annoy the crap out of opposing teams' big men.

* As a result of Humphries playing more, we are seeing a more productive Willem. Brandwijk has quietly been averaging near 8 points and 8 boards per game. With less minutes, Willem is also getting to the line much less -- drastically reducing empty or one-point possessions.

* Item to watch: Malik has been dreadful 2 of his past 3 games. In fact, he was benched this past Saturday night for the final 25-30 percent of the game. In between rough outings at California and against Seton Hill, he had an amazing game at Edinboro. However, against Cal and Seton Hill he combined for 3-20 from the field. Malik shows the flashes of being IUP's most gifted scorer and when he's dialed in may be the best player in the PSAC. Joe was on him pretty hard Saturday night. Hopefully that gets him back on track.

* Marko Krivacevic's minutes are also rising. His production per minute is pretty impressive, and there's no fall-off when he comes in to the game. Many nights it's actually a boost. They will start to see some smaller teams in the coming weeks and he will be a big match-up problem.

* Anthony White could be in the deep rotation as a defensive agitator. He's big and extremely fast. He's an 'in your face' defender. He would be a 20-25 minute player for most teams in the PSAC. I think they could use him more in spurts.

* Armoni's nagging injury is really limiting his production (just 3 points total in the past two games). He had some really big offensive games earlier in the season and will be needed as the competition ramps us.

* In case you missed, Cobo gave up his senior night start so walk-on Todd Fetsko could make his first career start. He then continued his torrid play with another 20 point, 6 rebound performance. The only thing they are missing with him lately is he's not getting to the line nearly as much. Odd for a 6'9" forward that few can guard. He's also perhaps the teams best free throw shooter. Consider in the past four games he's only attempted 7 FTs.

* Speaking of FTs, this still is a somewhat lingering problem. Over the past four games IUP is hitting just 62 percent (28-45) at the line. They are just a hair over 70 percent for the season.

[EyeoftheHawk]

IUP will host the winner of Gannon at UPJ.

Polar opposite teams. A Gannon visit would be the typical grinder. UPJ would be the more free-flowing game.

Interesting sidenote: Gannon has a better road record than home record. UPJ's road struggles are well known.

Not sure who I'd rather see them play. Probably UPJ although I don't think Gannon could score enough to beat IUP.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: Iup basketball

IUP had 3,452 last night for the men's game.

Oddly, it was an extremely quiet crowd.

Might have been a case of sticker shock over the price of their ticket to get in the door. Or at least the ones that had to pay to get in.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

IUP will host the winner of Gannon at UPJ.

Polar opposite teams. A Gannon visit would be the typical grinder. UPJ would be the more free-flowing game.

Interesting sidenote: Gannon has a better road record than home record. UPJ's road struggles are well known.

Not sure who I'd rather see them play. Probably UPJ although I don't think Gannon could score enough to beat IUP.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

IUP had 3,452 last night for the men's game.

Oddly, it was an extremely quiet crowd.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Couple non-boxcore comments:

* Dante had perhaps his career moment. He carried them. 27 pts

* Cobo great first half

* Malik got in Joe's doghouse and stayed in it. He didn't play the final 10-12 minutes. Perhaps longer.

* Chucky is a beast. He's gotta play heavy minutes. Huge game. 10 rebounds

* Marko had a great game. Willem played well, too.

* Didn't notice Armoni much

* Nathan Davis is an assassin

* Impressed with SH coach. Only seen him twice but they played well both games. They wouldn't go away tonight ... just tired out last 6 minutes. Same as last time.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Seen SH twice .... absolutely no idea how they have the record they do.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Yes. They lost. I was referring to the men. Seton Hill put up a fight. Final score deceiving.